Need help to restore "explorer.exe" functionality. Note this is NOT an Internet Explorer issue.

Does anyone know how to restore "explorer.exe" functionality??

My "explorer.exe" starts to load and then flashes a normal display
window for a split second and then it disappears. No error msg, no
log entry, etc. The file system seems to be just fine. This problem
began when in installed some video DVD burning software, didn't
like it and so removed it. After that, explorer no longer worked.

My UNIX utilities work fine and I downloaded a shareware pgm
called ExplorerXP, which works fine (and I'm using it now and
almost like it better than explorer, except for 2 functions), so
either the problem really is that explorer is hosed or some file
system function which only explorer uses is hosed. ;-)

I've tried about everything anyone has suggested, including
things that I KNOW have absolutely nothing to do with it --
like spyware/adware killer software, etc.
I suspect these people thought I was referring to "internet
explorer", rather than the Windoze file system explorer
application.

I have even subscribed to one of those online help sites
(I'll never do that again), where they had many irrelevant
suggestions, but no solution. I'm sure I could have stayed
with it for the next 6 months or so and stumbled on an answer,
but.... ;-)

I do not want to have to reinstall this machine, because I
have over 100 applications on it, I'd have to reinstall, as
well (not a pretty thought),
So, does anyone have any idea which files I need to locate
on my original Win2k CD, to restore explorer.exe and
all its dynamic modules (and how)?? I'm thinking this will
fix the problem for me. At least I hope it will.

oldsoul

 

|>
|>
|>Does anyone know how to restore "explorer.exe" functionality??
|>
|>My "explorer.exe" starts to load and then flashes a normal display
|>window for a split second and then it disappears. No error msg, no
|>log entry, etc. The file system seems to be just fine. This problem
|>began when in installed some video DVD burning software, didn't
|>like it and so removed it. After that, explorer no longer worked.
|>
|>My UNIX utilities work fine and I downloaded a shareware pgm
|>called ExplorerXP, which works fine (and I'm using it now and
|>almost like it better than explorer, except for 2 functions), so
|>either the problem really is that explorer is hosed or some file
|>system function which only explorer uses is hosed. ;-)
|>
|>I've tried about everything anyone has suggested, including
|>things that I KNOW have absolutely nothing to do with it --
|>like spyware/adware killer software, etc.
|>I suspect these people thought I was referring to "internet
|>explorer", rather than the Windoze file system explorer
|>application.
|>
|>I have even subscribed to one of those online help sites
|>(I'll never do that again), where they had many irrelevant
|>suggestions, but no solution. I'm sure I could have stayed
|>with it for the next 6 months or so and stumbled on an answer,
|>but.... ;-)
|>
|>I do not want to have to reinstall this machine, because I
|>have over 100 applications on it, I'd have to reinstall, as
|>well (not a pretty thought),
|>So, does anyone have any idea which files I need to locate
|>on my original Win2k CD, to restore explorer.exe and
|>all its dynamic modules (and how)?? I'm thinking this will
|>fix the problem for me. At least I hope it will.

Try running SFC /SCANNOW

Seeing as you've had help on this before, I imagine you've been given
this advice before, but It's really the only way to have the OS check
for corrupt or missing files.

Might also check out http://www.sysinternals.com/ lots of utilities
available. http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/Filemon.html comes to
mind.
--

 

On Mon, 11 Jul 2005 15:55:48 -0500, oldsoul wrote:

VERY Long Post

It doesn't matter what the software was, you didn't say?

If you tried the web support / help / faq for the software / email
support?

That makes it difficult to guess what to suggest

It surprising how many people confuse explorer.exe with iexpolre.exe

I did it the easy way, install everything then Ghost it. I can always go
back to last installed apps, data is another issue all together.

Well a dependancy walker , for Win 2000 SP4 + patches , report for
explorer.exe is 425 lines. Just the module list is 50 lines x 250 cols.
That's incl versions, dates, checksums and a lot of other stuff.

The dependancy tree is 290 lines , below.

It not really possible to trim any of this for a short reply.

See www.sysinternals.com , look for the Process, File Monitor and
ListDLL tools to see what is launched. It soundls like a 'send to cd
authoring' dll plugin.

Reapply the current service pack?


Module Dependency Tree
http://www.dependencywalker.com/



Legend:
F Forwarded Module
? Missing Module
6 64-bit Module
D Delay Load Module
! Invalid Module
* Dynamic Module
E Import/Export Mismatch or Load Failure
^ Duplicate Module


[ ] EXPLORER.EXE
[ ] ADVAPI32.DLL
[ ] NTDLL.DLL
[ ^ ] KERNEL32.DLL
[F^ ] NTDLL.DLL
[ ] RPCRT4.DLL
[ ^ ] NTDLL.DLL
[ ^ ] KERNEL32.DLL
[F^ ] NTDLL.DLL
[ ^ ] ADVAPI32.DLL
[ ] KERNEL32.DLL
[ ^ ] NTDLL.DLL
[F^ ] NTDLL.DLL
[ ] GDI32.DLL
[ ^ ] NTDLL.DLL
[ ^ ] KERNEL32.DLL
[F^ ] NTDLL.DLL
[ ^ ] USER32.DLL
[ ] USER32.DLL
[ ^ ] NTDLL.DLL
[ ^ ] KERNEL32.DLL
[F^ ] NTDLL.DLL
[ ^ ] GDI32.DLL
[ ] SHLWAPI.DLL
[ ] MSVCRT.DLL
[ ^ ] KERNEL32.DLL
[F^ ] NTDLL.DLL
[ ^ ] GDI32.DLL
[ ^ ] KERNEL32.DLL
[F^ ] NTDLL.DLL
[ ^ ] USER32.DLL
[ ^ ] ADVAPI32.DLL
[D^ ] OLE32.DLL
[D? ] APPHELP.DLL
[D ] MLANG.DLL
[ ^ ] ADVAPI32.DLL
[ ^ ] GDI32.DLL
[ ^ ] KERNEL32.DLL
[F^ ] NTDLL.DLL
[ ^ ] MSVCRT.DLL
[ ^ ] OLE32.DLL
[ ^ ] SHLWAPI.DLL
[ ^ ] USER32.DLL
[ ^ ] VERSION.DLL
[D^ ] COMCTL32.DLL
[DE ] MPR.DLL
[ ^ ] NTDLL.DLL
[ ^ ] KERNEL32.DLL
[F^ ] NTDLL.DLL
[ ^ ] ADVAPI32.DLL
[ ^ ] USER32.DLL
[D ] OLEAUT32.DLL
[ ^ ] OLE32.DLL
[ ^ ] USER32.DLL
[ ^ ] GDI32.DLL
[ ^ ] KERNEL32.DLL
[F^ ] NTDLL.DLL
[ ^ ] ADVAPI32.DLL
[D ] MSI.DLL
[ ^ ] NTDLL.DLL
[ ^ ] ADVAPI32.DLL
[ ^ ] KERNEL32.DLL
[F^ ] NTDLL.DLL
[ ^ ] USER32.DLL
[ ^ ] GDI32.DLL
[ ^ ] RPCRT4.DLL
[D ] SETUPAPI.DLL
[ ^ ] MSVCRT.DLL
[ ^ ] NTDLL.DLL
[ ^ ] ADVAPI32.DLL
[ ^ ] GDI32.DLL
[ ^ ] KERNEL32.DLL
[F^ ] NTDLL.DLL
[ ^ ] RPCRT4.DLL
[ ^ ] USER32.DLL
[ ^ ] USERENV.DLL
[D ] CABINET.DLL
[ ^ ] KERNEL32.DLL
[F^ ] NTDLL.DLL
[ ^ ] OLE32.DLL
[D^ ] COMCTL32.DLL
[D^ ] COMDLG32.DLL
[D ] CRYPT32.DLL
[ ^ ] MSVCRT.DLL
[ ] MSASN1.DLL
[ ^ ] MSVCRT.DLL
[ ^ ] KERNEL32.DLL
[ ^ ] USER32.DLL
[ ^ ] RPCRT4.DLL
[ ^ ] ADVAPI32.DLL
[ ^ ] KERNEL32.DLL
[F^ ] NTDLL.DLL
[ ^ ] USER32.DLL
[D^ ] VERSION.DLL
[D^ ] LZ32.DLL
[D^ ] MPR.DLL
[D^ ] OLE32.DLL
[D ] SFC.DLL
[ ^ ] MSVCRT.DLL
[ ^ ] NTDLL.DLL
[ ^ ] USER32.DLL
[ ^ ] KERNEL32.DLL
[F^ ] NTDLL.DLL
[ ^ ] RPCRT4.DLL
[ ^ ] ADVAPI32.DLL
[ ] SFCFILES.DLL
[ ^ ] NTDLL.DLL
[D^ ] SETUPAPI.DLL
[D^ ] VERSION.DLL
[D^ ] MPR.DLL
[D^ ] SHELL32.DLL
[D^ ] VERSION.DLL
[D ] WINSPOOL.DRV
[ ^ ] NTDLL.DLL
[ ^ ] KERNEL32.DLL
[F^ ] NTDLL.DLL
[ ^ ] RPCRT4.DLL
[ ^ ] ADVAPI32.DLL
[ ^ ] GDI32.DLL
[ ^ ] USER32.DLL
[ ^ ] MPR.DLL
[D^ ] OLE32.DLL
[D^ ] OLEAUT32.DLL
[D ] ACTIVEDS.DLL
[ ] ADSLDPC.DLL
[ ^ ] MSVCRT.DLL
[ ^ ] NTDLL.DLL
[ ^ ] NETAPI32.DLL
[ ] WLDAP32.DLL
[ ^ ] MSVCRT.DLL
[ ^ ] KERNEL32.DLL
[F^ ] NTDLL.DLL
[ ^ ] ADVAPI32.DLL
[ ^ ] ADVAPI32.DLL
[ ^ ] USER32.DLL
[ ^ ] KERNEL32.DLL
[F^ ] NTDLL.DLL
[ ^ ] MSVCRT.DLL
[ ^ ] NTDLL.DLL
[ ^ ] OLE32.DLL
[ ^ ] ADVAPI32.DLL
[ ^ ] KERNEL32.DLL
[F^ ] NTDLL.DLL
[ ^ ] USER32.DLL
[ ^ ] OLEAUT32.DLL
[D ] NETAPI32.DLL
[ ^ ] MSVCRT.DLL
[ ^ ] NTDLL.DLL
[ ] SECUR32.DLL
[ ^ ] NTDLL.DLL
[ ^ ] KERNEL32.DLL
[ ^ ] ADVAPI32.DLL
[ ^ ] ADVAPI32.DLL
[ ] NETRAP.DLL
[ ^ ] MSVCRT.DLL
[ ^ ] NTDLL.DLL
[ ^ ] KERNEL32.DLL
[ ^ ] RPCRT4.DLL
[ ^ ] KERNEL32.DLL
[F^ ] NTDLL.DLL
[ ] SAMLIB.DLL
[ ^ ] NTDLL.DLL
[ ^ ] ADVAPI32.DLL
[ ^ ] RPCRT4.DLL
[ ^ ] KERNEL32.DLL
[F^ ] NTDLL.DLL
[ ] WS2_32.DLL
[ ^ ] MSVCRT.DLL
[ ^ ] KERNEL32.DLL
[F^ ] NTDLL.DLL
[ ^ ] ADVAPI32.DLL
[ ] WS2HELP.DLL
[ ^ ] NTDLL.DLL
[ ^ ] ADVAPI32.DLL
[ ^ ] KERNEL32.DLL
[F^ ] NTDLL.DLL
[D^ ] USER32.DLL
[D^ ] USER32.DLL
[ ^ ] WLDAP32.DLL
[ ^ ] DNSAPI.DLL
[D ] NTDSAPI.DLL
[ ^ ] MSVCRT.DLL
[ ^ ] NTDLL.DLL
[ ^ ] DNSAPI.DLL
[ ^ ] RPCRT4.DLL
[ ^ ] WLDAP32.DLL
[ ^ ] NETAPI32.DLL
[ ^ ] KERNEL32.DLL
[F^ ] NTDLL.DLL
[ ^ ] SECUR32.DLL
[ ^ ] WS2_32.DLL
[D ] W32TOPL.DLL
[ ^ ] NTDLL.DLL
[ ^ ] KERNEL32.DLL
[D ] DNSAPI.DLL
[ ^ ] MSVCRT.DLL
[ ^ ] ADVAPI32.DLL
[ ^ ] KERNEL32.DLL
[F^ ] NTDLL.DLL
[ ] WSOCK32.DLL
[ ^ ] KERNEL32.DLL
[ ^ ] WS2_32.DLL
[F^ ] WS2_32.DLL
[ ^ ] RPCRT4.DLL
[D ] WINTRUST.DLL
[ ^ ] MSVCRT.DLL
[ ^ ] CRYPT32.DLL
[ ^ ] MSASN1.DLL
[ ^ ] USER32.DLL
[ ^ ] KERNEL32.DLL
[F^ ] NTDLL.DLL
[ ^ ] ADVAPI32.DLL
[ ] IMAGEHLP.DLL
[ ^ ] MSVCRT.DLL
[ ^ ] KERNEL32.DLL
[F^ ] NTDLL.DLL
[D ] DBGHELP.DLL
[ ^ ] MSVCRT.DLL
[ ^ ] KERNEL32.DLL
[F^ ] NTDLL.DLL
[ ^ ] OLE32.DLL
[D^ ] COMCTL32.DLL
[D ] USERENV.DLL
[ ^ ] MSVCRT.DLL
[ ^ ] NTDLL.DLL
[ ^ ] KERNEL32.DLL
[F^ ] NTDLL.DLL
[ ^ ] ADVAPI32.DLL
[ ^ ] USER32.DLL
[D^ ] SHELL32.DLL
[D ] WINMM.DLL
[ ^ ] NTDLL.DLL
[ ^ ] USER32.DLL
[ ^ ] GDI32.DLL
[ ^ ] ADVAPI32.DLL
[ ^ ] KERNEL32.DLL
[F^ ] NTDLL.DLL
[D ] VERSION.DLL
[ ^ ] KERNEL32.DLL
[ ^ ] NTDLL.DLL
[ ] LZ32.DLL
[ ^ ] NTDLL.DLL
[ ^ ] KERNEL32.DLL
[ ^ ] USER32.DLL
[ ^ ] USER32.DLL
[D ] COMDLG32.DLL
[ ^ ] SHLWAPI.DLL
[ ^ ] KERNEL32.DLL
[F^ ] NTDLL.DLL
[ ^ ] USER32.DLL
[ ^ ] GDI32.DLL
[ ^ ] ADVAPI32.DLL
[ ^ ] COMCTL32.DLL
[ ^ ] SHELL32.DLL
[ ^ ] MSVCRT.DLL
[ ^ ] NTDLL.DLL
[D^ ] WINSPOOL.DRV
[ ] COMCTL32.DLL
[ ^ ] NTDLL.DLL
[ ^ ] GDI32.DLL
[ ^ ] KERNEL32.DLL
[F^ ] NTDLL.DLL
[ ^ ] USER32.DLL
[ ^ ] ADVAPI32.DLL
[D ] SHELL32.DLL
[ ^ ] NTDLL.DLL
[ ^ ] GDI32.DLL
[ ^ ] USER32.DLL
[ ^ ] KERNEL32.DLL
[F^ ] NTDLL.DLL
[ ^ ] ADVAPI32.DLL
[ ^ ] SHLWAPI.DLL
[ ^ ] COMCTL32.DLL
[D^ ] RPCRT4.DLL
[D ] OLE32.DLL
[ ^ ] RPCRT4.DLL
[ ^ ] GDI32.DLL
[ ^ ] KERNEL32.DLL
[F^ ] NTDLL.DLL
[ ^ ] USER32.DLL
[ ^ ] ADVAPI32.DLL
[ ^ ] NTDLL.DLL




Me

 

Thank you and DC for your suggestions. No
no one had ever suggest I run sfc before, so I was not
aware of it. I sure wish all my Win2k books weren't packed
away, but they are and are too far back in the stack to get
to, right now.

I would never have believed that running something called
"system file checker" could do more than CHECK; woudl
actually HOSE my configuration. However, considering the
authors put "Shutdown" behind the "Start" function, I SHOULD
have expected it. ;-)

I printed out DC's list of modules for explorer.exe and
prepared to run sfc, expecting it to list as missing, bunches
of the ones on his list.
I shutdown all other programs and ran sfc /scannow
and it demanded my Win2kPro CD to "copy original
system files to cache" from. I obliged. It completed the
"copying" display (meter went all the way to the right) and
immediately stopped. Cursor sat there blinking at the
prompt, waiting for my next command. .

I rebooted the machine, thinking I'd reboot and try again.
Once I rebooted and logged in as Administrator, I had
NO DESKTOP.
I rebooted and used my Win2k CD to "repair" my installation.
As far as I can tell, it did nothing.
This time after I rebooted I used "Task Manager" to
allow me to start up an "Agent" session, so I could post
this article. ;-)

Any idea how to restore my desktop??
The files are all intact, but for some reason, it is not
being loaded. Oddly enough, the background color
comes up as I had it set, but that is the extent of my
desktop.

oldsoul
-----------------

 

|>
|>Thank you and DC for your suggestions. No
|>no one had ever suggest I run sfc before, so I was not
|>aware of it. I sure wish all my Win2k books weren't packed
|>away, but they are and are too far back in the stack to get
|>to, right now.
|>
|>I would never have believed that running something called
|>"system file checker" could do more than CHECK; woudl
|>actually HOSE my configuration. However, considering the
|>authors put "Shutdown" behind the "Start" function, I SHOULD
|>have expected it. ;-)
|>
|>I printed out DC's list of modules for explorer.exe and
|>prepared to run sfc, expecting it to list as missing, bunches
|>of the ones on his list.
|>I shutdown all other programs and ran sfc /scannow
|>and it demanded my Win2kPro CD to "copy original
|>system files to cache" from. I obliged. It completed the
|>"copying" display (meter went all the way to the right) and
|>immediately stopped. Cursor sat there blinking at the
|>prompt, waiting for my next command. .

It's a Dos command hit CTRL-C repeatedly to see if it will cancel - I
don't think you'll be running this again tho
|>
|>I rebooted the machine, thinking I'd reboot and try again.
|>Once I rebooted and logged in as Administrator, I had
|>NO DESKTOP.
|>I rebooted and used my Win2k CD to "repair" my installation.
|>As far as I can tell, it did nothing.
|>This time after I rebooted I used "Task Manager" to
|>allow me to start up an "Agent" session, so I could post
|>this article. ;-)
|>
|>Any idea how to restore my desktop??
|>The files are all intact, but for some reason, it is not
|>being loaded. Oddly enough, the background color
|>comes up as I had it set, but that is the extent of my
|>desktop.

This happens with WK2 - one way to fix it is to Press the WinKey+R
then type in: Explorer <enter>

Another way is to open the task manager and kill an odd process I
can't remember the name of; but if your familiar with normally running
process's in the task manager it's obvious.

Sorry bout the problems, never heard of a complaint from a SFC
suggestion, guess I know why now


|>oldsoul
|>-----------------
|>
|>On Mon, 11 Jul 2005 14:46:34 -0700, wrote:
|>
|>>
|>>|>
|>>|>
|>>|>Does anyone know how to restore "explorer.exe" functionality??
|>>|>
|>>|>My "explorer.exe" starts to load and then flashes a normal display
|>>|>window for a split second and then it disappears. No error msg, no
|>>|>log entry, etc. The file system seems to be just fine. This problem
|>>|>began when in installed some video DVD burning software, didn't
|>>|>like it and so removed it. After that, explorer no longer worked.
|>>|>
|>>|>My UNIX utilities work fine and I downloaded a shareware pgm
|>>|>called ExplorerXP, which works fine (and I'm using it now and
|>>|>almost like it better than explorer, except for 2 functions), so
|>>|>either the problem really is that explorer is hosed or some file
|>>|>system function which only explorer uses is hosed. ;-)
|>>|>
|>>|>I've tried about everything anyone has suggested, including
|>>|>things that I KNOW have absolutely nothing to do with it --
|>>|>like spyware/adware killer software, etc.
|>>|>I suspect these people thought I was referring to "internet
|>>|>explorer", rather than the Windoze file system explorer
|>>|>application.
|>>|>
|>>|>I have even subscribed to one of those online help sites
|>>|>(I'll never do that again), where they had many irrelevant
|>>|>suggestions, but no solution. I'm sure I could have stayed
|>>|>with it for the next 6 months or so and stumbled on an answer,
|>>|>but.... ;-)
|>>|>
|>>|>I do not want to have to reinstall this machine, because I
|>>|>have over 100 applications on it, I'd have to reinstall, as
|>>|>well (not a pretty thought),
|>>|>So, does anyone have any idea which files I need to locate
|>>|>on my original Win2k CD, to restore explorer.exe and
|>>|>all its dynamic modules (and how)?? I'm thinking this will
|>>|>fix the problem for me. At least I hope it will.
|>>
|>>Try running SFC /SCANNOW
|>>
|>>Seeing as you've had help on this before, I imagine you've been given
|>>this advice before, but It's really the only way to have the OS check
|>>for corrupt or missing files.
|>>
|>>Might also check out http://www.sysinternals.com/ lots of utilities
|>>available. http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/Filemon.html comes to
|>>mind.
|>

 

wrote:

|>This happens with WK2 - one way to fix it is to Press the WinKey+R
|>then type in: Explorer <enter>

I just caught the irony in this statement but it's explorer that
loads your GUI.

I need'd to add also that when Windows ask for the CD to replace any
files it's expecting the latest SP.

 

It wasn't running. It quit on its own, right after loading whatever
to cache. It immediately returned to the DOS prompt. In other
words, the program finished and the console was waiting for
input.

I don't understand. When I press and hold the Win key and then
press "r", it has absolutely NO effect.

I see no strange or stranger than usual processes in the Process
List. ;-) However I tried to kill each of them which have
accumulated no CPU time and I get a message "access denied".
I have gone thru the entire process table and tried to kill every
process. I can't kill ANY process other than the ones I created
and I am logged in as Administrator. Very odd.
All other processes either give me the standard (this is a critical
process) message or the "access denied" one.

Any other way to restore the desktop??

I figure after I get it restored, I'll go ahead, bite the bullet and
put a new disk in and install to it, then I'll see I can use it to
restore the old install, so I won't have to reinstall all 100 of
my applications and tons of data.

oldsoul

 

BTW -- Other odd behavior --
As I said -- I'm having to open all applications, by using
the Task Manager, New Task function.
When I first click on New Task, it comes up with the
last application I entered in the dialog box and an
error message window, titled "Entry Point Not Found",
and an error message which reads:
"The procedure entry point AssocIsDangerous
could not be located in the dynamic link library
SHLWAPI.dll."

oldsoul

 

Guess What????
I decided it wouldn't make matters worse to run SFC again, so I
did. It exited the same way it did teh first time, BTW. (Looks like
"quiet" may be the default.) Then I rebooted -- still no Desktop.
Then I reran the SP4 install and low and behold, this time, it
made a difference. My desktop is back and my explorer.exe
functionality is back exactly as it should be.

I had tried rerunning the SP4 install earlier, but it made
no difference. The difference this time must be due to
my having run SFC in the mean time. So, it looks like
your SFC suggestion worked after all.

Thank you very much.

oldsoul

 

|>I don't understand. When I press and hold the Win key and then
|>press "r", it has absolutely NO effect.

|>>Another way is to open the task manager and kill an odd process I
|>>can't remember the name of; but if your familiar with normally running
|>>process's in the task manager it's obvious.
|>
|>I see no strange or stranger than usual processes in the Process
|>List. ;-) However I tried to kill each of them which have
|>accumulated no CPU time and I get a message "access denied".
|>I have gone thru the entire process table and tried to kill every
|>process. I can't kill ANY process other than the ones I created
|>and I am logged in as Administrator. Very odd.
|>All other processes either give me the standard (this is a critical
|>process) message or the "access denied" one.
|>
|>>Sorry bout the problems, never heard of a complaint from a SFC
|>>suggestion, guess I know why now

|>Any other way to restore the desktop??

Since you can open the task manager under file > New Task (run) will
open a run input. input Explorer there.

 

|>On Tue, 12 Jul 2005 03:41:34 -0500, oldsoul <>
|>wrote:
|>
|>>On Mon, 11 Jul 2005 23:42:12 -0700, wrote:
|>>
|>>>
|>>>|>
|>>>|>Thank you and DC for your suggestions. No
|>>>|>no one had ever suggest I run sfc before, so I was not
|>>>|>aware of it. I sure wish all my Win2k books weren't packed
|>>>|>away, but they are and are too far back in the stack to get
|>>>|>to, right now.
|>>>|>
|>>>|>I would never have believed that running something called
|>>>|>"system file checker" could do more than CHECK; woudl
|>>>|>actually HOSE my configuration. However, considering the
|>>>|>authors put "Shutdown" behind the "Start" function, I SHOULD
|>>>|>have expected it. ;-)
|>>>|>
|>>>|>I printed out DC's list of modules for explorer.exe and
|>>>|>prepared to run sfc, expecting it to list as missing, bunches
|>>>|>of the ones on his list.
|>>>|>I shutdown all other programs and ran sfc /scannow
|>>>|>and it demanded my Win2kPro CD to "copy original
|>>>|>system files to cache" from. I obliged. It completed the
|>>>|>"copying" display (meter went all the way to the right) and
|>>>|>immediately stopped. Cursor sat there blinking at the
|>>>|>prompt, waiting for my next command. .
|>>>
|>>>It's a Dos command hit CTRL-C repeatedly to see if it will cancel - I
|>>>don't think you'll be running this again tho
|>>
|>>It wasn't running. It quit on its own, right after loading whatever
|>>to cache. It immediately returned to the DOS prompt. In other
|>>words, the program finished and the console was waiting for
|>>input.
|>>
|>>
|>>>|>I rebooted the machine, thinking I'd reboot and try again.
|>>>|>Once I rebooted and logged in as Administrator, I had
|>>>|>NO DESKTOP.
|>>>|>I rebooted and used my Win2k CD to "repair" my installation.
|>>>|>As far as I can tell, it did nothing.
|>>>|>This time after I rebooted I used "Task Manager" to
|>>>|>allow me to start up an "Agent" session, so I could post
|>>>|>this article. ;-)


Then you have boot'd up to the point of the GUI.

Shot in the dark, create a new user account (from the task manager)
in the new account copy your old profile to your new profile
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=811151 if it boots into it.


|>>>|>Any idea how to restore my desktop??
|>>>|>The files are all intact, but for some reason, it is not
|>>>|>being loaded. Oddly enough, the background color
|>>>|>comes up as I had it set, but that is the extent of my
|>>>|>desktop.
|>>>
|>>>This happens with WK2 - one way to fix it is to Press the WinKey+R
|>>>then type in: Explorer <enter>
|>>
|>>I don't understand. When I press and hold the Win key and then
|>>press "r", it has absolutely NO effect.
|>>
|>>>Another way is to open the task manager and kill an odd process I
|>>>can't remember the name of; but if your familiar with normally running
|>>>process's in the task manager it's obvious.
|>>
|>>I see no strange or stranger than usual processes in the Process
|>>List. ;-) However I tried to kill each of them which have
|>>accumulated no CPU time and I get a message "access denied".
|>>I have gone thru the entire process table and tried to kill every
|>>process. I can't kill ANY process other than the ones I created
|>>and I am logged in as Administrator. Very odd.
|>>All other processes either give me the standard (this is a critical
|>>process) message or the "access denied" one.
|>>
|>>>Sorry bout the problems, never heard of a complaint from a SFC
|>>>suggestion, guess I know why now
|>>
|>>Any other way to restore the desktop??
|>>
|>>I figure after I get it restored, I'll go ahead, bite the bullet and
|>>put a new disk in and install to it, then I'll see I can use it to
|>>restore the old install, so I won't have to reinstall all 100 of
|>>my applications and tons of data.
|>>
|>>oldsoul
|>>-------------------------------------------------
|>>
|>
|>BTW -- Other odd behavior --
|>As I said -- I'm having to open all applications, by using
|>the Task Manager, New Task function.
|>When I first click on New Task, it comes up with the
|>last application I entered in the dialog box and an
|>error message window, titled "Entry Point Not Found",
|>and an error message which reads:
|>"The procedure entry point AssocIsDangerous
|>could not be located in the dynamic link library
|>SHLWAPI.dll."

I deleted a post on how to run a command from the task manager, I see
you've found it. You've run explorer from it?

As for Shlwapi.dll, google says to run SFC to correct it )))
http://www.easydesksoftware.com/news/news15.htm

You can download it here (Version 4.70.1155)
http://www.dll-files.com/dllindex/dll-files.shtml?shlwapi


|>>>|>On Mon, 11 Jul 2005 14:46:34 -0700, wrote:
|>>>|>
|>>>|>>
|>>>|>>|>
|>>>|>>|>
|>>>|>>|>Does anyone know how to restore "explorer.exe" functionality??
|>>>|>>|>
|>>>|>>|>My "explorer.exe" starts to load and then flashes a normal display
|>>>|>>|>window for a split second and then it disappears. No error msg, no
|>>>|>>|>log entry, etc. The file system seems to be just fine. This problem
|>>>|>>|>began when in installed some video DVD burning software, didn't
|>>>|>>|>like it and so removed it. After that, explorer no longer worked.
|>>>|>>|>
|>>>|>>|>My UNIX utilities work fine and I downloaded a shareware pgm
|>>>|>>|>called ExplorerXP, which works fine (and I'm using it now and
|>>>|>>|>almost like it better than explorer, except for 2 functions), so
|>>>|>>|>either the problem really is that explorer is hosed or some file
|>>>|>>|>system function which only explorer uses is hosed. ;-)
|>>>|>>|>
|>>>|>>|>I've tried about everything anyone has suggested, including
|>>>|>>|>things that I KNOW have absolutely nothing to do with it --
|>>>|>>|>like spyware/adware killer software, etc.
|>>>|>>|>I suspect these people thought I was referring to "internet
|>>>|>>|>explorer", rather than the Windoze file system explorer
|>>>|>>|>application.
|>>>|>>|>
|>>>|>>|>I have even subscribed to one of those online help sites
|>>>|>>|>(I'll never do that again), where they had many irrelevant
|>>>|>>|>suggestions, but no solution. I'm sure I could have stayed
|>>>|>>|>with it for the next 6 months or so and stumbled on an answer,
|>>>|>>|>but.... ;-)
|>>>|>>|>
|>>>|>>|>I do not want to have to reinstall this machine, because I
|>>>|>>|>have over 100 applications on it, I'd have to reinstall, as
|>>>|>>|>well (not a pretty thought),
|>>>|>>|>So, does anyone have any idea which files I need to locate
|>>>|>>|>on my original Win2k CD, to restore explorer.exe and
|>>>|>>|>all its dynamic modules (and how)?? I'm thinking this will
|>>>|>>|>fix the problem for me. At least I hope it will.
|>>>|>>
|>>>|>>Try running SFC /SCANNOW
|>>>|>>
|>>>|>>Seeing as you've had help on this before, I imagine you've been given
|>>>|>>this advice before, but It's really the only way to have the OS check
|>>>|>>for corrupt or missing files.
|>>>|>>
|>>>|>>Might also check out http://www.sysinternals.com/ lots of utilities
|>>>|>>available. http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/Filemon.html comes to
|>>>|>>mind.
|>>>|>
|>>
|>