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Currently, I'm typing from a laptop. (I'm no use with computers and I can't suss this out myself, and without any internet usage - albeit short bursts that I get - I have to use a laptop. I don't have any way of transferring items over from the laptop to the computer other than a small USB disk.) I couldn't think of good words to sum up the title in, but I tried.

Oh. And I lost the windows 7 install disk. :l Or more it's somewhere in the attic of despair where I will never find anything I need when I need it.

Anyway, on to the problems.
PROBLEM A. Explorer.exe
I think I know what the problem is after googling the problem, though i'm unable to fix it right now as I'm still replacing the CPU. It's launching a explorer.exe that WORKS - sometimes. It sometimes needs to be 'killed' and restarted, for the usual gui and all that to work. Differences being that - 1. The desktop theme ALWAYS reverts to a solid black background. 2. (Is this related? It started only recently, though it has been faulty since the problems started, though it wasn't this bad.) The internet (I'm using a wireless dongle) keeps... well, it can FIND the network. It can CONNECT to the network - well, no it can't, not exactly. When you connect to the network (I've tried 2 different dongles. Neither worked) it will ask for a password. If you enter the correct one, it claims it's incorrect. If you enter the actual password that came with the router, it's still incorrect. OCCASIONALLY, if I've got it set to autoconnect, it'll rarely start connecting on it's own and stay like that - ranging from a few seconds to maybe an hour or two - then disconnect. It's been getting less and less each time I run the computer. My dad bridged the connection over and it WORKED - until he shut the computer down and disconnected. It didn't work anymore after that.

PROBLEM B. Internet usage. Explained in 2 of PROBLEM A as I think it may be a seperate problem and I couldn't find a solution.

PROBLEM C. Files going missing.
Files keep going missing - mainly .exes, and they don't go in the recycling bin, they just disappear plain out. E.G. one day, I've been playing the game, next day, the .exes gone. I don't even have to have played it any time recently, they just disappear.

PROBLEM D. Music and Picture files losing their data?
I'm not entirely sure how to explain this. Say I have.. Picture Piece A. Picture Piece A will be there one day, but then lose the contents of the file or something, and turns to a 0KB file, where it might have been 5MB before. It's no longer playable. Though sometimes, the files are playable even though it's 0KB.

PROBLEM E. Certain Programs that would not crash the computer usually will make windows shut down to 'prevent additional damage' after 'detecting a problem'
Things like Microsoft Word, anything by Microsoft really. Not really much info on this one.

Edited by Remikih because: Missing Info
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Dani AI

Generated

The symptoms described by — intermittent/“fake” explorer.exe behavior, desktop reverting to a solid black, wireless auth failures, .exe files disappearing, media files turning 0KB, and programs forcing Windows to shut down — strongly suggest one or more of the following issues: filesystem corruption (bad MFT/NTFS metadata), failing storage or RAM, or active malware that replaces or removes files. Immediate data preservation is the priority before running repair utilities that can make recovery harder on a failing disk.

Recommended immediate steps (in order of priority):

  • Isolate the machine from the network and mains only as needed to prevent further spread or damage.
  • Copy critical personal files to external media or another machine. If the internal drive shows signs of failure, create a forensic image first (using another PC or a USB-SATA adapter). If only a small USB stick is available, prioritize Documents, Pictures, and any unique keys or saves.
  • Use clean rescue media (Linux live USB or a reputable AV rescue ISO) to inspect files without booting the possibly-infected Windows install. This avoids executing malware and preserves evidence.

A practical diagnostic workflow:

  • Check SMART and run a full surface/health test on the HDD/SSD (manufacturer tools or smartctl).
  • Run memory tests (memtest86) for several passes.
  • From a clean environment, scan with offline/bootable AV rescue tools (Malwarebytes, Kaspersky Rescue, etc.).
  • On the Windows side, check explorer.exe’s path/signature (it must be C:\Windows\explorer.exe) using Task Manager or Process Explorer; inspect autorun entries (Autoruns).
  • If disk health looks OK, run chkdsk /r C: and sfc /scannow from an elevated prompt — but only after important data is backed up or imaged.

When file corruption is widespread (zero-length files, disappearing executables) and hardware tests show failing sectors, replace the drive and restore from backups. If malware is confirmed, clean/offline removal followed by system file checks and a full OS reinstall is the safest recovery path. Since mentioned a missing Windows 7 disk, rescue media can be created on another computer; consult the forum posting guide referenced by for details on what logs and system info to provide when requesting further help.

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