Member Avatar for kielmaru

Running an XP os.
Tried everything. From running explorer.exe on run, deleting explorer and iexplorer on HKEY local machine (there's no explorer and iexplorer in there), checking the shell on winlogon on hkey local machine that the value is "explorer.exe", and starting in safe mode and running explorer.exe.

When i run explorer, the taskbar shows for a second then disappears again.
So what should I do? I have another XP os cd. Would reformatting help? But without losing any files of course.

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by PhilliePhan

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The situation described by — explorer and the desktop briefly appearing then disappearing — plus ’s ExWin suggestion and ’s warning about a full reformat, point to two priorities: preserve data first, then repair system files or remove whatever is preventing the shell from staying up.

First priority: preserve the user profile and important files. Practical options are to remove the drive and attach it to another machine via a USB/SATA adapter, or boot a Linux live USB (or WinPE/Hiren-like rescue environment) and copy the entire profile folder (for XP typically under C:\Documents and Settings\) to an external drive. Do this before attempting risky repairs.

After files are secured, perform low-risk repairs: run chkdsk C: /r from a recovery/boot environment to fix disk errors, then run sfc /scannow from Safe Mode with Command Prompt (XP CD will be requested) to restore missing or corrupted system files. Check the Winlogon values at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon — in particular the Userinit value should contain C:\Windows\system32\userinit.exe, (the trailing comma is normal). A quick test for profile corruption is to add a temporary account (for example net user tempacct /add) and see whether logging into that profile yields a normal desktop.

If system files or startup services are badly damaged, an in-place repair install (Windows XP repair — not a format/clean install) will replace system files while keeping installed programs and user data; backing up first remains essential. Because malware often causes explorer failures, an offline rescue-scan (bootable AV rescue disc) is also a sensible step. The ExWin log mentioned by can reveal service or shell errors; include its output when available for targeted diagnosis.

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Member Avatar for PhilliePhan

Please try this as well:

Please download and run it.
-- Click "Extract" and it will extract the ExWin folder to C:\ExWin.
-- Please open that folder and run RunThis.bat.

If need be, command line to run it is C:\ExWin\RunThis.bat ENTER

Anyhoo, once it runs (3-5 minutes), a log will pop up. Please post that for us.
Also, reboot your computer afterwards and see if there is any improvement.

Cheers :)
PP

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