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XP explorer.exe terminates soon after log-on.

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by healer

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I have an old Windows XP Pro computer. It boots up and I can log on without any problem.

Some seconds after log-on, everything including all the shortcut icons and the bottom task bar on the screen disappears. It looks like the explorer.exe has terminated.

This time I have brought up the task manager before things disappear. I noticed for sure the explorer.exe has definitely terminated.

Every time I re-start the task explorer.exe it would only stay up for a little while, not enough time for me to do anything.

Then I found http://www.squidoo.com/explorer-exe and http://www.ehow.com/how_4592369_problem-windows-xp-taskbar-disappears.html which were essentially the same. I followed that and copied an "explorer.exe" from a good XP system and pasted to the Windows directory exactly as instructed. When I restarted I got the error message "The procedure entry point SHCreateThreadRef could not be located in the dyynamic link library SHLWAPI.dll.". So I overwrote the original suspicious "explorer.exe" with the known good one and changed the registry entry back to what it was. However the same error message came up. I just want to get it back up and running so that I can scan for virus or for whatever it may be.

7 replies

by leonardo_c

The explorer.exe you used did not match the one on your system, thus causing the SHLWAPI.dll issue.

If all you need is the system up for virus/spyware scanning (looks like it needs it), forget explorer and just run your scans from Task Manager or a CMD window and in safe mode.

by healer

for the system in question. That's why I try to save the system without re-installation. I don't seem to be able to eliminate the error. I have got the file "explorer.ex_" from another OEM CD and expanded it and put it in the Windows directory but I still get the same error.

If I manage to eliminate the virus or whatever in there it might still be a challenge to use the system unless the error is caused by virus.

I have done sfc /scannow and found no problem. I have also done "regsvr32 /s shlwapi.dll" file but it wouldn't make any difference.

by leonardo_c

You need to grab a copy of the latest explorer in the drive. Do a search in a dos box (dir explorer.* /s/a/p) from the root dir and copy the latest explorer.exe (by date) to the right place.
Long day/night, brain fried or I could give you more specific instructions.

by healer

I brought up the command prompt and did exactly as you said. I found the latest one was the one I put in lately. So I disregarded that one and copied the one from \WINDOWS\system32\dllcache to C:\WINDOWS. I rebooted the system and got a different error message, "Windows Explorer has encountered a problem and needs to close." So I put the other one back in.

I don'tknow what the one in C:\Windows\Prefetch\EXPLORER.EXE-082F38A9.pf was as the size was really different.

by healer

For some reason I didn't see the Windows XP Licensing Agreement screen come up. At one time I supposed I saw the option of using Recovery Console available, then when I did it again there wasn't. There was no repair option available at all. When I did it again and again, there was only option of setting up and next go to the option of whether I want to have the partition formatted. Was it because I was not using the original CD or the XP Pro installed on the computer was too out of date.

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