[Zephon]

I`m having some problems with Windows XP, and I really need some advice.

When I am in My Computer window (or Windows Explorer, the error occurs with both), and I try to right click any drive (C:, A:, D: ), an error message appears saying that there is a problem with explorer.exe and it has to be closed. So far I have been able to do the things I wanted (format drive, run chkdsk, check properties) using other ways (DOS, or another application), but this is getting too annoying.

I suspect that there explorer.exe is corrupted, do you guys agree with that? If so, how can I fix this without reinstalling completely Windows XP? Any suggestion is appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Kane]

• Chuck your XP CD in the drive
• Run CMD and go to i386 on the CD drive
• type 'extract explorer.ex_ c:\explorer.exe'
• reboot in Safe mode command prompt mode
• cd c:\Windows
• ren explorer.exe explorer.bak
• mv c:\explorer.exe explorer.exe
• reboot

There is a chance however, if you did an Service Pack update since installing (rather than having it slipstreamed) it may cause problems. Thus I'd suggest copying essential data off your system partition

 

[refraction]

if its happening when you right click its likely to be a program that integrates with the windows shell.

try and check what programs are using shell extensions and remove them one by one. hopefully that should sort the problem. If everything else works i cant see explorer.exe being the problem.

it could be spyware or a virus, so check for them first.

 

[Esturk]

If that all fails, just do a repair of Windows XP. It's always worked for me although I always just do a clean install. It's always good to make a second partition if you have lot's of data to keep. In case something bad happens.

 

[G-Pitts]

Just format your partition and do a fresh install. Do what Esturk did (create second partition to store your data). Its a good practice to format and reinstall windows once in a while.

 

[Esturk]

Well having the second data and backup partition came from my Windows 98 days. I used to be obsessed with having a clean system. My computer was pretty slow too at the time. Having a second partition allowed me to format my first partition whenever I liked without thinking about it too much. And to this day I always have a second partition, or a second hard drive instead.

 

[G-Pitts]

Looks like we have the same obsession :lol: (now I have 2 hd with 8 partition :evil: for my xp and linux dual boot system)

 

[Zephon]

Well, restoring the original explorer.exe did not solve the problem. However, I did some researching, and I found out that it was being caused by Alcohol 120%. In their forums they have a patch that fixed the issue.

About making another partition to store my data, it might be a good idea. But right now I am a little busy, so I'll do it some other time.