# How to Replace a Corrupt Windows Explorer.exe in VISTA



## DC67 (Dec 29, 2009)

This problem started about the middle of November, 09. My Windows Explorer.exe (NOT IE) frequently locks up or slows almost to a stop when I click on a Folder in a "My Computer" window. Today I installed a CPU Usage Tool, and was shocked to see both cores jump to 100% usage as soon as I clicked on a folder. I tried four times, rebooting before each try, and each time I had the same MAXING out of the CPU usage. My VISTA PC is a DELL Inspiron 1721 laptop. I have tried numerous times to fix this problem: I have deleted temps, deleted cookies and history, defragged 3 times counting today, restored to an earlier time, reinstalled VISTA SP2, ran Norton Internet Security and Windows Defender, and a couple weeks ago I even installed WISE REGISTRY CLEANER and WISE DISK CLEANER, however they did not solve the problem, tho they did help my PC boot a little quicker. I can navigate fine with the address bar, but NOT by clicking on folders under My Computer. I came to the conclusion that the Windows Explorer.exe is probably corrupt, so I went searching for a Windows Explorer update for VISTA, or a reinstallation file for that program. However I could not find the deep dark hole they hid them in. 

Any ideas on how to get that Windows Explorer for VISTA back to normal, without totally reinstalling VISTA, because in that case, I would go back to XP Pro?

DC67


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## jcgriff2 (Sep 30, 2007)

Run the System File Checker/ SFC - 

START | type *cmd.exe* into the start search box | right-click on cmd.exe | select run as Administrator | the black command prompt ("DOS") screen will appear | type the following:


```
[font=lucida console]sfc /scannow[/font]
```
Upon completion re-boot to allow files in use to be repaired.

SFC general info - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/936212

SFC & the CBS log - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/928228


Regards. . .

jcgriff2

.


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## DC67 (Dec 29, 2009)

Sorry, but that tool did not work either. That sfc /scannow did however confirm that there were corrupted files, but it went on to say it could not fix all of them. I thank you for the info tho, as it did not know about that tool and it did confirm what I had suspected. 

Any other suggestions before I reformat the hard drive and put XP Pro on this laptop? Never did like VISTA anyway, it has LITERALLY caused me more headaches than Windows 3.11 or Windows ME ever did. XP Pro has worked the best for me.

DC67


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## jenae (Jun 17, 2008)

Hi, windows explorer is the system file manager and is unique to your machine, so forget about an update etc... Now I would likely bet your problem is caused by Norton and Defender, a combination for disaster. Uninstall Norton use their uninstaller (google for it do not simply uninstall from programs and features). Disable windows defender.

I would use AVG free for Anti Virus and Superantispyware or Malwarebytes for spyware,malware removal.

Did your computer come with a trial version of any Anti Virus program? If so did you use the manufacturers uninstaller to be rid of it, if not do so now.

Activate the windows Firewall. 

As a word to the wise NEVER use reg cleaners or fixers they do far more harm then good.


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## DC67 (Dec 29, 2009)

No, I used to have The Shield DeLuxe for several years but dumped them after a Hacker got past them. I actually caught him trying to create his own User file on my PC. I have had Norton Internet Security 2009 for about 13 months with no problem, I re-purchased the license a month ago and have Norton Internet Security 2010 now on all three of PCs. Starting with the 2009 version, NORTON made MAJOR changes, so it is not like the old NORTON that we all learned to hate. It is no longer a memory hog, and for a year my two XP Pro PCs and this Vista laptop ran perfectly, so I do not think it has anything to do with this new NORTON. I did have Windows Defender disabled all that time, but I turned it back on after the problem started to see if it could detect anything that Norton may have missed, and it did not find anything either. I just disabled it again.


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## DC67 (Dec 29, 2009)

jenae said:


> . . .
> 
> Activate the windows Firewall.
> 
> As a word to the wise NEVER use reg cleaners or fixers they do far more harm then good.


"Activate the windows Firewall." I don't think so, because about 14 months ago when I had "The Shield Deluxe" and using Windows Firewall, I had a Hacker get in past my Antivirus and PAST my Windows Firewall, and I actually caught him in the act of setting up HIS OWN USER ACCOUNT AND PASSWORD on my PC. Windows Firewall detected NOTHING WRONG, my Antivirus detected nothing wrong, Ad-aware detected nothing wrong, Windows Defender detected nothing wrong, however Spybot found his hidden trojan, but failed to remove it, because it would just reinstall itself. THUS I had to reformat the hard drive to get rid of it. Therefore, I needed a BETTER Firewall, that is why I purchased Norton Internet Security 2009, and it ran for a whole year, with NO PROBLEMS AT ALL. Even the scans rarely found more than 1 cookie, because it was preventing all those bad things from getting in. Like I said above. the new Norton is totally different than any of those older Norton Programs.

AS FAR AS THE REGISTRY CLEANERS, now you are confusing me. You say "NEVER use reg cleaners", while AT THE SAME TIME running an add for Registry Mechanic at the top of the page. Is the Registry Mechanic program you are advertising safe to use or not? IF NOT, why are you advertising it? AND why then is PC Magazine is saying the exact opposite: 

"Degunking Your PC
08.17.04

PC MAGAZINE – WEBSITE 
by Jeff Duntemann
...

*Abandoned, incorrect, and corrupted entries *in the Windows Registry *top our list of gunk.* Often people are terrified of trying to clean the Registry, having been told that doing so is about as safe as defusing a nuclear weapon.

There is some truth in this. The Registry is Windows' most vulnerable subsystem, in that relatively small changes done incorrectly can render the system unbootable. . .

*The safest way to deal with Registry gunk is with one of several excellent third-party Registry cleaners.* . . ." 

And he goes on to name PC Magazine's top picks. In all fairness, YES I have talked to a computer repairman the would chime in almost word for word with what you said. However the last Computer Repairman told me almost exactly what PC Magazine said, and yes he warned me that there are a lot of worthless Registry Cleaners that can do more harm than good. The one he recommended as the safest one that he knew, he said he has personally used it for several years and never had a single problem using it. So I went with his suggestions, because after checking it out I discovered that the registry cleaner that I download was one that CNET gave 4 1/2 stars. 

*BUT NOW DO YOU SEE WHY WE CONSUMERS OUT HERE ARE SO CONFUSED?*

You and some Computer Techs say your problems are NORTON, Windows Defender, and using a Registry Cleaner; *WHILE AT THE SAME TIME*, Norton Techs and other Computer Techs say NO, *VISTA has KNOWN problems with Windows Explorer*, plus all indications are that the Registry has a lot of bad entries, clean it, and use an alternative file management sofware, such as Q-Dir 3.5 or one of the several others. SO when we get SO MUCH contradicting advise from Techs, how do we sort it all out?

http://social.answers.microsoft.com...s/thread/653f7d14-37a8-4093-aca9-65346ea4c1db

I am sixty years old, and I have grown wiser over the years. My personal experience has taught me that whenever you have such TOTALLY OPPOSITE points of view, the truth usually lies somewhere in between.

DC67


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## jcgriff2 (Sep 30, 2007)

What was the username of the user that you caught hacking into your system?

Vista has several usernames used by the system for non-console log on of system services and other housekeeping activities. One may believe differently if taking a cursory look at the Event Viewer.

I use the Windows Firewall, Windows Defender and ESET NOD32 anti-virus or AVG Free a/v and have no problems.

I have multiple systems here and among family members that all ran Vista without incident. Most have now transitioned into Windows 7 as easily as they did into Vista from XP.

If security truly is an issue for you, reverting back to XP is not your answer. Windows 7 has more security than Vista, which has more security than XP.

Regards. . .

jcgriff2

.


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## DC67 (Dec 29, 2009)

I did not save that info about what user name he used, as I reformatted that hard drive. The way I caught him was I was hosting a game online, and the game was lagging bad, and so I shut it down, and rebooted the PC, AND low and behold there was a second user name on MY PC when it rebooted, whereas I was the ONLY user that I ever entered. I never even did not have Guest on the the screen. HE HAD CREATED A USER FILE AND THEN EVEN CREATED HIS OWN PASSWORD ON IT, WITHOUT OUT A HINT AND ANYTHING GOING ON FROM MY WINDOWS FIREWALL OR MY ANTIVIRUS. Lots of Techs that I talked to afterwards said they did not think it was a Hacker, because it is rare that they go after any private home PCs, and tried to tell me it was probably just malware. When I told them WELL THIS MALWARE, NOT ONLY CREATED IT'S OWN USER FILE, IT THEN ASSIGNED A PASSWORD TO THAT FILE, they finally agreed, that I had probably, caught a hacker in the act. That is why I am still convinced that it was a hacker, perhaps even one of the players on the game I was hosting, using that open port to get in. I hosted up to 16 players from all over the world when I hosted that Delta Force Land Warrior game, and a few weeks later on a Forum NovaLogic games I was told that others had been reporting similar problems and that Nova was watching for him. STILL NONE OF THE SECURITY SOFTWARE THAT I WAS USING back then, even recognized his activity or the trojan he planted. After installing Spybot, it found the trojan with no problem, and removed it. HOWEVER each time I rebooted the PC, that trojan would reinstall itself, from hidden files somewhere, hence the reformat became necessary. At the time, one of The techs from The Shield antivirus, said, yes that is entirely possible, they find a way in and then disguise their activity as "Printer Sharing". So I solved that problem too, I bought a second Printer AND never setup printer sharing again.


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## DC67 (Dec 29, 2009)

BUT WINDOWS 7, I have been told, is NOT backwards compatible to several of the older games that I like to use. EVEN Vista does not like Delta Force Land Warrior. It took 5 tries just to get it installed and then it does not run the game as smooth as XP Pro. Besides, I have HAD ZERO problems on XP PRO with Norton 2009 and have upgraded to Norton 2010. INSTALLED VERY QUICKLY, VERY FAST SCANS, and VERY LOW SIGNATURE. I need all the memory I can get when I am hosting online games


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## DC67 (Dec 29, 2009)

One last question about this. I just went to System Restore, on this VISTA laptop, to try to resetore it to an earlier restore point, in Oct.; as I am fairly sure these serious problems with Windows Explorer started in Nov. To my surprise, NONE of last years restore points are there. Does it delete the previous year's restore points, or archive them? If so, how do I restore to a restore point in Oct. or earlier? I pushed that arrow up and down, and it does not move the list at all, and the only restore point showing is one I made yesterday.


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## DC67 (Dec 29, 2009)

*How to Replace a Corrupt Windows Explorer.exe in VISTA?* The very best solution is *FIRE VISTA*, and put XP Pro on it. My problem CHILD is a DELL Inspiron 1721 and DELL Techs had told me that there was no way to convert the 1721 to XP Pro because no XP Drivers were ever created for it. THEY WERE WRONG, and the only problem was no one at DELL had ever done to research to find compatible Drivers. Hear is where I almost all of the Drivers: http://www.getpcmemory.com/drivers/...dows-xp-drivers/comment-page-1/#comment-11537 Now a compatible SM Bus Controller Driver was harder to find, but I discovered that it was part of the South Bridge Driver on this site: http://game.amd.com/us-en/drivers_catalyst.aspx?p=xp/integratedip-xp EVERYTHING ON MY LAPTOP IS WORKING GREAT NOW. Better than it did brand new, even the quality of the sound coming out of those little built in speakers is FAR BETTER with XP Pro. So VISTA IS OFFICICIALLY FIRED FOREVER.


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