[Dopeness]

I encountered the problem a few months ago.

A message popped up one day on my computer that said something along the lines of:

"Cannot open explorer.exe, failed to process application, blah blah"

I pressed okay to close it and it stood there. I pressed okay over and over and it stood there. I held down enter and eventually it went away. But for some reason, I could not open folders. So I restarted the computer and it came up again. I got rid of it the same way and tried opening up a folder. This time it worked, but when I tried to open up another folder it would not do so. I had to close the previous folder to open up a new one. I did many virus scans but the problem never went away. Eventually the problem somehow went away after restarting the computer multiple times and I never turned the computer off after that because of fear that it would come back. It came back about a month later and I somehow got rid of it once again.

And now today, about 2 months later from the last encounter, it came back. Sometimes I can get rid of it but then I can't perform all computer functions such as opening folders or files. I got rid of it just now but I have no idea how. Just re-starting the computer, I don't know. It's gotten very annoying, and I would like to get rid of it.

I use Windows XP.

Is there anyway I can get rid of it?

*EDIT*

Great, now it's back. Well IT itself is not back, but the problem is not fixed. When I open winamp, and try and click on "Manage Playlists" it won't do it.

Edited by Dopeness, 10 November 2005 - 07:31 PM.

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Press Ctrl+Alt+Del and go to File/New Task. Then, type sfc /scannow (note the space). Wait until the window closes itselft, then restart and see if the problem is fixed. This will fix any corrupt system files by using the ones on the XP CD, which will be needed to complete the scan. If this doesn't work, you could try to repair XP (see my signature for a link with instructions).

[Pi rules]

Press Ctrl+Alt+Del and go to File/New Task. Then, type sfc /scannow (note the space). Wait until the window closes itselft, then restart and see if the problem is fixed. This will fix any corrupt system files by using the ones on the XP CD, which will be needed to complete the scan. If this doesn't work, you could try to repair XP (see my signature for a link with instructions).

[Dopeness]

Okay I'm doing the scan now. It won't do anything to my computer will it? Any major risks I should worry about?

[Pi rules]

It shouldn't harm anything at all. Just restart once it completes.

PS: Welcome to Geeks to Go!

Edited by Pi rules, 10 November 2005 - 07:55 PM.

[Dopeness]

Okay well no luck, I did the scan and it's still there.

[Pi rules]

OK. Try an XP Repair, which will repair more files than the System File Checker (sfc /scannow). There is a link in my signature with instructions on how to do it, and you will need to get all Windows Updates and Service packs not on your XP CD after completing it.

Edit: If you see this fast enough, press Ctrl+Alt+Del again and go to File/New Task and type explorer.exe. What happens?

Edited by Pi rules, 10 November 2005 - 08:31 PM.

[Dopeness]

OK. Try an XP Repair, which will repair more files than the System File Checker (sfc /scannow). There is a link in my signature with instructions on how to do it, and you will need to get all Windows Updates and Service packs not on your XP CD after completing it.

Edit: If you see this fast enough, press Ctrl+Alt+Del again and go to File/New Task and type explorer.exe. What happens?

I'd rather avoid the repair until it's a last resort. Anyway this problem is getting worse. Now the explorer.exe message doesn't even come up, but the effects of it are still there.

[Pi rules]

I understand, but remember that a repair does not erase your personal files like a reformat and reinstall of XP would (also called a "clean" install). Does this happen in any other user account? Also, what happens if you run the task explorer.exe?

[Dopeness]

I understand, but remember that a repair does not erase your personal files like a reformat and reinstall of XP would (also called a "clean" install). Does this happen in any other user account? Also, what happens if you run the task explorer.exe?

Okay I went to Ctrl+Alt+Dlt and went to File-New task and typed in explorer.exe and it for some reason brought up "My Documents".

I don't have any other accounts on XP btw.

[Pi rules]

Once you type in explorer.exe, does everything work correctly?

What happens once you restart now that explorer.exe was running?

PS: I appologize for the delay.

[Fenor]

Just to add in what Pi Rules said about doing a REPAIR INSTALLATION of windows xp:

1.) After doing a repair installation of windows xp, ALL OF YOUR PROGRAMS will still work
2.) ALL YOUR SETTINGS will still be there
3.) YOU WON'T LOSE any files on the hard drive
4.) All a repair installation does is repair the OPERATING SYSTEM FILES (C:\WINDOWS), that's it nothing more
5.) After doing the repair installation of windows you will HAVE TO REDO ALL WINDOWS UPDATES.

So to make a long story short, just follow the guide in my signature on doing a repair installation of xp. It's the easiest solution and will solve the problem you are currently experiencing.

Fenor

[Dopeness]

Guys, I was just wondering if I did a system restore would that work? I know it wouldn't get rid of the problem, but I really don't have the time to do a Repair as of now. It sounds extensive and pretty hard.

[Fenor]

Repair install takes 30 minutes, but you can try a system restore if you want. Figure out the date when it last worked, and then go back at least 3 days from that date and do a restore. If that doesn't work then repair is only option and it isn't as bad as you believe it to be. And btw, you've spend more time since the initial suggestion by Pi Rules to do a repair installation then it would of taken to just do the repair when he suggested it.

Fenor

[Dopeness]

Thanks so much for the help guys, but the system restore worked. If it comes up again in the future, I'll do the repair. Thanks for the help!

[Pi rules]

I'm glad it works now! Thanks for posting back with the solution.