Windows 10: Explorer.exe bug?

Windows Version 1903

I recently had an odd issue with windows explorer.exe specifically.

I was playing a game and alt-tabbed and noticed that for whatever reason my task bar had stopped working. Restarting the explorer.exe application via the task manager did not fix it, as it seems like it did not, or could not fully load. It loaded into a black screen with only my mouse cursor and the browser window. Mostly speculation as explorer.exe normally takes about 40mb of memory, and after restarting it was about 1.8mb of memory.

I could not even shut down the computer normally due to a infinite spinning circle while shutting down, and was forced to hard power off. I was however able to restart normally and so far it seems like there's no sign of that same issue again, but i am wondering if anyone knows what even happened?

I ran sfc/scannow and found no issues, and the event logs don't show anything other than the typical errors associated with unexpected shutdowns.

The only things i saw on the event logs at the time seem to be a Microsoft edge update and this message "The shell stopped unexpectedly and explorer.exe was restarted."

:)

 

How can I remove this virus remnant?

I was also going to suggest Autoruns.

Check to make sure it isn't attaching itself to explorer. It should be the 3rd thing listed in Autoruns, the listing for the Shell. It should just be Explorer.exe. If it is anything else, that might be your problem.

 

explorer.exe corrupted

Hello,

This issue might be due to corrupted or missing system files.

I suggest you to try the below and check if it helps.

Step 1: End the Windows Explorer process and create the new one.

• Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc, under Process
  tab, search for Windows Explorer.
• Right click on it and click on End task.
• Click on File in the Task Manager
  at top left corner of the window and select Run new task.
• Type explorer.exe and click on Ok.

Step 2: Run SFC scan.

System File Checker is a utility in Windows that allows users to scan for corruptions in Windows system files and restore corrupted files.

Follow the below steps:

• 
  Right click on the Start button, click on
  Command Prompt (Admin).
  
• 
  Type “sfc /scannow” without the quotes and hit
  Enter.
  
• 
  After the scan, restart the computer and check for the issue.
  

Step 3: Run Memory Diagnostic Tool.

Follow the below steps:

• Press Windows key and type
  Memory Diagnostic.
• Select Windows Memory Diagnostics
  and click on Restart now and check for problems.
• Follow the on-screen instructions.

Hope it helps.

Try all the above mentioned steps and update the status of this issue for further assistance.

 

There is no Explorer.exe after July update

Hello,

The issue might have caused due to some corruption in the system files.

I do see from the post you were not able to find out Explorer.exe, I suggest you to run or execute Explorer.exe and check if it helps.

• 
  Go to task manager and click on the File option.
  
• 
  Select Run New Task.
  
• 
  Now Type Explorer.exe and check the box for create this task with administrative privileges.
  

Hope this helps. If the issue persists please get back to us we will be happy to help you further.