Explorer.exe loading but not doing anything

Hi all,

Recently I did a re-install of WinXP because of this problem hoping it would fix it. The problem is that when Windows loads Explorer.exe loads but does nothing afterwards. No Icons, no taskbar, no right-click context menu, nothing. I can still manage everything i need to through the Taskmanager, but well its annoying to have to do that.

So even after the reinstall the problem still exists. As far as I know I did the reinstall correct, and its not my first reinstall.

Secondary to this is after reinstalling and getting my videocard drivers downloaded and ready my games are now sluggish and laggy when I play. The graphic lag is terrible, any ideas on that too?

Thanks for your help.

 

did you do a repair install? or did you format and start over?

 

i formatted the partition that WinXP was on and re-installed.

 

Also, after looking on the web for solutions to this problem the most common ive found is after startup running a new task from taskmanager and typing in explorer.exe and then everything is supposed to come up. Mine doesnt do that. Ive tried numerous times.

 

did you try browsing to the windows folder and running explorer from there? or better yet, is it even there?

 

Yep, ive tried that and yes it is there. Last night i shut my computer off and today when i turned it back on everything ran fine, but I fear that it will just happen again the next time i shut it off.

 

how long after the reinstall did this start happening? was it right away or did it take a few days for this to appear? if it's right away, i would think about looking at the drivers you're installing, and making sure they are the correct ones. otherwise, you should check your hard drive for errors. use the scan tool from the manufacturer of the hard drive.

 

I agree, definitely do the HDD scan.

If that pans out OK, do a memory diagnostic as well.

Faulty modules can write erroneous data to the HDD.

Most likely, it is HDD related.

Chances are, you can find a diagnostic program for your drive here, or, if not, then visit the manufacturer's website.

http://majorgeeks.com/downloads8.html

 

It was happening shortly before the reinstall and it happened maybe, the second time i restarted the computer after the reinstall. The only drivers ive installed on this machine since reinstall are sound drivers from one of my previous help threads here.(http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=194253) And video card drivers I have a MSI NXGT8500 512 card and got the drivers from the manufacturers website.

Either way, im downloading ActiveSmart to scan my drive and Ill get back here with the results.