explorer crashed, but other programs can still run!!

[ashb]

I have a wierd problem on my Win 2k Pro machine. When I reboot the
machine, it gets as far as the logon screen, but after I enter the
correct password, it just hangs there and all I get is the blue
screen..

But rather oddly, I can then do a CTRL+ALT+DEL and get the Task
Manager, and then run any program from the task manager. I can run
notepad, calc, and even start my Weblogic server.

I can run all but the explorer, that is. If I type 'iexplore' or
'explorer' from the Task manager, nothing's happening...is explorer
missing some dll's to start up normally?

My sys admin is saying that he'd have to reimage the entire OS, but I
hate losing my data..He tried some Windows Recovery tool yesterday, but
said it was of no avail.

Any suggestions would be truly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[John John]

There is nothing odd about being able to run other programs or tasks
without Windows Explorer running. Contrary to popular belief Explorer
is not a necessary process, it's just another application like any
other. Granted working without it makes things a bit difficult. In
certain environments pc's are set to run without Explorer, either for
security reasons or to unleash more of the power to other applications.

In any case... There are different causes for Explorer not running but
based on the information that you provided I strongly believe that your
Internet Explorer is damaged or has mismatched files. Try repairing or
reinstalling IE and see what happens. Damaged or mismatched IE files
often cause Windows Explorer to fail, the two are hopelessly intertwined.

IE can be repaired from the Control Panel Add/Remove Programs or from
the command line, see here:

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=293907#XSLTH3148121123120121120120
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;q194177

Running the sfc /scannow command might also fix it but you might have to
reapply hotfixes after you run the command.

John

 

[Guest]

I would definatly try what John wrote first, but if that doesn't work you
should have your SYS Admin reinstall the OS with out formatting and
Applications instead of reimaging. This would stop you from losing all your
files.