The shell stopped unexpectedly and explorer.exe was restarted

[Neil W]

Very recently one of my PCs running W2K cannot run Windows Explorer or
Internet Explorer.

Every time I try running them (or anything that requires one of them) the
task bar and icons disappear and reappear, but Explorer doesn't start. The
Event Viewer shows Event ID 2002: The shell stopped unexpectedly and
explorer.exe was restarted. (Source Winlogon).

I have all the latest everything, no viruses, no spyware, nothing in the
Startup folder, nothing out of the ordinary in the "Run" registry entries.
I have tried everything, even replacing explorer.exe and winlogon.exe, but
still nothing. I tried creating a new, admin level user, but that didn't
work.

If anyone has any ideas, I'd appreciate hearing it. I'm stumped.

Thanks.

 

[Neil W]

That was the exact message (an info message, not an error): "The shell
stopped unexpectedly and explorer.exe was restarted"

No new programs added. Happened after visiting a web site, but that might
have been coincidental. Even if I specifically RUN explorer.exe I get the
same problem, so it is not related to file associations.

Thanks for the reply.

-------------------------------------------

 

[Ghostrider]

Very recently one of my PCs running W2K cannot run Windows Explorer or
Internet Explorer.

Every time I try running them (or anything that requires one of them) the
task bar and icons disappear and reappear, but Explorer doesn't start. The
Event Viewer shows Event ID 2002: The shell stopped unexpectedly and
explorer.exe was restarted. (Source Winlogon).

I have all the latest everything, no viruses, no spyware, nothing in the
Startup folder, nothing out of the ordinary in the "Run" registry entries.
I have tried everything, even replacing explorer.exe and winlogon.exe, but
still nothing. I tried creating a new, admin level user, but that didn't
work.

If anyone has any ideas, I'd appreciate hearing it. I'm stumped.

Thanks.

What is the exact error message that is displayed in Event
Viewer? And what was done to the PC just prior to the onset
of this problem? For example, were file associations added or
changed? An application added or deleted?

 

[George Hester]

The reason why you do not get an error message box when the shell stops is because Dr Watson is not catching the failure. You do see the error in the Event Viewer though.

Remove IE 6. Run sfc. Reapply your Service Pack level. Reinstall IE 6. Use only October 2003 cumulative update. In the meantime Start | Run | regsvr32 /u thumbvw.dll | OK | OK. For the procdure I suggested reboot between each step.

 

[GHalleck]

That was the exact message (an info message, not an error): "The shell
stopped unexpectedly and explorer.exe was restarted"

No new programs added. Happened after visiting a web site, but that might
have been coincidental. Even if I specifically RUN explorer.exe I get the
same problem, so it is not related to file associations.

Thanks for the reply.

<<snipped>>

Who knows what lurks inside the contents of website other
than the programmer and whomever/whatever might have paid
to have "bots" installed within. Does the computer have
any spyware or adware detection, such as S&D Spybot or
Lavasoft Adware? If not, install one or both and run for
a thorough check. Manually, run Regedit and check the
Run and RunOnce lines for any unusual entries. Attempts
to hijack IE do occasionally create problems for Windows
Explorer and the shell.