Explorer not working at system startup

[Grypht]

Hi,
the "Explorer" process crash on startup (not all the time tho) and I do not get the menu or the desktop icons.

I open the task manager, terminate the process "explorer" and then open run and type in "explorer" to start it again and then the computer finish booting up to the desktop.

The computer is fine until I reboot.
It's windows xp pro sp2 (I tried reinstalling the sp2)

I have tried sfc /scannow and it helped for 1 reboot.

The harddrive and memory are okay (I tested the maxtor hd with the powermax tool, and the memory with Docmem2.0)

I have read about a registry key that could cause the problem, so I made a backup of the key and deleted it, but it did not work either.

Any ideas what I can try to fix the problem (I would rather not have to reinstall windows because it runs several older programs that took a while to configure properly)

Thank you
Grypht

 

[jdemmi]

Can you check the EVENT VIEWER and see if there are any error messages? If so post the SOURCE and EVENT ID number....or just check here.

http://www.eventid.net

-- Jason
"It's Just Ones and Zeros

 

[linney]

Will it Start and run correctly in Safe Mode. Can you check out how it runs if you login as any other user in Normal Mode?

If it is a profile problem then this may help.
811151 - How to Copy User Data to a New User Profile

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=811151

To get further information about the error look in your Event viewer.

Look in the System or Application folder. You can get to the Event Viewer via right click My Computer icon and select Manage.

Any errors logged in the Event Viewer can be expanded by double clicking on the error line.

Take any event error I.D. number and search for it on these sites.

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/tr.../prodtechnol/winxppro/support/EE_winxppro.asp

http://www.eventid.net/events.asp

If the error occurred after installing a device driver or application, try using Safe Mode and removing the driver or program.

You can also load the Recovery Console and run ChkDsk /r to check for problems.

HOW TO: Install and Use the Recovery Console for Windows XP (Q307654)

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q307/6/54.asp

To check your drivers.

HOW TO: Verify Unsigned Device Drivers in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q308/5/14.asp

To check conflicting software.

310353 - How to Perform a Clean Boot in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;310353&FR=1&PA=1&SD=HSCH

316434 - HOW TO: Perform Advanced Clean-Boot Troubleshooting in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;316434&FR=1&PA=1&SD=HSCH

310560 - How to Troubleshoot By Using the Msconfig Utility in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;310560&FR=1&PA=1&SD=HSCH

Removing adware & spyware (Do try this at least).
faq608-4650

Will check your computer for spyware and adware.



See if you have any services that are flagging as "Starting" but not actually running.


Some general things to try.

See if System Restore will get you back to a restore point before your problem with Windows.

Try Safe Mode (Do you have this problem in Safe Mode?).

Try another user in case your profile is corrupt.

Try running ChkDsk to check your drive for errors. Right click your Drive icon/ Properties/ Tools/ Error Checking.

Run the System File Checker program from the Run Box by typing.....Sfc /Scannow in it and have your XP CD handy.

If they don't work you could try repairing windows itself by running it over itself. You will lose all your windows updates but your files will be untouched.

How to Perform an In-Place Upgrade (Reinstallation) of Windows XP (Q315341)

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q315/3/41.asp

 

[Grypht]

I created an other profile, and it still has the same error (tho again not all the time)

I cleaned up the few spywares it had.

I tried to do the chkdsk /r (it found a few minor errors)

In the eventviewer, in the system area, I have an error 20063 with the source Rasman and
4311 with the source NetBT

I am currently trying to solve that problem (I am a long time member of eventid.net)

After doing all these things on the computer, I just got an error with the videocard telling me it failed to start the device, I tried to update the Nvidia video driver with the latest, but it did not work. I don't mind changing the display adapter if I have to, it's the next step I'll follow.

Tomorow I'll probable "repair" the installation of Windows and see how it goes. I cannot restore from an earlier date because we disabled that fonction on that machine because the harddrive only has 2gig left of free space.

In safe mode, it worked everytimes, but in the last 10 reboot in normal mode I only had the problem once (I waited 5min before killing the explorer process and restarting it in case it was due to an update)

Thanks for the hints on what to look for,
I'll try to post an update tomorow.

Grypht

 

[linney]

See if these are useful for future drive space problems, or just buy a bigger drive.

Relocating Hard Drive Capacity and File Compression
thread779-939540

Hard Disk still full after deleting large files
thread779-1136701

 

[Grypht]

I want to take the time to say thank you all for the help.

It seems that so far the repair of windows fixed the issue, after 15 or so restart, the explorer worked fine all the time.

I had some issue with the Windows CD-key, since I had to find the one that was used for the installation since it wasn't our corporate key (and it would not work on regular pro)

I will probably "ghost" the harddrive on a bigger one during the next week and reenable the system restore and hope it will not crash again.

Grypht