Where should explorer.exe be? 1

[richardhowell]

I've read in various articles that explorer.exe should be sitting in c:\windows\system32, and that if it's anywhere else I should be suspicious.
I have 2 instances of explorer.exe, one in c:windows and the other in c:\windows\servicepackfiles\i386. Both are 1,032,192 bytes.
Should I be worried?

 

[Happo]

No, this is perfectly normal. You have nothing to fear from this duplication.

Daniel.

 

[richardhowell]

Even if I haven't got one in c:\windows\system32, which is where, allegedly, it's supposed to sit?

 

[Happo]

I have 2 instances of explorer.exe, one in c:windows and the other in c:\windows\servicepackfiles\i386

This is fine.

Even if I haven't got one in c:\windows\system32, which is where, allegedly, it's supposed to sit?

This is not, explorer would not run at all so it is a redundant argument. If it wasn't there, it wouldn't run.

Daniel.

 

[bcastner]

It should be in %windir%\
With updates, or for various reasons, it can sit in a directory such as you enumerated: c:\windows\servicepackfiles\i386

As Happo mentioned, this is perfectly normal.

Now this claim: "I've read in various articles that explorer.exe should be sitting in c:\windows\system32"

This is not true.
I would remove any entry found there.