Windows Explorer.exe process hangs on login

[Gaffigana]

I am stuck with an serious issue in my laptop. I am having a HP laptop that has Windows XP Pro SP3 on the same. When I login to my account the screen freezes. Sometime the desktop take a really long time to appear while sometime it does not appear at all. I have to press ctrl + alt + del to terminate the explorer process first and then I ran it back again. It works fine. Can anyone guide me here what can be he problem.

[Dreadmyst]

My computer recently started doing this too.. well kinda it loads the desktop and all the icons but the start menu bar hangs for a long time... usaly how i avoid getting anoyed this is turn on comp in morn and go find sumthing to eat lol. but its gotten to the point where i think explorer is causes other program to crash as well. If any1 knows how to fix this please help!!

Ill just post the messages i got this morning when i booted up and watch tv for about 30 mins to let my com load my profile.

System error messages:
1.) The HIDKbFlt.SvcDesc% service failed to start due to the following error:
The system cannot find the file specified.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

2.) The Server service hung on starting.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

3.) The Computer Browser service depends on the Server service which failed to start because of the following error:
After starting, the service hung in a start-pending state.

Application messages.
1.) 10:33am Windows cannot unload your classes registry file - it is still in use by other applications or services. The file will be unloaded when it is no longer in use.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

2.) Windows saved user MY-GAMINGPC\Lester registry while an application or service was still using the registry during log off. The memory used by the user's registry has not been freed. The registry will be unloaded when it is no longer in use.

This is often caused by services running as a user account, try configuring the services to run in either the LocalService or NetworkService account.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

ok update from last post i got a new error in the viewer after i had to reboot and it reads:

The master browser has received a server announcement from the computer *******LAPTOP that believes that it is the master browser for the domain on transport NetBT_Tcpip_{01D25C65-2FCB-. The master browser is stopping or an election is being forced.

i replaced the actual persons name with *. i was thinking for a while that this might be a hardware related problem but after reading whats in the event viewer i believe this to be a problem with my OS and if i cant find a cure for this soon ima do a clean install of my OS again. Next time i reboot and the server process hangs again i have created a batch file to try and fix the hang and i wrote it this this:

Net Stop "Server"
Net Start "Server"

My computer stoped hanging after doing some research on server service hanging, i changed my print spooler service to manual and computer my loads profiles fine now. my device manager has no yellow ! the keyboard i use is a microsoft media board, my computer is custom built desktop and is part of a work group network, and the server service is still set to automatic.

After installing the User Profile Hive Cleanup Service and setting my computer as the master browser i only have the error of:

Event Type: Error
Event Source: Service Control Manager
Event Category: None
Event ID: 7000
Date: 4/6/2009
Time: 12:33:26 PM
User: N/A
Computer: My-PC
Description:
The HIDKbFlt.SvcDesc% service failed to start due to the following error:
The system cannot find the file specified.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

This is a desktop computer. i ran auto run and disabled anything that had file missing and the error i was getting about the HIDKbFlt.SvcDesc% service failed to start went away. only thing i have left to do is set the master browser status on the other computer to get rid of the:

Event Type: Error
Event Source: MRxSmb
Event Category: None
Event ID: 8003
Date: 4/6/2009
Time: 5:30:13 PM
User: N/A
Computer: MY-PC
Description:
The master browser has received a server announcement from the computer EWLAPTOP that believes that it is the master browser for the domain on transport NetBT_Tcpip_{01D25C65-2FCB-. The master browser is stopping or an election is being forced.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.
Data:
0000: 00 00 00 00 03 00 4e 00 ......N.
0008: 00 00 00 00 43 1f 00 c0 ....C..À
0010: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ........
0018: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ........
0020: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ........

[Pugsly]

Can be a virus issue. But you can collect more information on the problem through event viewer. Whatever error you face on windows is listed inside Event Viewer in detail. Through which you can simply troubleshoot your system. You can boot your system in safe mode first. Inside Safe mode a few number of applications only work. You can then move ahead with troubleshooting the same. Try to scan your pc with a good antivirus and then check back.

[RaAbi]

It is a virus issue. Try to go in safe mode first. If your system boots properly in safe mode then first backup your important data. Backup everything. Later on you can then move ahead with clean installation. Or else just try system restore. System restore will restore your temporary settings back which can make your system a bit stable for sometime. If that does not work then you have to format your pc completely to restore the windows.

[prash_mate]

Download a good antivirus first. If your system is working fine in safe mode then install the same with that antivirus. It can help you to wipe out the malware and make your system to work more properly. System restore is not the proper solution here. Because it will also restore the infection back again. You can also try to run a repair setup through windows. The repair setup will replace existing system files making your system perform better.

[Taidje]

There is no way to fix your pc if there is a virus in your system. I will recommend you to simply format your pc and install windows xp back from scratch. That is more beneficial I think. Some good antivirus can help you here but it cannot restore explorer.exe. One of the simplest way to quickly fix your pc is running windows xp repair setup. Just run the same through windows installation disc and then check back. I am sure that will be enough to fix the problem you are facing.

[StevenS]

I also have the problem with explorer.exe, but it happened suddenly, after I set up a new user on this XP Home system. Everything else seems to run normally, but explorer.exe will not put icons on the desktop or show the taskbar at all unless I let it sit for a half hour or so.

I started a browser by using CTL-ALT-DEL to run the task manager, which shows running, and using "File", "Run" to start firefox.exe. This is XP Home SP2.

No, I can't bring up the control panel because I don't have a Start button or any icons on the desktop.

This happens with all user accounts on this machine.

By the way, explorer.exe works fine when running in Safe Mode.

More info: I'm running now in "Safe mode with networking" (640x480, yuk!) Here are some event viewer logs that seem not right:

Event Type: Error
Event Source: Service Control Manager
Event Category: None
Event ID: 7000
Date: 8/5/2009
Time: 5:29:10 PM
User: N/A
Computer: RIPLEY
Description:
The Microsoft Windows OLE service failed to start due to the following error:
The system cannot find the path specified.

Event Type: Error
Event Source: DCOM
Event Category: None
Event ID: 10010
Date: 8/5/2009
Time: 5:29:13 PM
User: RIPLEY\Admin
Computer: RIPLEY
Description:
The server {8BC3F05E-D86B-11D0-A075-00C04FB68820} did not register with DCOM within the required timeout.