AVAST is detecting C:\Windows\explorer.exe as virus

There is a weird issue in my system. I just changed my antivirus. I was using MSE before. I removed it and installed AVAST and updated the same. The setup and updates was fine. But after that when I scanned my system with this it gave me popup saying that explorer.exe is a virus. When I click on terminate the same the desktop goes black. I want to fix this issue. I am continuously getting the popup. I checked on web and found that explorer.exe is essential to see icons on the desktop. If the antivirus stops this then the desktop will be blank.

Your system is infected. And it is true that if Explorer.exe is stopped you wont see anything on your pc. It is the default file manager of the pc. Try to boot your pc in safe mode first. Then run the full system scan. If it still give you the same kind of popup you have to start taking backup of your file. You can do that by copying all the data manually in a different folder. And then use windows installation disc to format your pc. After when you are done with that install a new antivirus and check the same. This will help.

It can be a Trojan. It is very complicated to remove this kind of infection. To get temporary relief you can try using system restore. Just run this and restore your pc to a older time. For sometime you might not get the popup and you can easily backup your files. After that you have to anyhow format your pc. And do not forget to scan the backup files before moving them in the pc. Use a good antivirus that can block the virus before it is installed on your system. You can try going for some paid version which will help.

There is one thing you can try out. I am using Norton antivirus. This antivirus has as option to heal the file instead of deleting it. If the data is important then you can run the same to get your system old condition back. You have to remove avast for that. Remove the same and then download a trial edition of Norton. The trail edition will give you full features. Run it and scan your pc in safe mode. It is good if you can put all the system on scan in safe mode. There are chances that Norton will heal the file.

It is not 100% sure that it is gong to work. Because once the explorer is corrupted then you have to format your pc. There is no other option left. I had faced this issue on my laptop. I was getting constant popup about this explorer.exe and I was not able to restore that. I tried system restore it did not worked. It is very complicated to resolve this kind of problem. Just try to backup your data as soon as possible. Do not take folders. Take files only. If you copy entire folder then there are chances you had copied the virus also.

You can try using bootable antivirus. It might start working. A few antivirus comes in the form of bootable cd format. You can burn them on the disc and scan your pc with that. This thing scan at the core level so here antivirus will try to capture the file more accurately. And it might clean the same. Then you can run the repair setup of windows to fix the issue. A repair setup is nothing just overwriting the system files and it will not touch your internal data. Or you can launch cmd from the startup repair and run sfc /scannow.