Explore.exe missing

[hip999]

I am not technically minded! I have an Asus notebook running XP with only 4GB hard disc and no optical disc.
When I switch on it shows the Windows logo and then a box titled "Exporer.EXE - Application error" the contents of which is "The application failed to intitialize properly (0x0000005). Click on ok to terminate the application".
I have tried all the suggestions I can find online using task manager and all the suggestions fail because I cannot find explorer.exe.
I tried "Installing OS" (after pressing F2) but nothing happens.
I do not have any recovery disc.
Any ideas how I can get this working. There is nothing I need to save on it. I have access to a laptop, memory stick and external HD.

[Elijah]

To fix this issue, you can try to run sfc/scannow and this will scan your entire system file for any kind of bug in that. If Explorer.exe application is corrupted then you can also copy the explorer.exe file from some other computer to your computer. Before doing that, you should make sure that you have ended the process explorer.exe from task manager. I hope that this will solve the issue for you.

[hip999]

Thanks .... I did try the sfc/scannow before but I get a message that Windows cannot find it.

If I want to load explorer.exe from another computer then how do I load it? .... I cannot access start menu and the Asus will not show anything plugged in to the usb slot.

[Chin-Mae]

If the explorer.exe is not there on your system then you can do one thing. Copy the explorer.exe file from some other system and then try to paste it to the required location. You will really have no trouble in doing it. You can make use of the Pen Drive in this case. Make sure that the version of the Windows for which you will be making this transfer are same. I was able to do the same in my college and hope that you will be able to do the same. You will be required to paste it in the C:\Windows folder. Let me get notified about the same.

[hip999]

Thank you. But the problem is that my Asus screen shows only the wallpaper. So when I insert a pendrive I have no way to access it that I know of.
Also, I could not find a file named explorer.exe on my other computer, even though that one works okay .... I used 'search' and then looked in C:Windows and could only find a folder named "Explorer" but no file named explorer.exe

[Bull50]

There are several reason behind the issue which you are getting. It might be possible that your system is running with the incompatible software which causes the crash to the system every time when the system starts. I need to know about the system configuration of yours because some time the system is unable to respond to lots of the process same time. So it is better ti disable all the unnecessary process from Start UP.

[hip999]

Thank you ... but I cannot actually access START (or anything else) ... I just get my wallpaper. This problem only started when I switched off the computer recently. It now says that "explorer.exe failed to intilialise" and I cannot find explorer.exe when I use Task Manager.

[Bull50]

OK, Are you able to access Explorer from the Task Manager. Just start the task Manager and Click on File> Select New Task> Type Explorer> Hit Enter. See whether this is helping to open the Explorer or not. It might be possible that Virus is killing explorer.exe process everytime computer starts. So if you can then go with the above process and let me know what you are getting with same.

[hip999]

I tried that, thank you ... but I get the message "The application failed to initialize properly (0xc0000005)" etc. This is the same message I get when I switch on the computer.
One idea I have is to link the Asus with my laptop (using USB to USB) and treat the Asus as an external drive, then to use my computer's AVG anti-virus to scan the Asus. Do you think that will work?

[Eru]

This will really work if the error message which you are getting is caused by virus. But as you are getting the error message "The application failed to initialize properly (0xc0000005)" which is caused by the incorrect installation of the Creative Labs Sound Blaster drivers. So it is better to uninstall the same and then try to access the computer. Click here for more solution.

[hip999]

Thank you again, but my problem remains that I cannot locate explorer.exe and I cannot access the START menu and I cannot search for any folders. So, when I try to do this (I have put my comments in [] brackets):
Click Start [I cannot access Start], point to Find, and then click Files Or Folders.
In the Named box, type sb16snd.sys sp16snd.dll, and then click Find Now.
Rename the Sb16snd.sys and Sb16snd.dll files to Sb16snd.old and Sb16snd.dl0. For information about how to rename a file in Windows, click Start, click Help, click the Index tab, type renaming: files, and then click Display.

[So, I cannot do any of the above. Therefore I tried below:]

If you cannot rename the files because they are in use, note the location of the Sb16snd.sys and Sb16snd.dll files [I cannot search for their locations], and then follow these steps:
Press CTRL+ALT+Delete, and then click Task Manager.
On the Processes tab, click Explorer.exe, and then click End Process.
On the File menu, click New Task.
In the Open box, type cmd
At the MS-DOS prompt, type cd\folder, where folder is the location of the Sb16snd.sys and Sb16snd.dll files [but I do not know that folder location].
Type the following lines, pressing ENTER after you type each line:
ren sb16snd.sys sb16snd.old
ren sb16snd.dll sb16snd.dl0
exit

[Expertz]

If you are on windows xp then try to repair it by following the guide here - How to repair Windows XP. If you choose not to do a Repair you might be able to boot into Safe Mode and run SFC /SCANNOW - Click Start>Run>type sfc /scannow, and you will need your Operating System CD for either of these operations.