does the explorer always run?

i have noticed that running adaware that the explorer is always busy. also i will be just listening to music and when i try to shut down the computer i'll get the busy thingie and it is always the explorer. does it run all of the time?
been getting that annoying notice that the explorer has encountered problems and needs to shut down and would i like to send a report? i do and it keeps on
and on then it will send me back to my homepage just like nothing happened.
spybot finds nothing i get congradulations on just about every run. any ideas oh yeah windows freezes just before, sometimes. hal is going to drive me totally crazy one of these days! running windows 98 se with all of the armour necessary these days and can someone please tell me how to do paragraphs!!!! i thought i had it but..guess not. thanks people

 

Jan,

Are you referring to Windows Explorer or Internet Explorer? Windows Explorer is your GUI shell and will be there in the back ground when you run Windows. If it is hanging, then you have a possible problem with one of its component files or the Explorer file.

George

 

jan roberts--

That sounds like Internet Explorer to me. I do not think Windows Explorer has any "Error Reporting Program ".
What to do about it? First of all, try to find the source of the problem. Do you run Dr. Watson? Do a Find on *.wlg. If you find any such logs, open the one(s) dated when the error occurred and copy the error. Is there any option in that Error Reporting window to "Click Here" or "Details" --either before or after you send the report? That would provide some information.
Post the error here.

If you run AdAware after you have opened Internet Explorer, then it will be in Running Processes in the AdAware log. (Is that what you mean by "busy "?) Nothing to worry about there.
And the errors and hanging could indeed be a function of too many programs running, especially when listening to music while you perform other tasks and are using Win98.
Do you run ScanDisk and Defragment from time to time?
Look in Start|Run|type msconfig|OK|Startup tab. Do you have a lot of checked boxes to left of the various programs listed ? These are the programs that start at boot. You really do not need many programs to start at boot--just things like ScanReg, SysTray, TaskMonitor (though many would disagree), Load Power Profile, Antivirus, Firewall and perhaps Dr.Watson. The rest should be started just when you need to run them--like Internet Explorer, Media Player, etc. Uncheck those other boxes and reboot.
And do you run ScanDisk and Defragment from time to time? Might be a good idea.

P.S. At the risk of learning something new ( )

I don't think TonyT really meant that. I am no expert about what program provides the graphical interface (GUI). (iclarius feels the GUI is one of the functions of explorer.exe (Windows Explorer), which sounds logical.) But I do not think there are two explorer.exe files in C:\Windows. It would be unusual for Windows to permit two programs with the same name to be in the same directory.
As TonyT said later, there are two different files--explorer.exe and iexplore.exe. The former is Windows Explorer; the latter is Internet Explorer.
(It is possible to open explorer.exe in different formats by changing the switches in the shortcut command, but that is a bit technical, and it still is Windows Explorer.
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;130510 )

 

ok guys,i think i got a really big problem, didnt have put in*.wlg on dr watson
i clicked on dr watson and he told me that "windows kb891711 component has altered windows system files,module name, kb891711.exe. now what? do i take it out? help!

 

Is it a possibility that a wrong Windows update was installed ?

Or one did not install properly ?

BillyBob

 

Jan,

Windows KBXXXXXX is the Windows update file name. If you go to http://www.Microsoft.com you can do a search for the KB (knowledgeBase) file and see exactly what that file is supposed to fix.

George

 

this is an update, i went to microsoft and read about known issues with kb891711. then i checked msconfig for start-up and there it sits and they are talking about installing a kb891711 dated 4/12/05 (guess when i downloaded it? yep 4/12/05 should i uncheck the box in start-up or what? you know i dont know if this has anything to do with the way the explorer (interent) sorry i forget about windows explorer sometimes 1 is enough. i am not going to do anything until i hear from you. if the internet explorer gets tired and has close i'll send a report every time that box comes up i click send report that ought to keep them busy. if windows wants to freeze, ill just outwait it.
thanks again still why did kb891711 alter windows systems files???hey this means that hal didnt do it!

 

In the case that I had ( with that update ) A LONG time ago it was a case of ME THE USER not doing a good job of reading before downloading\installing.

But I can not and will not make any suggestions what to do about it. It was TOO LONG ago.

But I THINK it had to do with certain hard/software.

BillyBob

 

jan roberts--

Yes, follow the procedures in that MSKB article, including reinstalling if needed
http://www.microsoft.com/security/bulletins/200501_windows.mspx Reboot.
Of course if you continue to have the problem, then post back.

 

ok this is an update i got rid of auto update, i unchecked kb891711 from the start-up in mgconfig. didnt remove from add/remove and checked with microsoft update history (of course it was successful). and dr watson now say that there is" nothing unusual" big change from what he said yesterday
so i dont know maybe it made it mistake? according to belarc i still have that hot fix in the machine. we will see. thanks you people are on the ball about helping us with our dear computers. still jan

 

I did not think so either. So I just looked and in the 98SE C:\Windows folder there are two Explorer files. I checked on both 98SE machines.

One with a folder icon is Explorer scf 80 in size- Win explorer Command.
One with a PC icon is Explorer.exe 100,224 in size- Application

But guess what. Double Clicking on either does the some thing by bring up Windows Explorer.

Two files but different names apparrently doing the same job.

BillyBob

 

Billy Bob--Thanks for the clarification. So there are not two explorer.exe files, but one explorer.exe and one explorer.scf.
Explorer.scf is the Windows Explorer Command file
http://filext.com/detaillist.php?extdetail=scf&Submit3=Go!

 

You are Welcome.

I just checked and other than to size of Explorer.exe things are the same in XP Pro.

I would call this a case of;

Helping
Learning ( for me anyway )
Clarification.

BillyBob

 

To clarify further, the Explorer.scf file, unlike Explorer.exe, can be edited by opening it in Notepad or any text editor. You will see that it has a text format and command lines, much like an INI file. You can change the command line to perform different tasks. The SCF file will never have an extension visible in Windows Explorer. It is a unique type of file in that regard.

Can you understand how dangerous this file could be? Since it has no visible extension and can execute the code it contains, there is the possibility of someone fooling you into opening what you think is a file named safe.txt when in reality it named safe.txt.scf (you won't see the .scf remember) and could very well contain malicious code to damage your system.

Although it isn't as easy as I have outlined, it can and has been done.

The point I am trying to make is, and SCF file's name doesn't necessarily tell you what it is going to do. You can change the name of Explorer.scf to Whatever.scf and it will function the same. Likewise, you can direct the icon to some other source and make the file look like nearly any type you want.