Possible Solution: Explorer (desktop) crashes on startup

Question

I recently had a big problem with explorer crashing everytime I logged on to a user area. A message would pop up saying "explorer.exe failed to initialize properly" with an error code of 0xc0000006. The desktop icons would not load up and all I would get was the background picture and a cursor. I had to run everything through Task Manager and it was really irritating.

I understand some people are having the same problem, and like me, tried lots of different methods but to no avail. I found a solution to this, but this may just apply to my laptop I'm not sure, but it's worth trying if you've tried everything else.

Please note that this is for Windows XP Home Edition, other versions may not work.

The problem with mine was a file called uxtheme.dll was corrupted in the WINDOWS\system32 folder in C: drive. To fix it, I took the following steps:

1. When Windows loads up and there is a blank screen, press CTRL ALT DEL and Task Manager will appear. Click 'New Task' and type in 'cmd'. Hit enter.

2. A command prompt for DOS should pop up. Type in "cd\" at the command prompt and press enter to access C:\ only

3. Type "cd WINDOWS\system32\dllcache". This directory should now appear after C:\.

4. Copy uxtheme.dll to the windows32 directory with the command "copy uxtheme.dll ..\" (include the ..\ or it won't work)

5. Go back to Task Manager > New Task, and type in 'explorer' and press enter. The desktop should hopefully now re-appear!

I hope this helps anybody who has this problem, as I understand it can be ultra frustrating. Post up any problems you have in here and I'll try and help as I've been trying to battle this thing for weeks now. And please let me know if this is any help towards solveing the problem.

Thanks

Kron

Mignliz · Answer

I'm having the same problem, but do not get the error msg. The login begins and when Windows loads, there is a blank screen. I also have Windows XP Home Edition.

I tried your suggestion and it didn't work for me; couldn't find the file or path specified. It must be something different or in a different location on my hard drive... but thanks for the suggestion Kron.

Hope someone knows how to fix it; I can get around on the computer, but this stuff is beyond me...

Thanks again, Mignliz.

redwolfe_98 · Answer

i found two instances of 'uxtheme.dll' on my pc, running win xpsp2 home, one in c/windows/system32 and one in c/windows/servicepackfiles/i386..   kronologix, how did you know the problem was with the 'uxtheme.dll' file? Message Edited by redwolfe_98 on 08-20-2005 09:54 AM

Kronologik · Answer

Hi Mignliz

Have you ran any virus checks / adware checks recently? I suggest running the most up-to-date checkers before trying anything else.

If you have, do you have Windows XP Service Pack 2 installed on your computer? If not, I suggest trying to install it from http://www.soft32.com/download_992.html. Make sure you back up any important files before you go ahead with the install.

The way I found out about the uxtheme.dll file was during the Service Pack 2 installation, as an error message came up when trying to copy/replace the file. I ran a search for it on google and it came up with various people who had the same problem and I was able to use their advice to fix it. I also learned that it is not always the uxtheme.dll file that is corrupt, but can be a number of files in the system32 directory. I think our problem occurs after a failed or interrupted Windows Update, or installed software that is not compatible.

If you already have Service Pack 2 installed, I suggest uninstalling it and re-installing it as the most likely problem is an error when the original Service Pack 2 was installed. Hopefully the file that is corrupted will either be repaired when SP2 is reinstalled or it will inform you of which file needs the attention.

Let me know how you get on, and I hope this helps your situation.

Kronologik · Answer

Basically, I was reinstalling XP Service Pack 2 when an error message appeared telling me that it could not locate the uxtheme.dll file in the correct directory. So i ran a search for it on Google and I learned that the file could be corrupted and needs to be replaced by the uxtheme.dll file in the system32 cache. Once I copied it, everything was working fine.

Are you having the same problems?

Dyordz · Answer

I have tried deleting explorer exe in C:\Windows folder, restarted my pc, after wards works fine...

Windows General

Possible Solution: Explorer (desktop) crashes on startup

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