# Stop Explorer.exe from starting



## Saron2

I am not going to be using one of my computers for computing reasons and i have coded my own menu type thing. I want my menu to load (its fullscreen) instead of explorer.exe but still want to beable to start explorer (by starting that new proccess if i want it. 

Is it somewhere in the registry that points to load explorer.exe that i can change to the loaction of my program?


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## PC eye

Welcome to the Computer Forum! http://www.computerforum.com/70672-official-welcome-thread.html Just a reminder here for all new members to review the http://www.computerforum.com/52038-forum-rules.html

 The explorer.exe file has to be loaded for Windows to function. That's about the one single most important file to load otherwise the desktop is useless since not much will work. One idea there for your custom menu would be to load it with a virtual machine so it will run independent of Windows there. If it had an MS dos base you could run it through a virtual dos window using a freeware known as DOSBox.


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## munkyeetr

This might work for you if you are using XP:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon

You may want to have a way to fix that registry key if things don't work out and you can't boot back into Windows and get to the registry. Good luck.


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## Saron2

ya but i dont need explorer to work because its just the graphical side of windows and my thing has its own GUI. 

but i still need to access some of windows files thats why im not just running it from dos 


someone told me that i could just have the registry point to my app and if i ever need explorer just alt control delete - new proccess and start it from there


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## Draco Malfoy

>> The explorer.exe file has to be loaded for Windows to function. <<

No it doesn't.  You can use your own custom shell.  Who needs the desktop anyway.  There are even alternatives to Windows explorer desktop, like the ReactOS desktop.  You can even make cmd.exe your shell.  If you really do want to start explorer, just type explorer, or use taskmgr to load it.


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## jschake

*Windows Shell*

Explorer does not need to start for windows to function I have many Library computers that load just internet explorer plus kiosk computers that load specific software.
go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon and if the explorer shell isn't there create it (if you have a certain user you want to load the shell from) right click the creat string then type shell then edit the value by typing in the folder the exe is in.

c:\foldername\exename.exe

or if the shell is there just replace the value  explorer.exe with c:\foldername\exename.exe


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## solarwinds

hi ,
i have a local network with main server and domain , i tried changing the key , it worked but only on pc the other pc's when they boot the go directly to ( my documents) not to the software that i wanted to start , i gave all computers administrative permetions but still going to my documents  , i almost tried everything form the main server and the local machine but still the same thing , but it is working on 1 machine !!! please help


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## voyagerfan99

solarwinds said:


> hi ,
> i have a local network with main server and domain , i tried changing the key , it worked but only on pc the other pc's when they boot the go directly to ( my documents) not to the software that i wanted to start , i gave all computers administrative permetions but still going to my documents  , i almost tried everything form the main server and the local machine but still the same thing , but it is working on 1 machine !!! please help



Please start a new thread. Don't post in an old thread.


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## S.T.A.R.S.

*Solution to this problem...*

This really is an old thread lol,but it seems that many people are having problems with this.So I made you all a small program that actually solves your problem.The program looks like this:






You can download it from here:

http://www.sendspace.com/file/gotmg7


HOW TO USE IT ON WINDOWS STARTUP:

It's so damn simple. Just extract the downloaded file and then open that extracted folder called "PROCESS KILLER AND PROGRAM STARTER" and in it you will find 4 files.One of them is called "PROCESS KILLER AND PROGRAM STARTER.exe".So now simply copy that file called "PROCESS KILLER AND PROGRAM STARTER" and paste the shortcut in your STARTUP directory.For example:

C:\Documents and Settings\Your User Account Name\Start Menu\Programs\Startup\

This will enable the program to run when the Windows starts up.

HOW TO USE THIS PROGRAM TO DO EVERYTHING AUTOMATICALLY WHEN WINDOWS HAS STARTED UP:

This is even more simple lol.In the first blank field write the name of the process you want to be terminated when Windows starts up.For example "explorer.exe".In the second field write the full path to the program you want to open.For example:

C:\Program Files\My own program.exe

Also be sure to check the check box below these 2 fields.





Cheers everyone!


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## tlarkin

^^

How does your program work if the OS is told to keep alive the process.  If you kill explorer.exe I assume Windows will just restart it.  You need to modify the service or system daemon that is launching  .exe file most likely.  Which is most likely a registry key somewhere.


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## Cromewell

tlarkin said:


> ^^
> 
> How does your program work if the OS is told to keep alive the process.  If you kill explorer.exe I assume Windows will just restart it.  You need to modify the service or system daemon that is launching  .exe file most likely.  Which is most likely a registry key somewhere.



I don't think windows will always restart explorer. I know on my work machine I have to restart it manually whenever I kill it.

As for this being an old thread, I don't think there's anything wrong with reusing it for the same problem


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## tlarkin

Cromewell said:


> I don't think windows will always restart explorer. I know on my work machine I have to restart it manually whenever I kill it.
> 
> As for this being an old thread, I don't think there's anything wrong with reusing it for the same problem



I just don't use Windows that much anymore these days.  I figure any modern OS that has a process that is required for a GUI to run properly, would relaunch automatically if killed or crashed.  I know linux and Mac OS X do that.


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## S.T.A.R.S.

"explorer.exe" WILL restart automatically,but ONLY if it was terminated because some program overloaded it for no reason and therefore Windows could not handle that and its automatically restarted.BUT if the "explorer.exe" is terminated by the user or in this case by this small program,the "explorer.exe" will NOT restart automatically unless you go to the Task Manager and start it from there again.So feel free to try this.It works like charm.I wouldn't put it here if it's not working lol.


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## solarwinds

@voyagerfan99
sorry my friend i did not know how things work around here and that i have to start new thread .
 @S.T.A.R.S. 
thank you very much for this little program  i tried everything but regardless of  what type of permission the users have it always starts "my documents" not the program i wanted it to start , but if i login using my administrator password the software will run !!!


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## S.T.A.R.S.

solarwinds said:


> @voyagerfan99
> sorry my friend i did not know how things work around here and that i have to start new thread .
> @S.T.A.R.S.
> thank you very much for this little program  i tried everything but regardless of  what type of permission the users have it always starts "my documents" not the program i wanted it to start , but if i login using my administrator password the software will run !!!



So did my program solve your problem  ?


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