What to Do If Windows Explorer has Stopped Working

Windows explorer is an important part of an operating systems on which the whole computing systems work. This system is developed with the purpose of acting as a mediating tool between the user and the processor. It provides access to an assortment of computing resources. It manages the drives, folders, and the files of the computer.

Computer resources can be used without using the file manager utility, however, for a beginner this function is a must because of the ease of understanding it offers. The alternate way of using the different functional aspects of the computer in a NT derived operating system is through the run commands.

In other operating systems the command prompt is used. There are a variety of problems a user comes across while using the computer. Problems may have their origin from corrupt files, unresolved errors, or a computer virus. Here are some of the options that may be used in dealing with such problems.

Scanning the files and folders on the hard drive validating it. Scans detect the problematic areas and provides options in dealing with it. It also displays the status of the governing systems of the computer. After you go into C drive, select properties from the context menu for checking the drive.

Then, go to tools tab and select the 'check now' button. When you select check now, you will find 2 options, make sure you click on both of them. Finally, press the start button.

Another thing you can try doing is to turn off user account control. Select the control panel first by clicking the start button. Here you find the user accounts. Select the appropriate account to either turn it off or make alterations to the privileges available.

The change in the account rights is initiated under a variety of situations. For example, for changing the firewall settings of the operating system, administrative rights are needed. To make major changes, administrative privileges are a must.

If your system is not updated, even that may create problems in smooth functioning of the windows. Go to start menu all programs and look for windows updates and software updates. Check if they are updated. If they are not, they need to be updated.

Driver updates for hardware also need to be checked from time to time. Negligence of updates has known to cause problems in windows vista.

Problems can also be encountered on account of a third party program or service. To sort this out, disabling the third party services and programs needs to be done, with the help of system configuration tool.

Go to start menu and type msconfig in the run option and switch to startup tab first and then get rid of all the entries there. Install an antivirus software to monitor all files and programs.

When you are done with this, switch to the services tab and select hide all Microsoft services, seen at the bottom. This will help third party services to be displayed. Disable those services and restart the computer after that is done. Not disabling the services may cause problems, while using Internet explorer 8.

There is a chance that missing or corrupt files are creating a problem. This problem can be clarified in the following manner.

• Click start and then type 'cmd' in the search option in the start menu.

• In the results, you would find cmd.exe. Click 'Run' as administrator.

• Here, you would be asked for the password for an administrator account.

• If you are the administrator, click continue or provide the administrator password. Click continue after that.

• When the command prompt comes on, type sfc/scannow and then press enter.

The computer security issue could be the culprit in this case.

Here is a last thing, you can try. Go to start menu and go to network. Click on organize - you would find it on the upper right corner of the window. Here, you would see a drop down box. There you will find a folder option below with 3 tabs at the upper right hand corner. Click on view there and select 'always show icons, never thumbnail'.

If all the given instructions do not give you a solution, you may contact a service engineer. These are just a few generic suggestions and may differ depending on your operating system - it could be a Windows vista or Windows 7.