Tag Archives: explorer.exe

explorer.exe iertutil.dll was not found

Computer Aid Posted on by

This XP PC would start up, get to the point of showing a light blue screen (with a mouse pointer), and then display the message:

Explorer.exe: unable to locate component

This application has failed to start because iertutil.dll was not found

I also cannot get task manager to start, so there is little I can do in this mode.

I try safe mode, but thats the same (except the administrator user is password protected… I’ll remove the password if there is no easier option).

Some searching shows that downloading (or copying from another XP machine) iertutil.dll, and then placing it into c:windowssystem32 will fix the problem.

So I start XP in safe mode with command prompt, plug in my USB drive (with iertutil.dll), and use the DOS copy command to put iertutil.dll in the correct place.

When I restart the PC, I see that IE8 continues an interrupted update process.

So it looks like something went wrong with an IE8 update.

After a bit more looking around, I also notice the hard drive only has 3Gb space left (out of 80Gb).

I get the feeling that the low amount of space might have somehow contributed to this problem.

Anyway, IE8 updates correctly, and I clear up some space by removing some junk from the HDD, and then run a defrag.

After all that, the computer is running very nicely.

Its good to work on something that isn’t infected for a change!

no taskbar, no desktop icons, no right click

Computer Aid Posted on by

This infected XP system was strange.

After starting the PC, and logging in, all I get is a blank desktop (it actually has a backdrop picture, but nothing else).

There is no taskbar, no desktop icons, and and right click on the desktop generates no popup menu.

All I can do is ctrl-alt-del to run task manager.

I then try to run explorer, but I get the message:

windows cannot find c:windowsexplorer.exe blah blah blah

I hit browse, and take a look into the windows folder, and find explorer.exe just sitting there, together with explorer(2).exe

I try running explorer(2).exe and it starts windows explorer, but nothing else… Normally, starting explorer manually, should also start the taskbar, etc… not not in this case.

I use the “currently running” explorer to double-click on explorer.exe, but I still get the “windows cannot find c:windowsexplorer.exe” etc etc

I try reimage.com (I have a trial version, so I’ve been waiting for a stuffed PC to try it out), but it fails to fix the problem.

OK, back to the usual way of fixing things:

I remove the HDD, and scan it from the office PC. I finds about 10 infections, and clean them up.

I put the HDD back in the PC, but the mysterious explorer.exe still refuses to work.

I start searching the net for solutions.

For once, I find many solutions… too many solutions… and none of them work until I eventually find:

run regedit

go to: HKLMSOFTWAREMicrosoftWindows NTCurrentVersionImage File Execution Optionsexplorer.exe

rename the explorer.exe entry to something like explorer.exx

reboot PC

Problem solved!