I think Windows Explorer is damaged. How can I repair it? The CD that came with the PC is only an image!?

Question

My PC has all the latest upgrades. But recently it has started to go very slow when opening files and folders. Also, it's reported a couple of Explorer related errors. Sometimes it takes ages to even shut down. Frequent scans for viruses and other malware have come up clean. The Windows CD that came with the PC is only a disk image, I'll wipe the entire disk if I use that. I already bought Windows once so I don't fancy buying it again just to get Windows Explorer fixed (Isn't Bill rich enough?). Is there an exe file of Explorere I can download? If I copy the exe from my friends's PC will it work?

Answer 1

I am willing to bet that there is nothing wrong with your windows explorer. You may have a physical problem with memory, virtual memory. The first place to start is in your task manager. When something is loading slow it will show in the task manager under Processes. Click on the column header Mem Usage to sort the processes by which are using the most memory. What happens is when you run out of RAM the system has to go to the drive and this slows everything down.

A good place to go to find out what is really running on your system is http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/ProcessExplorer.html

Using that free download you can figure out what is using up your system resources and take it from there.

Answer 2

Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and start again... Explorer (if you mean Windows Explorer and not Internet Explorer) might work by copying the file from your friend's PC, you can always make a copy of your file before you copy over it with your friend's. However, both myself and my partner have experienced machines where you just have to start again.

Have you got any PC-savvy friends or work colleagues that can have a look before you re-install? They may be able to help with more specific issues.