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explorer restarting, no thumbnails, start menu not working

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This thread's last reply is from . Advice, software, and links below may be out of date — treat specific steps and download links with caution.

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Post #1
If i do simple things like empty my recycle bin or sometimes even close a window it pops up with explorer.exe has stopped working and then it restarts. Furthermore I have no thumbnails on my desktop or in any folder for that matter not even on the left side panel. Also, my start menu does not work, it lights up when i hover over it but nothing happens when i click it. I can, however, right click on it, which brings up two options, Properties and Open Windows Explorer. The problem started out as all my thumbnails being that picture which shows when you have a file with no program associated with opening it. I then updated my windows and then all the above mentioned happened. I have tried restarting several times. Please help, I have been living with this for over a month now…
Post #2
My first reaction is you have picked up some kind of nasty malware. Go to the Spyware / Malware / Virus Removal forum, read the info there and follow the posted directions. Once you receive a clean bill of health, come back here if you have any additional questions or concerns or it turns out not to be a malware problem.

Please be patient as that is a very busy area. If you do not receive a response in 3 days, post a message here: What To Do If You Have No Response In 3 Days?

Do not reply to your post there as the malware folks look for posts with no replies first.
Post #4 last edited
I read through your malware thread. Looks like some small stuff got cleaned up but nothing serious.

  • Click on Start, type command prompt.
  • Right click on Command Prompt at the top of the window and select Run as Administrator.
  • In the Command Prompt Window, type (or copy and paste) sfc /scannow and press Enter.
Vista and Windows 7 tell you if there were and problems, XP does not. You can examine the SFC results as follows:

Open a Command Prompt (does not have to be as Administrator):
  • Type (or copy and paste) findstr /c:"[SR]" %windir%\logs\cbs\cbs.log >sfcdetails.txt and press Enter.
  • Type (or copy and paste) notepad sfcdetails.txt and press Enter.

Let's see what it finds and if it helps.
Post #7
2012-06-10 02:16:53, Info CSI 00000009 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:16:53, Info CSI 0000000a [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:16:58, Info CSI 0000000c [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:16:58, Info CSI 0000000d [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:16:58, Info CSI 0000000e [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:17:03, Info CSI 00000010 [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:17:04, Info CSI 00000011 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:17:04, Info CSI 00000012 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:17:09, Info CSI 00000014 [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:17:10, Info CSI 00000015 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:17:10, Info CSI 00000016 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:17:14, Info CSI 00000018 [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:17:14, Info CSI 00000019 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:17:14, Info CSI 0000001a [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:17:19, Info CSI 0000001c [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:17:20, Info CSI 0000001d [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:17:20, Info CSI 0000001e [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:17:24, Info CSI 00000020 [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:17:25, Info CSI 00000021 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:17:25, Info CSI 00000022 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:17:30, Info CSI 00000024 [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:17:31, Info CSI 00000025 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:17:31, Info CSI 00000026 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:17:35, Info CSI 00000028 [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:17:35, Info CSI 00000029 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:17:35, Info CSI 0000002a [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:17:38, Info CSI 0000002c [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:17:39, Info CSI 0000002d [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:17:39, Info CSI 0000002e [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:17:44, Info CSI 00000030 [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:17:44, Info CSI 00000031 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:17:44, Info CSI 00000032 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:17:51, Info CSI 00000034 [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:17:51, Info CSI 00000035 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:17:51, Info CSI 00000036 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:17:57, Info CSI 0000003b [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:17:57, Info CSI 0000003c [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:17:57, Info CSI 0000003d [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:18:03, Info CSI 00000040 [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:18:03, Info CSI 00000041 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:18:03, Info CSI 00000042 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:18:09, Info CSI 00000046 [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:18:09, Info CSI 00000047 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:18:09, Info CSI 00000048 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:18:31, Info CSI 00000052 [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:18:31, Info CSI 00000053 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:18:31, Info CSI 00000054 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:18:46, Info CSI 00000056 [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:18:46, Info CSI 00000057 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:18:46, Info CSI 00000058 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:18:53, Info CSI 0000005a [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:18:53, Info CSI 0000005b [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:18:53, Info CSI 0000005c [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:19:00, Info CSI 0000005e [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:19:00, Info CSI 0000005f [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:19:00, Info CSI 00000060 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:19:07, Info CSI 00000062 [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:19:08, Info CSI 00000063 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:19:08, Info CSI 00000064 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:19:20, Info CSI 00000068 [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:19:20, Info CSI 00000069 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:19:20, Info CSI 0000006a [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:19:30, Info CSI 0000006c [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:19:30, Info CSI 0000006d [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:19:30, Info CSI 0000006e [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:19:46, Info CSI 00000070 [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:19:46, Info CSI 00000071 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:19:46, Info CSI 00000072 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:19:55, Info CSI 00000074 [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:19:55, Info CSI 00000075 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:19:55, Info CSI 00000076 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:19:58, Info CSI 00000078 [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:19:59, Info CSI 00000079 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:19:59, Info CSI 0000007a [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:20:01, Info CSI 0000007c [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:20:01, Info CSI 0000007d [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:20:01, Info CSI 0000007e [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:20:10, Info CSI 00000092 [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:20:10, Info CSI 00000093 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:20:10, Info CSI 00000094 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:20:16, Info CSI 000000a0 [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:20:16, Info CSI 000000a1 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:20:16, Info CSI 000000a2 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:20:20, Info CSI 000000a4 [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:20:20, Info CSI 000000a5 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:20:20, Info CSI 000000a6 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:20:25, Info CSI 000000a8 [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:20:26, Info CSI 000000a9 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:20:26, Info CSI 000000aa [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:20:31, Info CSI 000000ac [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:20:32, Info CSI 000000ad [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:20:32, Info CSI 000000ae [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:20:40, Info CSI 000000b1 [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:20:40, Info CSI 000000b2 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:20:40, Info CSI 000000b3 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:20:47, Info CSI 000000b5 [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:20:48, Info CSI 000000b6 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:20:48, Info CSI 000000b7 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:20:51, Info CSI 000000b9 [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:20:52, Info CSI 000000ba [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:20:52, Info CSI 000000bb [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:20:59, Info CSI 000000bd [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:20:59, Info CSI 000000be [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:20:59, Info CSI 000000bf [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:21:05, Info CSI 000000c1 [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:21:06, Info CSI 000000c2 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:21:06, Info CSI 000000c3 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:21:12, Info CSI 000000c5 [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:21:12, Info CSI 000000c6 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:21:12, Info CSI 000000c7 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:21:24, Info CSI 000000ca [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:21:24, Info CSI 000000cb [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:21:24, Info CSI 000000cc [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:21:36, Info CSI 000000f1 [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:21:36, Info CSI 000000f2 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:21:36, Info CSI 000000f3 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:21:45, Info CSI 000000f5 [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:21:46, Info CSI 000000f6 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:21:46, Info CSI 000000f7 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:22:21, Info CSI 000000f9 [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:22:21, Info CSI 000000fa [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:22:21, Info CSI 000000fb [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:22:31, Info CSI 000000fd [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:22:32, Info CSI 000000fe [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:22:32, Info CSI 000000ff [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:22:40, Info CSI 00000101 [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:22:41, Info CSI 00000102 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:22:41, Info CSI 00000103 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:22:47, Info CSI 00000105 [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:22:48, Info CSI 00000106 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:22:48, Info CSI 00000107 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:22:53, Info CSI 00000109 [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:22:54, Info CSI 0000010a [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:22:54, Info CSI 0000010b [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:23:00, Info CSI 0000010e [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:23:01, Info CSI 0000010f [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:23:01, Info CSI 00000110 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:23:17, Info CSI 00000112 [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:23:17, Info CSI 00000113 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:23:17, Info CSI 00000114 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:23:25, Info CSI 00000117 [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:23:26, Info CSI 00000118 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:23:26, Info CSI 00000119 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:23:42, Info CSI 0000011b [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:23:43, Info CSI 0000011c [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:23:43, Info CSI 0000011d [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:24:01, Info CSI 0000011f [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:24:01, Info CSI 00000120 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:24:01, Info CSI 00000121 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:24:24, Info CSI 00000124 [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:24:24, Info CSI 00000125 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:24:24, Info CSI 00000126 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:24:32, Info CSI 00000128 [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:24:33, Info CSI 00000129 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:24:33, Info CSI 0000012a [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:24:43, Info CSI 0000012c [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:24:44, Info CSI 0000012d [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:24:44, Info CSI 0000012e [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:24:55, Info CSI 00000131 [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:24:55, Info CSI 00000132 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:24:55, Info CSI 00000133 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:25:02, Info CSI 00000135 [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:25:03, Info CSI 00000136 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:25:03, Info CSI 00000137 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:25:22, Info CSI 00000139 [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:25:22, Info CSI 0000013a [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:25:22, Info CSI 0000013b [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:25:39, Info CSI 0000013e [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:25:39, Info CSI 0000013f [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:25:39, Info CSI 00000140 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:25:47, Info CSI 00000142 [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:25:47, Info CSI 00000143 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:25:47, Info CSI 00000144 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:25:57, Info CSI 00000146 [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:25:58, Info CSI 00000147 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:25:58, Info CSI 00000148 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:26:18, Info CSI 0000014a [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:26:18, Info CSI 0000014b [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:26:18, Info CSI 0000014c [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:26:30, Info CSI 0000014e [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:26:31, Info CSI 0000014f [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:26:31, Info CSI 00000150 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:26:36, Info CSI 00000152 [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:26:36, Info CSI 00000153 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:26:36, Info CSI 00000154 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:26:51, Info CSI 00000156 [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:26:51, Info CSI 00000157 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:26:51, Info CSI 00000158 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:27:04, Info CSI 0000015a [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:27:05, Info CSI 0000015b [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:27:05, Info CSI 0000015c [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:27:11, Info CSI 0000015e [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:27:12, Info CSI 0000015f [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:27:12, Info CSI 00000160 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:27:18, Info CSI 00000162 [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:27:18, Info CSI 00000163 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:27:18, Info CSI 00000164 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:27:34, Info CSI 00000166 [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:27:34, Info CSI 00000167 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:27:34, Info CSI 00000168 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:27:56, Info CSI 0000016a [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:27:56, Info CSI 0000016b [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:27:56, Info CSI 0000016c [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:28:05, Info CSI 0000016e [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:28:05, Info CSI 0000016f [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:28:05, Info CSI 00000170 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:28:12, Info CSI 00000172 [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:28:12, Info CSI 00000173 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:28:12, Info CSI 00000174 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:28:15, Info CSI 00000176 [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:28:15, Info CSI 00000177 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:28:15, Info CSI 00000178 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:28:20, Info CSI 0000017a [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:28:20, Info CSI 0000017b [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:28:20, Info CSI 0000017c [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:28:24, Info CSI 0000017e [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:28:25, Info CSI 0000017f [SR] Verifying 100 (0x00000064) components 2012-06-10 02:28:25, Info CSI 00000180 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:28:32, Info CSI 00000182 [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:28:32, Info CSI 00000183 [SR] Verifying 43 (0x0000002b) components 2012-06-10 02:28:32, Info CSI 00000184 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:28:34, Info CSI 00000186 [SR] Verify complete 2012-06-10 02:28:34, Info CSI 00000187 [SR] Repairing 0 components 2012-06-10 02:28:34, Info CSI 00000188 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2012-06-10 02:28:34, Info CSI 0000018a [SR] Repair complete
Post #8
That looks clean.

Try creating a new account via Control Panel / User Accounts. See if the problem exists there. If not, you can keep the new account and copy all your data from the old account to the new one. See here for details: Fix a corrupted user profile

Keep the old account for a bit until your sure all is well then delete it via User Accounts.
Post #9
The problem, unfortunately still exists on the new profile. No thumbnails, no start menu, and also I've just realized no items in the main control panel menu. Hope this helps :notworthy:

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