Explorer Crashed?

[BlazinDragon]

Im not sure what has happened here, 2 days ago, my computer restarts and i press ctrl + alt + del so that i can remove all programs except explorer. Now what has happened is that when i press ctrl + alt + del i dont see explorer anywhere in the list. However everything is working perfectly fine, maybe a tiny bit slow. So im wondering what has gone wrong and how to fix it.

Here are some stats:

Windows: Win ME
Cable: Cogeco cable
Affecting performance: Not that i can see
Occoured before?: Not to my knowledge
Can you fix it?: Me? No *laughs*
Need help: Duh! Why do you think i posted this eh?!

Anyways here are the specs and i hope this gives you something to base some help for me on, cuz this is weird...

[Cpp]

Are you sure you haven't overlooked it? Scroll down the page.
If explorer wasn't running then you would probably not see the task bar.

[BlazinDragon]

everything is running fine, but when i type ctrl+alt+del it dosent show explorer anywhere. (I delete all programs at start-up so i cant have missed it). Anyways, i can see the task bar and everything, desktop is fine, resolution is fine, colours are fine, its just that explorer dosent show on the crtl+alt+del menu, and im wondering if its a virus or bug. If so, how do i fix it? (preferably not re-installing the computer because my family would kill me, cuz i crashed it not 2 weeks ago) so please gimme another option!!! *panick* :O :O :O :O

[Cpp]

What happens if you run windows in a safe mode (press F5 when booting). Does it show in safe mode? If not then go to... start => run... => type "mscomfig" and press enter. Try to do a diagnostic startup. This will disable all externally loaded programs so if it was a virus it should not work in diagnostic mode. See if you can locate explorer then.

One more thing! If you can't locate explorer in your task bar it is possibly hidden or the program is not running. To see if explorer IS running but is not shown in task bar go to your windows folder, locate a file named explorer.exe and try to rename it!

- If you succeed in renaming it then it is NOT running and something may be wrong with your windows. You may want to rename it back to explorer.exe.

-If it says the file is being used by another program/windows then the program is running but it is not shown in the task manager.

I do not have a clue how windows ME task manager looks like but try getting some external task monitoring tool/spy/process explorer or several.

[Kaz]

Do a virus scan at the very least. No error pops up saying that explorer doesn't show up?

And OV: ME CAD display window isn't different from 95. Titles of the window/program are shown, cryptic if not user friendly, and processes do hide on there.

[BlazinDragon]

well, i tried renaming it, it didnt work, so its running, but it dosent show in the close program menu. And i dont think a virus scan would work becasue it wouldnt fix it first, and second i dont have a virus scaning device (if you dont count Scandisk)

[blurredd]

What about AVG Anti-Virus (http://www.grisoft.com/)?

[Trafton]

everything is running fine, but when i type ctrl+alt+del it dosent show explorer anywhere. (I delete all programs at start-up so i cant have missed it). Anyways, i can see the task bar and everything, desktop is fine, resolution is fine, colours are fine, its just that explorer dosent show on the crtl+alt+del menu, and im wondering if its a virus or bug.
I doubt it is a virus.

well, i tried renaming it, it didnt work, so its running
...Wait. You tried renaming explorer.exe? As in, the file, or the startup entry, or both? If it is the former, don't do that again.

but it dosent show in the close program menu.
Rule of Computers #1: If it isn't stopping you from using it, it isn't worth fixing. Something like this can sometimes be an indication of a deeper problem, but I doubt it in this case. Trying to fix it could just cause an entirely new, much more major problem, especially if you are not sure what you are doing.
And i dont think a virus scan would work becasue it wouldnt fix it first
What?
and second i dont have a virus scaning device (if you dont count Scandisk)
ScanDisk is not a virus scanning program, although it can detect problems caused by a few, very old viruses. It is a program intended to check for problems with the way files are stored on the hard drive.

Also, what are you doing without an antivirus program? Blur mentioned AVG, which is a good, free program. There's no practical reason not to have an antivirus program.

~ Traft

[BlazinDragon]

sorry ^^'. Well, hopefully im getting a new AV program soon, my parents talked about it, and it gonna be norton or mcafee.

Explorer still dosent show up, but its not presenting any problems so ive almost given up trying to fix it. But still, when ever i dont see explorer there it sorta freaks me out cuz it makes me think i crashed the computer all over again! ^^'''