Task Manager Processes

  • Thread starter Thread starter Tom Brown
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T

Tom Brown

When I look at Task Manager, I see eight separate instances of EXPLORER.EXE
running ... all in High Base Priority. Most are taking up about 2,732K of
Memory Usege but one is at 39,704K. Is this normal?

TIA,

Tom
 
Tom Brown said:
When I look at Task Manager, I see eight separate instances of EXPLORER.EXE
running ... all in High Base Priority. Most are taking up about 2,732K of
Memory Usege but one is at 39,704K. Is this normal?
Click to expand...

Yes, this is the main task, the one that is loaded when Windows
starts.
 
Hi, There should only be *one* instance of "explorer.exe" If you have 8 I
would suggest a virus scan.
 
Tom said:
When I look at Task Manager, I see eight separate instances of
EXPLORER.EXE running ... all in High Base Priority. Most are taking
up about 2,732K of Memory Usege but one is at 39,704K. Is this
normal?

TIA,
Click to expand...

Tom

This is not normal.
It depends on how many instances of Windows Explorer or My Computer you have
open at the time. There will always be one instance of explorer.exe, which
is the current user interface that is running. None of these should be
running at high priority unless you have changed that setting. Do not
mistake "explorer.exe" with "iexplorer.exe" which is the Internet Explorer
Browser.

It's also possible that you have a virus. Check the following website for
details and removal instructions.

Symantec Security Response - W32.Aplore@mm:
http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/[email protected]


--
Ronnie Vernon
Microsoft MVP-Windows Shell/User

Please reply to the newsgroup so all may benefit.
http://www.dts-l.org
http://www.mvps.org
 
I forgot to mention that when I have these eight instances EXPLORER.EXE
running, I have shut down ALL Windows apps and I am just looking at the
desktop. Also, I have not changed anything about the priority that I know
of. Is there a way to change the priority?

I have Kaspersky AV running and it did not find anything in a full-system
check. I'll check that link you gave me though.

Thanks,

Tom
 
Tom said:
I forgot to mention that when I have these eight instances
EXPLORER.EXE running, I have shut down ALL Windows apps and I am just
looking at the desktop. Also, I have not changed anything about the
priority that I know of. Is there a way to change the priority?

I have Kaspersky AV running and it did not find anything in a
full-system check. I'll check that link you gave me though.

Thanks,
Click to expand...

Tom

You need to do some troubleshooting on this behavior.

Reboot the system and after the desktop appears, start the Task Manager and
see if more than one instance of explorer.exe is running. If not, leave the
Task Manager visible and go about your normal routine to try and determine
at what point the extra instances appear.

Go to Start/Run and type: eventvwr.msc and press OK. In the event
Viewer, click on each of the items in the left
side menu and look for any X error or warning messages that correspond to
the last time this behavior happened.
Double click the entry to see the details of the error/warning. This may
give you a clue as to what program/hardware is causing the problem.
Click the small icon at the right of this details box that looks like 2
small text pages. This will copy the error message details
and you can paste this info in a reply to this message for us to take a
look.

Another thing to look at is Start/Run, type: msinfo32 and press OK.
Expand the Components item and click on the
Problem Devices item. If there is an entry for a hardware device there, it
could be where the problem is coming from.
--
Ronnie Vernon
Microsoft MVP-Windows Shell/User

Please reply to the newsgroup so all may benefit.
http://www.dts-l.org
http://www.mvps.org
 
Ronnie,

I really appreciate your attention on this problem with me.

You may note that I also posted a problem at the same time entitled "Desktop
Shortcut Problems" that no one has responded to. I believe these two are
related. I have some shortcuts on my Desktop and Quick Launch Bar that do
not function properly. When I click on them, I get the Hour Glass for about
5 seconds and then it does nothing else. I have determined that each time I
do this, I get another instance of Explore.exe in the Task Manager. By the
way, each new instance has the High priority while the original one has
Normal Priority.

The Icons and shortcuts on the Desktop that don't function are:
My Computer
My Documents
Printers and Faxes
I also dragged a copy of My Computer into the Quick Launch Bar and it is
also inop.

I also noted that David Smith posted a similar problem on 12/18/2003. I
don't know if he has
resolved his problem or not but I have sent him a private email about it.

I note that when I try to Shut Down or Restart after attempting to use one
of these Shortcuts, I sometimes have to End Process on either SysFader or
ProxyDesktop. I have no clue what either one of these is, but I also posted
problem reports about them a few days ago. This problem has been driving me
crazy for a few weeks now.

I am way ahead of you on the Events Viewer. I even have a Shortcut to the
Events Viewer on my Desktop (which works correctly). I have not had a RedX
in a few days so I don't think that's directly related to this problem
.... which is ongoing 100% of the time.

I show no Problem Devices in Msinfo32.

One other clue might be that I have numerous instances of Svchost.exe
running. Immediately after a reboot, I have 5 instances, 3 owned by System,
1 by Local Service and 1 by Network Service.

It appears that whatever is causing my Shortcuts not to work is the basis of
my problems so I have just deleted those Shortcuts.

Any more suggestions will be appreciated and again, thanks.

Tom
 
I just saw on a Google Search that our friend Kelly suggested in this forum
that part of this problem (Proxy Desktop) can be resolved by going to Folder
Options/View and unchecking "Launch Folder Windows in a separate process."

I've done it and so far it looks good.

Tom
 
Tom Brown said:
One maybe, but EIGHT?
Click to expand...

The number of EXPLORER tasks was not the question as I understood you.
You can end the tasks (except for the larger one) with the Task
Manager to find out what they are really.
 
Tom said:
I just saw on a Google Search that our friend Kelly suggested in this
forum that part of this problem (Proxy Desktop) can be resolved by
going to Folder Options/View and unchecking "Launch Folder Windows in
a separate process."

I've done it and so far it looks good.
Click to expand...

Tom

It looks like you have this problem sorted OK. Let us know if you have more
issues with this.

--
Ronnie Vernon
Microsoft MVP-Windows Shell/User

Please reply to the newsgroup so all may benefit.
http://www.dts-l.org
http://www.mvps.org
 
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