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What is explorer.exe?

Part of Windows Explorer by Microsoft

What is it?

Windows Explorer also known as File Explorer, is a file manager application and also a navigation tool that is included with releases of the Microsoft Windows operating system. It provides a graphical user interface for accessing the file systems. It is also the component of the operating system that presents many user interface items on the monitor such as the taskbar and desktop. Located in the C:\Windows directory, it is sometimes referred to as the Windows shell, explorer.exe.
(explorer.exe is a system file that is installed with Windows)
Download Boost and enjoy your PC. Speed up Windows Explorer and optimize your PC.

How does explorer.exe run?

Process - explorer.exe is an instance of a running program. This 64-bit program executes with the privileges as the currently logged in user account. explorer.exe is executed by the process winlogon.exe (Windows Logon Application by Microsoft).

How does explorer.exe start?

Shell open command - explorer.exe is typically associtated with identifier name of SHCmdFile with and identifier of C:\Windows\explorer.exe. A Shell Open Command allows for an association of a file extension and a program. This association allows an application to be run when the icon or a context menu item is clicked upon in the Windows Explorer window.
Autoplay handler - explorer.exe is typically associtated with identifier name of MSOpenFolder with and identifier of SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\ CurrentVersion\Explorer\AutoplayHandlers\Handlers\MSOpenFolder. Autoplay will scan removable media, when it arrives, looking for media content types (music, graphics, or video). When a removable media arrives, Windows determines what actions to perform by evaluating the content and comparing it to registered handlers for that content. An application will register a handler for Autoplay events associated with a media type.
Scheduled task - explorer.exe is launched automatically by registering itself into the Windows Task Scheduler under the task name '{AD36F1D3-E56E-44BA-A569-280718EB8C51}' and is triggered by the Registration action. Task Scheduler provides the ability to schedule the launch of programs or scripts at pre-defined times or after specified time intervals or even with event-based triggers.

Community

What is the community is seeing?What is the community is doing?
About 0.5% of all Boost users have the explorer.exe process running.Of the 0.5% of explorer.exe users, less than 1% have disabled it.
How stable is Windows Explorer?
Based on crash data discovered by Boost, stability is a measure of how sound this particular process and the average percent of times it crashes.
     explorer.exe0.03%
Typical program1.26%
How resource intensive is explorer.exe?
Comparison based on the average resource utilization across all programs.
0.00282% CPU28177.1%
Average CPU utilization across all programs is 0.00001%.
62.88 MB RAM292.0%
Average private memory utilization across all programs is 21.53 MB.
     204 /min9.1%
Average I/O read and write operations for all programs is 2,253 per minute.
503 GDI objects335.3%
Average number of GUI GDI and USER objects for all programs is 150.
63 context switches/sec63.0%
Average context switches for all programs is 100 per second.
Typical file (disk image) location:
C:\windows\explorer.exe

Are there other versions of Windows Explorer?

explorer.exe - version 6.3.9431.0 (winmain_bluemp.130615-1214)
explorer.exe - version 6.2.9200.16384 (win8_rtm.120725-1247)
explorer.exe - version 6.2.8102.0 (winmain_win8m3.110823-1455)
explorer.exe - version 6.1.7600.16385 (win7_rtm.090713-1255)
explorer.exe - version 6.0.6000.16386 (vista_rtm.061101-2205)

What modules are loaded?

A module is a dynamic link library (DLL) or an executable file that is loaded into the process. Below is a list of non-system modules that are loaded by Windows Explorer.
ndfapi.dll (Network Diagnostic Framework Client API by Microsoft)
portabledeviceapi.dll (Windows Portable Device API Components by Microsoft)
ieframe.dll (Windows® Internet Explorer by Microsoft)
photoviewer.dll (Windows Photo Viewer by Microsoft)
shell32.dll (Windows Shell Common Dll by Microsoft)
mshtml.dll (Windows® Internet Explorer by Microsoft)
urlmon.dll (Windows® Internet Explorer by Microsoft)
inetcomm.dll (Microsoft Internet Messaging API Resources by Microsoft)
syncui.dll (Windows Briefcase by Microsoft)
ntshrui.dll (Shell extensions for sharing by Microsoft)
sbdrop.dll (Sidebar droptarget by Microsoft)
sysmain.dll (Superfetch Service Host by Microsoft)
ehstorshell.dll (Windows Enhanced Storage Shell Extension DLL by Microsoft)
photoacq.dll (Photo Acquisition by Microsoft)
shdocvw.dll (Shell Doc Object and Control Library by Microsoft)
mf.dll (Media Foundation DLL by Microsoft)
puiobj.dll (PrintUI Objects DLL by Microsoft)
shellext.dll (Microsoft Security Essentials Shell Extension by Microsoft)
igfxpph.dll (Intel(R) Common User Interface by Intel)
igfxdev.dll (Intel(R) Common User Interface by Intel)
shdocvw.dll (Shell Doc Object and Control Library by Microsoft)
shell32.dll (Windows Shell Common Dll by Microsoft)
bushell.dll (Backup Component by Symantec)
navshext.dll (Symantec Shared Component by Symantec)
ieframe.dll (Windows® Internet Explorer by Microsoft)
urlmon.dll (Windows® Internet Explorer by Microsoft)
atl.dll (Microsoft (R) Visual C++ by Microsoft)
wpdshext.dll (Portable Devices Shell Extension by Microsoft)
wlanpref.dll (Wireless Preferred Networks by Microsoft)
rarext64.dll
imfshellext.dll (BlueBirdShellExt Module by IObit Information Technology)
awssdk.dll (Amazon Web Services SDK for .NET by Amazoncom)

What else is related?

msvcp60.dll (Microsoft (R) Visual C++ by Microsoft)
rstrui.exe (System Restore Application by Microsoft)
dismhost.exe (Dism Host Servicing Process by Microsoft)
bcmsqlstartupsvc.exe (Business Contact Manager for Microsoft Outlook 2010 by Microsoft)
msonsext.dll (Microsoft Office by Microsoft)
encwcbar.dll (Microsoft Encarta by Microsoft)
workfolderssvc.dll (Microsoft® Work Folders Service by Microsoft)
appreadiness.dll (AppReadiness by Microsoft)
ole32.dll (Microsoft OLE for Windows by Microsoft)
microsoft.biztalk.brmacontrols.dll (Microsoft (R) BizTalk (R) Server 2010 by Microsoft)
ssoconfig.exe (Microsoft® Enterprise Single Sign-On by Microsoft)
webfarmservice.exe (Microsoft IIS Extensions by Microsoft)
tfsjobagent.exe (Microsoft® Visual Studio® 2010 by Microsoft)
tfsbuildservicehost.exe (Microsoft® Visual Studio® 2010 by Microsoft)
ruleengineupdateservice.exe (Microsoft (R) BizTalk (R) Server 2010 by Microsoft)
entsso.exe (Microsoft® Enterprise Single Sign-On by Microsoft)
btsntsvc.exe (Microsoft (R) BizTalk (R) Server 2010 by Microsoft)
starter.exe (by Microsoft)
drmstor.dll (Microsoft® Windows Media Services by Microsoft)
themeui.dll (API de tema do Windows by Microsoft)
ntbackup.exe (Utilitário de cópia de segurança do Windows by Microsoft)
browseui.dll (Biblioteca da interface de utilizador do browser da shell by Microsoft)

Windows Explorer Stability

explorer.exe crashes or has encountered a critical error 0.8900% of the time.
1.  
Error: Stopped responding and was closed (AppHangB1)
Details: A problem caused this program to stop interacting with Windows.
Occurred on: September 26, 2013
2.  
Error: Stopped responding and was closed (AppHangB1)
Details: A problem caused this program to stop interacting with Windows.
Occurred on: September 28, 2013
3.  
Error: Stopped responding and was closed (AppHangB1)
Details: A problem caused this program to stop interacting with Windows.
Occurred on: October 12, 2013

What Windows OS versions does this run on?

Windows 7 Home Premium (6.1.7601.65536)
Microsoft Windows 7 Professional (6.1.7601.65536)
Microsoft Windows XP (6.1.7601.65536)
Windows 7 Enterprise (6.1.7601.65536)
Windows 7 Home Basic (6.1.7601.65536)
Windows 7 Home Premium (6.1.7601.65536)
Windows 7 Home Premium N (6.1.7601.65536)
Windows 7 Professional (6.1.7601.65536)
Windows 7 Ultimate (6.1.7601.65536)

About Microsoft Corporation

Microsoft, founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, is a veteran software company, best known for its Microsoft Windows operating system and the Microsoft More...
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File details

File name: explorer.exe
Publisher: Microsoft Corporation (verified)
Name: Windows Explorer
Description: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
Version: 6.1.7600.16385 (win7_rtm.090713-1255)
Product version: 6.1.7600.16385
Size: 2.74 MB
Original file name: EXPLORER.EXE.MUI
Windows file protection: Yes

Digital certificate

Issued to: Microsoft Corporation
Certificate authority: Microsoft Corporation
Expiration date: 7/9/2013

Resource utilization

CPU utilization averages
Total CPU: 0.0051815244%
Privileged CPU: 0.0023638188%
User CPU: 0.00281770565084%
Privileged CPU time: 169768372.26 ms
Privileged CPU time /min: 52,996 ms
CPU cycle count: 150,052,038
CPU cycle count /min: 298,218,133
Context switches /sec: 63
Memory utilization averages
Committed memory: 398.03 MB
Peak committed memory: 499.99 MB
Paged memory: 62.88 MB
Peak paged memory: 126.3 MB
Paged system memory: 558.62 KB
Non-paged system memory: 78.41 KB
Working set memory: 63.19 MB
Peak working set memory: 87.01 MB
Min working set memory: 37.52 MB
Private memory: 62.88 MB
Page faults: 2,088,067
Page faults /min: 1,452
Process I/O averages
Total read operations: 117,960
Read operations /min: 199
Total read transfer: 50.88 MB
Read transfer /min: 538.59 KB
Total write operations: 8,893
Write operations /min: 5
Total write transfer: 38.39 MB
Write transfer /min: 242.78 KB
Total other operations: 454,053
Other operations /min: 310
Total other transfer: 33.71 MB
Other Transfer /min: 12.65 KB
GUI Object Averages
GDI objects: 503
Peak GDI objects: 688
USER objects: 288
Peak USER objects: 437
Resources
Handle count average: 966
Thread count average: 28
Thread resource averages
qvodextend_x64.dll
ntdll.dll
ntdll.dll
shlwapi.dll
ntdll.dll
wcnapi.dll

Process details

Runs as (owner): User
Integrety level: High
Windows platform: 64-bit
System Tray: Yes
Parent Processes
winlogon.exe (Windows Logon Application by Microsoft)
svchost.exe (Host Process for Windows Services by Microsoft)
Process Commands
"C:\Windows\explorer.exe"
C:\Windows\Explorer.EXE
explorer.exe
EXPLORER.EXE
C:\Windows\explorer.exe /factory,{75dff2b7-6936-4c06-a8bb-676a7b00b24b} -Embedding

Shell open command details

Name: SHCmdFile
Command: C:\Windows\explorer.exe

Autoplay handler details

Name: MSOpenFolderBackup
Command: SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\ CurrentVersion\Explorer\AutoplayHandlers\Handlers\MSOpenFolderBackup

Scheduled task details

CLSID: {AD36F1D3-E56E-44BA-A569-280718EB8C51}
Command: \{AD36F1D3-E56E-44BA-A569-280718EB8C51}

Network connectivity

TCP: localhost on port 58546
UDP: LISTENING on port 56516
UDP: LISTENING on port 65416
UDP: LISTENING on port 52198
UDP: LISTENING on port 49213
UDP: LISTENING on port 58229
TCP: localhost on port 50098
TCP: localhost on port 49729
UDP: LISTENING on port 60410

Image hashes

MD5: 332feab1435662fc6c672e25beb37be3
SHA-1: 5a49d7390ee87519b9d69d3e4aa66ca066cc8255
SHA-256: 6bed1a3a956a859ef4420feb2466c040800eaf01ef53214ef9dab53aeff1cff0

PE image details

Langauge*: Microsoft Visual C++
File entropy: 5.93423
File packed: No
Import Table
advapi32.dll
api-ms-win-core-atoms-l1-1-0.dll
api-ms-win-core-com-l1-1-0.dll
api-ms-win-core-com-l1-1-1.dll
api-ms-win-core-com-private-l1-1-0.dll
api-ms-win-core-datetime-l1-1-1.dll
api-ms-win-core-delayload-l1-1-1.dll
api-ms-win-core-errorhandling-l1-1-1.dll
api-ms-win-core-file-l1-2-0.dll
api-ms-win-core-file-l1-2-1.dll
api-ms-win-core-handle-l1-1-0.dll
api-ms-win-core-heap-l1-2-0.dll
api-ms-win-core-heap-obsolete-l1-1-0.dll
api-ms-win-core-interlocked-l1-2-0.dll
api-ms-win-core-io-l1-1-1.dll
api-ms-win-core-job-l2-1-0.dll
api-ms-win-core-kernel32-legacy-l1-1-0.dll
api-ms-win-core-kernel32-legacy-l1-1-1.dll
api-ms-win-core-libraryloader-l1-1-1.dll
api-ms-win-core-localization-l1-2-0.dll
api-ms-win-core-localization-l1-2-1.dll
api-ms-win-core-localization-obsolete-l1-1-0.dll
api-ms-win-core-localization-obsolete-l1-2-0.dll
api-ms-win-core-memory-l1-1-1.dll
api-ms-win-core-memory-l1-1-2.dll
api-ms-win-core-path-l1-1-0.dll
api-ms-win-core-processenvironment-l1-2-0.dll
api-ms-win-core-processthreads-l1-1-1.dll
api-ms-win-core-processthreads-l1-1-2.dll
api-ms-win-core-profile-l1-1-0.dll
api-ms-win-core-psapi-l1-1-0.dll
api-ms-win-core-registry-l1-1-0.dll
api-ms-win-core-registry-l2-1-0.dll
api-ms-win-core-registryuserspecific-l1-1-0.dll
api-ms-win-core-shlwapi-legacy-l1-1-0.dll
api-ms-win-core-shlwapi-obsolete-l1-1-0.dll
api-ms-win-core-sidebyside-l1-1-0.dll
api-ms-win-core-string-l1-1-0.dll
api-ms-win-core-string-l2-1-0.dll
api-ms-win-core-string-obsolete-l1-1-0.dll
api-ms-win-core-synch-l1-2-0.dll
api-ms-win-core-sysinfo-l1-2-0.dll
api-ms-win-core-sysinfo-l1-2-1.dll
api-ms-win-core-threadpool-l1-2-0.dll
api-ms-win-core-threadpool-legacy-l1-1-0.dll
api-ms-win-core-timezone-l1-1-0.dll
api-ms-win-core-winrt-l1-1-0.dll
api-ms-win-core-winrt-string-l1-1-0.dll
api-ms-win-eventing-classicprovider-l1-1-0.dll
api-ms-win-eventing-controller-l1-1-0.dll
api-ms-win-eventing-provider-l1-1-0.dll
api-ms-win-power-base-l1-1-0.dll
api-ms-win-security-base-l1-2-0.dll
api-ms-win-security-lsalookup-l1-1-1.dll
api-ms-win-service-management-l2-1-0.dll
d3d11.dll
dwmapi.dll
gdi32.dll
gdiplus.dll
kernel32.dll
msvcrt.dll
ntdll.dll
ole32.dll
powrprof.dll
propsys.dll
rpcrt4.dll
secur32.dll
shcore.dll
shell32.dll
shlwapi.dll
slc.dll
sspicli.dll
user32.dll
userenv.dll
uxtheme.dll
wtsapi32.dll
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