That shell=Explorer can be replaced temporarily with either Winfile.exe shell or 
Progman.exe. These instructions are for Winfile and will get you in, so that you 
can replace Explorer with a new copy. That may be the problem, but I would think 
you'd get an error message. It won't hurt anything to try.

You need to extract a new copy of Explorer.exe. You'll need your OS CD handy, unless 
you have Cab files on your hard drive, normally in C:\windows\options\cabs. 

First, you'll need to edit 'system.ini' in DOS to temporarily replace the Explorer 
shell with Winfile. Then you can access your start menu. Boot to the command prompt. 
At the C:\> prompt (press enter after each line) type: 

cd windows 
edit system.ini 

Now change the shell=explorer.exe to shell=winfile.exe 

(Alternatively, you can place a semi-colon like this: ;shell=explorer.exe Then hit 
enter and add the shell=winfile.exe line. Then you'd go back and undo, once you're 
finished.)  

>>> press Alt+F together to access the File, Save and Exit menu and save the file 
and exit. 

>> Do a ctrl-alt-del to reboot. 

>> Once in Winfile, click File - Run, type: SFC then click OK. Choose to extract 
one file from disk. File to extract: Explorer.exe (either point to the location of 
your CAB install files or your Windows CD, whichever the case). Location to extract 
to: C:\windows 

Hopefully, you'll get a message saying the file has been successfully extracted. 
Before exiting and shutting down, click File > Run again and enter system.ini so 
that it opens in Notepad. Edit the line back to shell=explorer.exe Then reboot, and 
a new copy of Explorer.exe will be in place. 

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