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re: multiple instances of explorer in close program dialog box Monday, January 29, 2007 at 8:34 am Posted by Keith Stanier (1098 messages posted) Do you have Explorer running? Explorer runs all the time whether you use it or not. If you do a Ctrl+Alt+Del on your desktop with nothing else running you will see Explorer running in Task Manager. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: multiple instances of explorer in close program dialog box Monday, January 29, 2007 at 11:53 am Posted by Aaron (4 messages posted) Yes, but there are two explorers running as in "Desktop Explorer Explprer" Trying to close one will shut down the PC, the other will just give me and error message, clear my desktop (similar to when there is a problem with active desktop) and then go back to having two explorers. I have tried turning off active desktop but this does not help. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: multiple instances of explorer in close program dialog box Tuesday, January 30, 2007 at 3:27 pm Posted by Ms. Eagle (32675 messages posted) Do you scan for malware on a regular basis? Duplicates is a strong indication your system's infected with a virus of some sort. Dealing with Unwanted Spyware and Parasites [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: multiple instances of explorer in close program dialog box Tuesday, January 30, 2007 at 5:29 pm Posted by Aaron (4 messages posted) Normally I do, but I haven't recently. Due to a lot of discontinuing for virus updates for the ME platform by Symantec and also to save system resources I took off Norton, using their web-based Java virus scan instead and deleting the files myself, since they usually seem to end up in temp files and aren't entangled in the system. I was waiting for Vista to come out in order to buy a new hard drive and make my other two ME-enabled ones slaves. I'll take a look at that. Thanks. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: multiple instances of explorer in close program dialog box Tuesday, January 30, 2007 at 6:19 pm Posted by Ms. Eagle (32675 messages posted) I wasn't necessarily referring to anti-virus scans/programs. Although, there are freeware AV programs that will do fine on ME, i.e. AVG and Avast. I meant spyware/adware type scans using Spybot S&D or Ad-Aware or similar programs. I don't know what sort of malware's ending up in your temp folders, but your system would most likely be infected too. As for Vista, it requires an up-to-date hardware setup to run that OS. Dealing with Unwanted Spyware and Parasites [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: multiple instances of explorer in close program dialog box Tuesday, January 30, 2007 at 7:04 pm Posted by Aaron (4 messages posted) The AdAware files look familiar, but I think they're on my other drive. As far as WinME, I bought this comp in 01 just before ME gave out to XP. It's currently a 1.4 Ghz Athlon with about a gig of RAM. I'd need to upgrade to another motherboard to put anything else in, but I think it should at least run the OS. I don't like to copy things from drive to drive because if the size is very large PCs tend to lock up. I prefer clean installs on freshly formatted drives. So, I'll probably pick up a new HD and put Vista on eventually. But $400 is a bit much for the Ultimate version. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: multiple instances of explorer in close program dialog box Tuesday, January 30, 2007 at 10:54 pm Posted by Ms. Eagle (32675 messages posted) I'm not sure what you mean by "the AdAware files look familiar"? If you use IE as your main browser, you need some malware prevention in place and run anti-spyware scans regularly. We should find out what the deal is with multiple Explorer's running. It's always good to double check whether your system's clean or not by running a different online virus scan. I also suggest running CCleaner to clean out All temp folders, etc. "before" the scan and clear out old restore points, if you have System Restore enabled. Download CCleaner Before running the scan, click Options and specify any Cookies you don't want removed. You might also want to uncheck the box that says, "don't remove temp files less than 48 hrs. old". Do NOT scan for Issues, if you're unfamiliar with using registry cleaners. See if Panda online scan comes up with anything. You do need to register before the scan so don't use your regular email address. It's a good scanner, and it'll generate a report you can save. Let me know how it turns out. Panda Active Scan As for your current setup, it would be good for running XP. If your PC is already 5+ yrs. old, it probably won't be worth it to upgrade the hardware later for Vista. But, that's another topic for the Vista forum. 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