There are multiple instances of explorer.exe running in task manager (currently 7), each one using between 10-40MB of memory.

Anonymous
2009-11-03T00:15:23+00:00

Different explorer.exe processes are using cpu resources at different times.  I remember reading a while back that this could be a sign of a virus, but I've done a full scan with NIS 2010 and nothing showed up.  Can anyone give me pointers where to start investigating?

I did a clean install of Windows 7 last Friday -formatted HDD and all, so there hasn't been much time for anything bad to happen!

<Original title - There are multiple instances of explorer.exe running in task manager (currently 7), each one using between 10-40MB of memory.  I've never seen this in any previous version, and it doesn't look right to me. >

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Anonymous
2010-10-02T01:12:12+00:00

I found out what is causing the explorer.exe's to hang... If you give ANY arguments to explorer.exe in your shortcut/properties, to try to change the default directory from Libraries, it will hang.  For example, simply using "explorer.exe C:" will cause explorer task to hang whent you close it... by hang, i mean the window closes, but the process remains in memory.  I had 15 explorer.exe's tonight....  There are tips on the net about how to get explorer to default to My Computer (which I was using this tip -- i HATE it defaulting to Libraries which i NEVER use)..... so edit your shortcut, and take off any arguments to explorer.exe.  See if this fixes it!

As expected , the tech support is clueless on this I see.

PS -- I just figured out how to default Explorer to My Computer... Its weird, but it works...  Rightclick drag your My Computer icon on the desktop over to a blank space.  Create a shortcut....  Now unpin any Windows Explorer you have from your Taskbar... Now, left-click drag your My Computer shortcut to the taskbar.    Now, if you just click this, you go to Libraries.... BUT -- if instead you right-click it, you will see the My Computer shortcut, and select this, and it goes to My Computer.... and there are never any EXTRA explorer.exe's hanging around!

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  1. Anonymous
    2014-04-17T07:40:46+00:00

    Here's how you fix it....i'd get over 50 explorer.exe's rear their ugly heads on occasion....and my c.p.u would be at 100%..it sounded like my computer was going to blow up!!out of frustration i went to regedit and typed in explorer.exe,and BAM!!!....I i deleted whichever one regedit search popped up and just like that c.p.u went to 99% to the good and my once slow runs as efficient as can be. I know what someone is going to say.."That i had a virus..nope i ran the bought and paid for version of malwarebytes then deleted it and ran windows defender and nothing came up on either. It did take a while because i had to open each entry and change permissions for every sub-entry,(and i went ahead even after things were better and deleted every instance of explorer.exe and iexplore.exe,i also typed both in the find search box without the ".exe" to make sure everything with the explorer name got deleted.sure they say its risky messing with your regeditor ut sometimes a little gamble has a big payoff!!!...DANGER-RUSS

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  2. Anonymous
    2013-11-29T17:19:28+00:00

    I am having the same issue.  I do use uTorrent and I am supposing other software causes the same issue.  I found a PowerShell script online that looks at all instances of explorer.exe and stops all explorer processes except the biggest one.  the text is "Get-Process explorer | Sort-Object -descending CPU | Select-Object -Skip 1 ID | ForEach-Object -Process {Stop-Process -Id $_.ID}"  put this text (minus the quotation marks) in a text file and save it as filename.ps1.  You can then run this script with Windows PowerShell to save you some time.  Maybe Service Pack 14 will fix this one!

    I seeing this problem on Win 7 -32bit when I double click on a jpg file from Windows Explorer.  I don't get it if I open the file explicitly with a viewer. There is definitely something going on with Win Exp.

    Jeff

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  3. Anonymous
    2013-08-31T16:48:16+00:00

    I know this thread is years old, but maybe this might help other users who stumbled upon this forum as I did.  My problem was multiple instances of explorer running in my system (windows 7 ultimate x86).  I never payed much attention to this issue but like others was curious to how this may have occured, so I did some digging around checking the registry, running virus scans etc.  Then it dawned on me, I use Rocket Dock and I have a shortcut link for windows explorer, so I had task manager open then clicked on my shortcut link.  There were now two processes open, when I closed the explorer window, it remained in the task manager until i ended the process.  The fix was very simple, the shortcut I created looked in C:\Windows\Explorer.exe,  The windows explorer properties shows that the icon for it links to %windir%\explorer.exe.  I changed the icon settings in Rocket Dock with this new location.  The Problem was solved, it opens an explorer window but it doesn't create another explorer process.  So maybe if you're having the same issues and like me have a Docking program, this could be a cause of that problem.

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  4. Anonymous
    2013-08-20T05:44:21+00:00

    It really doesnt seem to effect my cpu usage, but its just wiggin' me out bro. 0__o

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