Explorer.exe in different system applications

Where the Windows family of operating systems, a process called Explorer.exe is started at runtime. This process is mainly responsible for displaying the icons on the system desktop and the taskbar. It has different magical effects in different systems. Let's take a look.

Applications in Windows 9x

In Windows 9x, this process is required to run the system. If you end the Explorer.exe process with the "end task" method, the system will refresh the desktop and update the registry. Therefore, we can also use this method to quickly update the registry. The method is as follows:

Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to display the “End Task” dialog box. Select the "Explorer" option in the dialog and then click the "End Task" button, the "Close Windows" dialog box will appear. Click the "No" button, the system will appear another dialog box after a while, telling you that the program is not responding, asking if you want to end the task. Click the "End Task" button to update the registry and return to the Windows 9x system environment. Is this more convenient than the cumbersome restart process?

Applications in Windows 2000/XP

In Windows 2000/XP and other Windows NT kernel systems, the Explorer.exe process is not required for system operation, so tasks can be used. The manager ends it without affecting the normal operation of the system. Instead, it can subtly implement the "secure + personalization + acceleration" system. Are you eager to try? Get ready, come with me (below Windows 2000 Pro as an example)

Open the program you need to run, such as Notepad. Then right click on the taskbar, select "Task Manager", select the "Process" tab, select the Explorer.exe process in the window, click the "End Process" button, as shown in Figure 1, then on the desktop in addition to the wallpaper ( Except for the active desktop Active Desktop wallpaper, all icons and taskbars disappeared. At this point you can still operate all the software as usual. When you need to leave the computer for a while, and don't want others to operate your computer, but the password is too embarrassing, using the above method can play a certain degree of confidentiality. Of course, you can still re-run Explorer.exe with the task manager's "new task", but for the average user, this kind of security is enough - after all, there are still many rookies!

What if you want to run other software, but there is nothing on the desktop at this time? Don't worry, there are two ways to open other software cleverly:

The first method: press Ctrl+Alt+Del, the “Windows Security” dialog box appears, click “Task Manager” Button (or directly press Ctrl+Shift+Esc), select the “Applications” tab in the Task Manager window, click “New Task”, in the “Create New Task” dialog box that pops up, Enter the path and name of the software you want to open.

You can also select "File → Open" on the running software. In the "Open" dialog box, click the "File Type" drop-down list, select "All Files", and then browse to the Open the software, right click on it, select the "Open" command in the shortcut menu, you can start the software you need, as shown in Figure 2. Note that it is not possible to open the software by clicking the "Open" button at this time. This method is suitable for most software, except for the Office series.

You can also copy the common software and Explorer.exe program to the desktop. In the "Find" dialog box of the "Open" dialog box, select "Desktop", you can use the above method to quickly open other software and desktop.

By ending the Explorer.exe process, you can also reduce the memory used by the system around 4520KB, which will undoubtedly speed up the system and free up valuable space for users with tight resources.

Hint: After restarting the Explorer.exe process, some software will message in the small icon of the system tray of the taskbar, but the software is still in normal operation.