Windows Explorer Won't Open

Whenever I try to open an Explorer window to manage files on my hard drive, the folder icon will appear on the task bar, but no Explorer window will be open. If I click on the folder icon on the task bar, instead of opening an Explorer window, the folder icon will appear in the system tray area. If I click on the folder icon in the system tray area, the folder will jump back to the task bar, and still no Explorer window will open.

Has anyone ever encountered this problem? How do I fix this? All advice appreciated!

I've never seen this behavior (or heard of it).

Do you have a restore point from before the problem started?
Do you have a backup image from before the problem started?
Does a re-boot fix the issue?
Does killing Explorer in Task Manager and restarting Explorer fix it?
Have you scanned for viruses and malware?

Run the System File Checker.
SFC /SCANNOW Command - System File Checker

DavidW7ncus said:

I've never seen this behavior (or heard of it).

Do you have a restore point from before the problem started?
Do you have a backup image from before the problem started?
Does a re-boot fix the issue?
Does killing Explorer in Task Manager and restarting Explorer fix it?
Have you scanned for viruses and malware?

A reboot will fix the issue for a while, until it starts all over again. The problem has been on-going, and no, I do not have a restore point prior to the onset of this issue. I have Norton Internet Security installed, so I scan frequently with that and also with Malwarebytes. I haven't tried killing Explorer in Task Manager--but the next time it happens I will give that a go.

Now that I think about it, I think the problem might be related to the QTTabBar that I have installed, which has an option to <Send Window to Task Tray Minimized>...

Try to boot your system into Safe mode:

Restart your computer if it is powered on.

Press and hold F8 key for 3 seconds after your computer initially powers on.

Once you see the Advanced Boot Options menu (or hear a beep) you can stop.

Use the up/down arrow keys to highlight your selection.

Select Safe Mode with Networking and press Enter.

You should see drivers loading, this may take a few moments.

You should then be at the Welcome Screen.

Logon to your computer using an account with Administrator privileges. Now you should download (free) MalwareBytes install, update then do a scan of your system in safe mode, to make sure it is indeed clean! Once the scan is done delete anything it finds. Then simply reboot your PC to see if your issue has been resolved!


If your system is clean, then run this system file checker scan in safe mode below:

1. Click Start, click All Programs, click Accessories, right-click Command Prompt, and select Run as Administrator.

2. Click Continue or supply Administrator credentials if prompted.

3. In the Command Prompt window type the following, sfc /scannow (yes there is a space after sfc) then press enter. This scan may take a while to complete.

Hope this helps you. Let us know either way.

technomann said:

Now that I think about it, I think the problem might be related to the QTTabBar that I have installed, which has an option to <Send Window to Task Tray Minimized>...

You could try disabling, uninstalling, or changing some options for QTTabBar.

This is a symptom of a remote access trojan

Install norton internet security 30 days from Symantec and update it till the date scan for viruses completely by full computer scan, iam sure it will detect some kind of a trojan.. Also try deleting the upper filters and lower filters in the registry. To do this

Click start
Click run
Type regedit hit enter
On the left panel click HKEY LOCAL MACHINE
Under that click system
And click the sub divided parts one by one and deleted the entry upper filters and lower filters on fhe right hand side panel if present

Reboot...

Do what ?

For the sake of your sanity don't follow this advice.
1) Dont edit the registry unless you know what you are doing. And you get specific advice on which entries to change.

2) Deleting filters wherever you find them in some spurious attempt at repair will
remove the controls for devices of all sorts, drives, usb devices,system software and many more.

Hmm okay bro, but this trick was successful for me when the same thing happened to my norton 360 . It was working on the tray but when I execute it the app will appear in the task bar but the apps main screen will not be viewed..... Then I fought with this problem for more than ten days and finally got rid of upper and lower filters and once rebooted everything was fine:):

Upper and lower filters for what ?

DavidW7ncus said:

technomann said:

Now that I think about it, I think the problem might be related to the QTTabBar that I have installed, which has an option to <Send Window to Task Tray Minimized>...

You could try disabling, uninstalling, or changing some options for QTTabBar.

I have tried disabling QTTabBar aspects. I have run a full system scan with MalWareBytes and with Norton Internet Security - no viruses found. This is driving me NUTS! When I try to open Explorer I get an icon on the task bar, but no Explorer window. Clicking on the taskbar icon will not open a window. If I right-click on the Explorer taskbar icon I get a pop-up menu of Recent Explorer locations, and if I click on one of these THEN an Explorer window will open. Is this normal behavior???