Explorer.exe refuses to run

[Windows Central Question]

Hi,

I recently upgraded my laptop from Windows 8.1 to 10 using the upgrade assistant, but this broke some of my software, so I decided to use the rollback step available back to 8.1.

However, this has led to some issues - namely, that I can boot, get to the login screen, and login successfully, but am presented with a black screen with the cursor available. I'm able to access the task manager, and by extension all of my files/command prompt/software, and have determined my issue lies in that explorer.exe refuses to run. Trying to get the task manager to run "explorer.exe" seemingly accepts without incident, but nothing happens.

If I navigate to the "Recovery" section of the control panel, trying to click on "If you're experiencing problems with your PC, you can refresh it in PC settings" throws the error "explorer.exe Class not registered". Reading other posts, I tried to run "regsvr32 ExplorerFrame.dll" from the admin command prompt, and this threw :

"The module "ExplorerFrame.dll" was loaded but the entry-point DllRegisterServer was not found. Make sure that "ExplorerFrame.dll" is a valid DLL or OCX file and then try again."

I have run sfc /scannow and that fixed some corrupted files, and now every time it returns successfully. I have also tried DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth which also fixed corrupted files successfully and now /CheckHealth states the system is fine. I have also ran chkdsk /f /r which still has not resolved my issue.

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

 

[gpobernardo]

Usually when OS installations start malfunctioning, and chkdsk and other recovery solutions don't work, it may be time to replace your hard drive.

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