Launch each Windows Explorer window in a separete process
2014-04
Hikari
Win7 Win64. I configured Windows Explorer in Tools > Folder Options > View > Launch folder windows in a separate process. It is checked, to make sure I rebooted Windows and it was still checked.
Still, if I open a lot of Windows Explorer windows, there are still only 2 explorer.exe running. I even tried to directly execute explorer.exe and it didn't work. I believe that option makes WinExplorer and Desktop run each on its own process.
But I want each window to have its own process, so that if needed I can kill a process without losing other ones. It doesn't need to be everytime, it would be perfect if explorer.exe had a parameter to make it open new process instead of opening a window inside the existing one.
Michael Frank
You could use the explorer.exe /seperate switch, although it would always default to your My Documents.
As you can see below, I have run the explorer.exe /seperate command twice, and thus have three explorer.exe process.
John Prince
I'm using Office 2010 & Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit. My problem starts when I attempt to save e-mail messages to my PC that I have received via Outlook (my ISP is Comcast). I'm using the default .msg file extension option when I attempt to save these e-mails. The resultant files are locked and do not show the normal "envelope" icon. Instead, it’s a “blank page” icon with the right upper corner folded in. These files refuse to open either by double clicking on them or right clicking and trying to open them with Outlook. And when I return to Outlook, I discover that Outlook is now hung up and I have to close it via the Task Manager. To make matters worse, I’ve also discovered that every e-mail message that I've saved on my PC over the years has also somehow become locked and their original "envelope" icon has been replaced with the "blank page" icon.
I found and installed an application called LockHunter. As a result, when I right click on a saved and locked e-mail message, I’ve given an option to find out what's locking it. Each time I'm told that the culprit is Windows explorer.exe. When I unlock the file the normal envelope icon is sometimes displayed (but not always) but at least the file can then be opened. But the file is still “squirrely” as it can’t be moved or saved to a folder until it’s unlocked again. On this second attempt, LockHunter says it’s now locked by Outlook.exe. By the way, I don't have this issue when I save Word, Excel & PowerPoint files; only with Outlook.
I've exhausted every remedy that I can think of including: making sure that the file and folder options are checked to always show icons and not thumbnails; running the Windows 7 & Office 2010 repair options which find nothing amiss; running a complete system scan with Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool with negative results; verifying that Outlook is the default for opening e-mails; updating all of my applications via Secunia Personal Software Inspector; uninstalling every application that I felt was unnecessary; doing a registry cleanup via CC Cleaner; having Windows Security Essentials always on (it did find one Java Trojan recently which was quarantined and then deleted); uninstalling a bunch of non-Microsoft shell extensions; and deactivating all of the Outlook Add-ins and then re-activating each one. None of this solves the problem. I’d welcome any advice on how to resolve this.
I'm not sure what is meant by "Is LockHunter end tasking explorer.exe?" LockHunter unlocks the file and the desktop is unchanged.
When I run tasklist /svc, it opens and information flies by and then it closes immediately before I’m able to ascertain anything. Is there a way to get it to stay open after “doing its thing”?
remus
Have you got any antivirus software running that could be hooking into Outlook or the file system? I often see this with McAfee or other intrusive A/V applications where they inexplicably lock files while they're scanning (and often don't relinquish the lock afterward).
barlop
Have you tried Tasklist /svc and seen if any services are associated with explorer.exe?
If it's not an important service then you could try stopping the service.. or temporarily stopping it and see if it then lets you work with the file.
Hydaral
This sounds like it may be the Content Indexer, try disabling/turning off the "Indexing Service" in Computer Management > Services and Applications > Services.
Sun W Kim
Sometimes there are multiple instances of Outlook.exe running even if you close out of it. After you close out of Outlook, go to Task Manager and make sure you also end task on all pending Outlook.exe. If you have selected the file in Explorer, the preview pane is displaying it, or you have turned on thumbnail with small, medium, large, or very large icons... that can also lock your file up.
There is a free tool called Process Explorer by SysInternals. It is similar to LockHunter in being able to find what program is locking the file, but ProcExp provides a bit more technical detail and with a little bit of snooping, you might be able to ascertain why your message are being locked.
Debra
Disabling the Preview Pane (in Explorer) often resolves this issue.