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I ran ExplorerPatcher on my Windows laptop then force stopped it as explorer.exe unexpectedly shut down. explorer.exe didn't boot up using Task Manager, nor after restart, nor in Safe Mode, nor when I reinstalled Windows 11 (Canary Channel) using the 'keep personal files and apps' option. How could I restore my laptop to a working state without deleting my personal files or apps?

tommyaq
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3 Answers3

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Explorer Patcher does binary patching of Windows. As the source code for Windows is not public property, this is based on disassembler techniques and some guessing, but never, never, on the complete knowledge of the software that's being patched (only Microsoft has that knowledge).

Such strong-arm modification may work, or may have unforeseen effects, as long as that Windows software hasn't changed. Once the software being patched has changed in a later version of Windows, the patching may miss the mark and cause the patched binaries to malfunction in unpredictable ways.

It's a very bad idea to use Explorer Patcher on a new version of Windows for which it was not verified.

I advise to never use such software, unless one is willing to take the risk of reinstalling Windows to undo the patches.

harrymc
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Explorer Patcher is a hack for Windows Explorer. Everything I have read says (1) it does not work well (Windows 11 Explorer and Task Bar are not highly customizable) and (2) may be difficult to uninstall.

See this article where the OP said they had to reinstall Windows 11 to get rid of it.

Explorer Patcher issues

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Try downloading the ExplorerPatcher installer using command line to uninstall:

  • Ctrl+Shift+Esc to open Task Manager
  • Run new task, run powershell
  • In the command line window, switch to a safe directory like D:\ : cd D:\
  • Download the installer from GitHub: curl.exe -L -o ep_setup.exe https://github.com/valinet/ExplorerPatcher/releases/download/22621.1555.55.2_6fb998e/ep_setup.exe
  • Run the installer to uninstall: .\ep_setup.exe /uninstall
  • After uninstalling, explorer.exe to restore the desktop.
jingyu9575
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