explorer.exe system warning Unknown Hard Error on startup

Question

On startup my start up programs and drivers will start to load until a blue screen flashes then it seems like everything crashes. Then none of the drivers or startup programs start properly. When i start up and open up the task manager, instead of the blue and the seeming crash a box will appear that said there was an unknown hard error. Everything works normally until I press the ok button on the pop up and the blue screen flashes again and all the programs seem to crash. I have tried running sfc on the cmd prompt as well as restorehealth but it still did not fix this issue despite it coming up with no errors.

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Does anyone know how to fix this? 

thanks for your help.

Answer 1

Hi,

Thank you for posting your query on Microsoft Community.

This issue is most likely appears due to a conflicting application or a hard drive problem.

To assist you better, provide us the following information:

1. Did you make any changes to the Computer prior to the issue?
2. What is the make and model of the Computer?

Refer to the below methods to resolve the issue.

Method 1: I would suggest you to follow the below methods.

Step 1:  Clear Temp Files on the Computer.

1. Press Windows Key R Key.
2. Type “%temp%” without the quotes and hit on Enter Key.
3. Delete all the files in the temp file.

Note: Make sure no important files are there in temp folder.

Step 2: Check Startup Options and Reset System Files using System File Checker.

An easy way to fix the explorer.exe error “Unknown Hard Error” could be to reset your system files using sfc.exe – the built-in Windows File Checker. Go through steps 3-4 if you believe this might help:

I suggest you to check your startup options. You can find the startup options in your Task Manager (CTRL+ALT+DEL) and then go to the tab Startup – untick all options you do not recognize.

Run the SFC scan.

1. Press Windows Key + W Key.
2. Type “CMD” without the quotes and right click on Command Prompt.
3. Select Run as Administrator.
4. Type”sfc.exe /scannow” without the quotes and hit on Enter Key.

Uninstall Recently Installed Programs:

If you have recently installed any new programs and then ran into the “Unknown Hard Error” make sure to remove then, then reboot to see if the error is gone.

If the issue still persist, refer to the below method.

Method 2: would suggest you to perform automatic repair.

How to perform Automatic Repair:

1. Start (or boot) your computer from the installation media. Insert the DVD or USB flash drive and restart your computer.
2. If you see a message asking you to “Press any key to boot from DVD,” do so.
3. When you see the Install Windows page, tap or click on Repair your computer to start the Windows Recovery Environment.
4. In the Windows Recovery Environment, on the Choose an option screen, tap or click on Troubleshoot.
5. Click on Advanced Options.
6. Then Click on Automatic Repair.

If the issue still persist, refer to the below method.

Method 3: As you have tried with System Refresh. So you can also try with Reset of your Computer.

1. Start (or boot) your computer from the installation media. Insert the DVD or USB flash drive and restart your computer.
2. If you see a message asking you to “Press any key to boot from DVD,” do so.
3. When you see the Install Windows page, tap or click on Repair your computer to start the Windows Recovery Environment.
4. In the Windows Recovery Environment, on the Choose an option screen, tap or click on Troubleshoot.
5. Click on Reset.

Disclaimer for Reset: All of your personal files will be deleted and your settings will be reset. All apps that you installed will be removed. Only apps that came with your PC will be reinstalled. If you upgraded your PC from Windows 8 to Windows 8.1 and your PC has a Windows 8 recovery partition, resetting your PC will restore Windows 8. You’ll need to upgrade to Windows 8.1 after the reset has finished.

Refer to the below link as reference:

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_8-performance/explorerexe-system-warning-dialog-with-unknown/4c0be311-c9d5-46e7-b352-c8656f5c0226

Hope it helps. Reply to us with the information, so that we can resolve the issue.

For any Windows related assistance in the future, feel free to contact us and we will be glad to help.

Answer 2

Can you get a picture of the error and post it. You login and then it crashes? Did it happen in clean boot? It sounds like you have a program crashing

Answer 3

So is there anyway to fix this without using a different user account?

Answer 4

I have tried restoring multiple times but that never worked. I did try creating a new user account and the problem did not occur when I logged into that account and everything worked fine. Finally, I tried booting in safe mode but the error still occurred.

Answer 5

Hi,

Thank you for posting your concern here at the Microsoft Community forum. Let me assist you with your concern.

• Were there any changes made on the computer prior to the issue?
• Did you try performing System Restore?

To fix this problem, use the following methods in the order in which they are listed. After each method, check if problem is fixed. If the problem is not fixed, try the next method.

Method 1: First let’s try performing system restore and check If issue persist.

1. Press Windows key + R
2. Type rstrui and press enter.
3. Click Next and choose the restore point, when your computer was working fine.

Method 2: Follow this steps.

Step 1: I would suggest you to boot into safe mode and check if you face similar issue.

Windows Startup Settings (including safe mode)

**http://windows.microsoft.com/en-in/windows-8/windows-startup-settings-safe-mode**

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Step 2: If issue doesn’t persist in safe mode perform clean boot and check.

How to perform a clean boot to troubleshoot a problem in Windows 8, Windows 7, or Windows Vista

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135

Disclaimer: After you have finished troubleshooting, follow these steps from section “How to reset the computer to start as usual after clean boot troubleshooting” to reset the computer to start as usual.

Method 3: Check if you face similar issue in New user account:

Create a user account

**http://windows.microsoft.com/en-in/windows/create-user-account#create-user-account=windows-8**

Hope this helps. If you need further assistance with Windows, let us know and will be glad to help.