Thanks. May I ask what is the difference between this and right clicking explorer in the process list of task manager and clicking 'end process tree'?
Thanks for the question. This is no different than opening up Task Manager and killing the process tree. This app was created for those who experience the Windows 8 explorer.exe bug - where the taskbar, charmsbar, and startscreen become totally unresponsive. This app may also be useful to those who need to restart explorer with Admin permissions. Why would you ever need that? Because you need explorer to be running with administrator permissions to view certain folders in ProgramData, or open up the 'raw' recycle bin folders. You also need admin permissions to view the Windows recovery partition, or ANY EFI partition (doesn't matter what OS). In order to launch the ACTUAL explorer.exe shell with admin permissions, you need the entire process to be closed, then re-start the program by 'Run as administrator'. Problem is - that's not possible. However, if you run my program as an admin, it makes it possible.
One of the reasons i do not use Windows (or better File) Explorer. I simply start a second instance of Total Commander with elevated privileges and close when done. In case Total Commander stops responding, i simply close it via Task Manager. That doesn't crash the whole Windows Shell like a failing Windows Explorer, what a crap tool .
TBH, all other shell replacements for windows fall short in many areas that explorer.exe doesn't. It may have ONE bug in Windows 8, but otherwise - I think your being a little overly-critical of Windows Explorer...
No need to defend explorer ... anybody should use what suits him/her . Like to have a real EXPLORER myself and windows/file explorer won't serve my needs in anyway. Instead of a (for me mostly useless) ribbon they should implement the needed features: 2nd window, tabs, files matching option, renaming and several others. Although one might install countless add-ons it still will lack the 2nd window. BTW: The concept behind Total Commander and is older than the Windows 'crap' ... it's based on the Norton Commander idea from dos (the elders here should know that amazing tool). It still starts with it's configuration settings by default. BTW 2: Doggie uses the free version for android which is as amazing as the big brother .
Just do it with a single line: Code: C:\WINDOWS\System32\wbem\WMIC.exe process where name="explorer.exe" call Terminate
Tried it, explorer restarts too quickly and therefore only opens a browser window. Not the entire shell.