{"id":1284,"date":"2013-12-04T12:55:44","date_gmt":"2013-12-04T07:25:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/198.58.113.91\/blog\/?p=1284"},"modified":"2022-02-06T16:13:23","modified_gmt":"2022-02-06T10:43:23","slug":"explorer-exe-error-yellow-exclamation-startup-windows-8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/explorer-exe-error-yellow-exclamation-startup-windows-8\/","title":{"rendered":"Fix Explorer.exe Error with Yellow Exclamation at Startup"},"content":{"rendered":"

When you log on to your user account in Windows 8 or 10, Explorer.exe error message with yellow exclamation may appear, containing no message text. This may occur mainly in the aftermath of removing malware from the system.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Fix: Explorer.exe Error with Yellow Exclamation<\/h2>\n

To fix the Explorer.exe error at startup, remove the reference to a non-existent file from one of the startup locations in the registry. Here is how to do so.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Press WinKey<\/kbd> + R<\/kbd> to bring up the Run dialog.<\/li>\n
  2. Type regedit.exe<\/code> and click OK.<\/li>\n
  3. In the Registry Editor window, navigate to the following registry location:\n
    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\\Software\\Microsoft\\Windows NT\\CurrentVersion\\Windows<\/pre>\n
    <\/li>\n
  4. Then, double-click the value named “Load<\/strong>” and clear the existing data (set it blank).\n
    Important:<\/strong> If you get an error saying: “Cannot edit Load: Error writing the value’s new contents<\/strong>“, then re-run the Registry Editor under LocalSystem<\/a> rights. Alternately, take ownership of the registry key<\/a> and then clear the Load<\/code> registry data.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
  5. Exit the Registry Editor.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    Note:<\/b> The above location is one of the many startup launch-points<\/a> in Windows, and some viruses\/malware add entries there. The value may be pointing to a malware file that is non-existent after malware cleanup. To manage startup programs easily, use the free Autoruns utility<\/a> from Microsoft.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
    When you log on to your user account in Windows 8 or 10, Explorer.exe error message with yellow exclamation may appear, containing no message text. This may occur mainly in the aftermath of removing malware from the system.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[8,10],"tags":[191,441],"class_list":["post-1284","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-windows-10","category-windows-8","tag-error-messages","tag-registry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1078,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/fix-file-association-error-explorer-in-windows\/","url_meta":{"origin":1284,"position":0},"title":"[Fix] Explorer.exe Error “This file does not have an app associated”","author":"Ramesh","date":"September 2, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"When you click the Windows Explorer or File Explorer shortcut Pinned to the Taskbar, or when running explorer.exe directly, the following error message may be displayed: This file does not have an app associated with it for performing this action. 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This problem may continue\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Windows"","block_context":{"text":"Windows","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"black screen startup command prompt opens","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/shell-comspec-malware.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/shell-comspec-malware.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/shell-comspec-malware.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/shell-comspec-malware.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":80535,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/explorer-exe-error-open-file-location\/","url_meta":{"origin":1284,"position":2},"title":"Explorer.exe error when selecting Open File Location","author":"Ramesh","date":"March 21, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"When you right-click on a shortcut on the desktop or Start menu and choose Open file location, the following error may occur: Explorer.EXE This file does not have an app associated with it for performing this action. 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