Should I block it?

No, this file is 100% safe to run.

Additional versions

6.3.9600.17031 (winblue_gdr.140221-1952)	2.92%
6.3.9600.16384 (winblue_rtm.130821-1623)	0.83%
6.3.9600.16384 (winblue_rtm.130821-1623)	0.01%
6.3.9600.16384 (winblue_rtm.130821-1623)	0.98%
6.3.9600.16384 (winblue_rtm.130821-1623)	0.01%
6.3.9600.16384 (winblue_rtm.130821-1623)	0.07%
6.3.9431.0 (winmain_bluemp.130615-1214)	0.24%
6.3.9431.0 (winmain_bluemp.130615-1214)	0.01%
6.2.9200.16384 (win8_rtm.120725-1247)	3.79%
6.2.9200.16384 (win8_rtm.120725-1247)	0.17%
6.2.8102.0 (winmain_win8m3.110823-1455)	0.05%
6.1.7600.16385 (win7_rtm.090713-1255)	0.74%
6.1.7600.16385 (win7_rtm.090713-1255)	1.88%
6.1.7600.16385 (win7_rtm.090713-1255)	42.01%
6.1.7600.16385 (win7_rtm.090713-1255)	2.00%
6.1.7600.16385 (win7_rtm.090713-1255)	2.42%
6.1.7600.16385 (win7_rtm.090713-1255)	3.82%
6.1.7600.16385 (win7_rtm.090713-1255)	11.84%
6.1.7600.16385 (win7_rtm.090713-1255)	2.03%
6.1.7600.16385 (win7_rtm.090713-1255)	0.01%
6.1.7600.16385 (win7_rtm.090713-1255)	0.01%
6.1.7600.16385 (win7_rtm.090713-1255)	0.66%
6.1.7600.16385 (win7_rtm.090713-1255)	0.05%
6.1.7600.16385 (win7_rtm.090713-1255)	0.01%
6.1.7600.16385 (win7_rtm.090713-1255)	0.01%
View more
6.1.7600.16385 (win7_rtm.090713-1255)	1.02%
6.1.7600.16385 (win7_rtm.090713-1255)	0.07%
6.1.7600.16385 (win7_rtm.090713-1255)	0.01%
6.00.3790.3959 (srv03_sp2_rtm.070216-1710)	0.01%
6.00.2900.5634 (xpsp_sp3_qfe.080703-1303)	0.01%
6.00.2900.5634 (xpsp_sp3_qfe.080703-1303)	0.07%
6.00.2900.5634 (xpsp_sp3_qfe.080703-1303)	0.93%
6.00.2900.5512 (xpsp.080413-2105)	11.54%
6.00.2900.5512 (xpsp.080413-2105)	0.07%
6.00.2900.5512 (xpsp.080413-2105)	0.01%
6.00.2900.5512 (xpsp.080413-2105)	0.01%
6.00.2900.3244 (xpsp.071030-1535)	0.01%
6.00.2900.3156 (xpsp_sp2_qfe.070613-1311)	0.01%
6.00.2900.3156 (xpsp_sp2_qfe.070613-1311)	0.01%
6.00.2900.3156 (xpsp_sp2_qfe.070613-1311)	0.01%
6.00.2900.3156 (xpsp_sp2_gdr.070613-1234)	0.39%
6.00.2900.3156 (xpsp_sp2_gdr.070613-1234)	0.01%
6.00.2900.2649 (xpsp.050406-1732)	0.01%
6.00.2900.2180 (xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158)	1.75%
6.00.2900.2180 (xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158)	0.01%
6.00.2900.2180 (xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158)	0.01%
6.0.6000.16386 (vista_rtm.061101-2205)	5.19%
6.0.6000.16386 (vista_rtm.061101-2205)	0.01%
6.0.6000.16386 (vista_rtm.061101-2205)	0.01%
6.0.6000.16386 (vista_rtm.061101-2205)	1.55%
6.0.6000.16386 (vista_rtm.061101-2205)	0.30%

Relationships

explorer.exe

Windows Explorer by Microsoft Corporation (Signed)

Remove explorer.exe

Version:	6.1.7600.16385 (win7_rtm.090713-1255)
MD5:	9aaaec8dac27aa17b053e6352ad233ae
SHA1:	0f841176602288ee1be832573265f88ca78f4ba7
SHA256:	2d5173acf0bd6ac49670f7c83fd79af552ba9d989de8ba557459191c08a8a1af

This is a Windows system installed file with Windows File Protection (WFP) enabled.

What is explorer.exe?

Windows Explorer also known as File Explorer, is a file manager application and also a navigation tool that is included with releases of the Microsoft Windows operating system. It provides a graphical user interface for accessing the file systems. It is also the component of the operating system that presents many user interface items on the monitor such as the taskbar and desktop. Located in the C:\Windows directory, it is sometimes referred to as the Windows shell, explorer.exe.

Overview

explorer.exe executes as a process with the local user's privileges. It configures an autoplay handler withing explorer.exe named MSOpenFolder that will launch the program automatically. The file is digitally signed by Microsoft Corporation. This version is designed to run on Windows 7 and is compiled as a 64 bit program.

Details

File name:	explorer.exe
Publisher:	Microsoft Corporation
Product name:	Windows Explorer
Description:	Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
Typical file path:	C:\windows\explorer.exe
Original name:	EXPLORER.EXE.MUI
File version:	6.1.7600.16385 (win7_rtm.090713-1255)
Product version:	6.1.7600.16385
Size:	2.74 MB (2,870,272 bytes)
Certificate
Issued to:	Microsoft Corporation
Authority (CA):	Microsoft Corporation
Expiration date:	Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Digital DNA
Entropy:	5.934229
File packed:	No
Code language:	Microsoft Visual C++
.NET CLR:	No

More details

Behaviors

Shell open commands

SHCmdFile

Autoplay handlers

Runs under the registry key 'SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\AutoplayHandlers\Handlers'

Handler name 'MSOpenFolderBackup'
Handler name 'MSOpenFolder'

Scheduled tasks

The task '{AD36F1D3-E56E-44BA-A569-280718EB8C51}' runs on registration in the path '\{AD36F1D3-E56E-44BA-A569-280718EB8C51}'

Resource utilization

(Note: statistics below are averages based on a minimum sample size of 200 unique participants)

Averages

CPU
Total CPU:	0.00532658%	0.028634%
Kernel CPU:	0.00152933%	0.013761%
User CPU:	0.00379724%	0.014873%
Kernel CPU time:	9,415,966 ms/min	100,923,805ms/min
CPU cycles:	831,964/sec	17,470,203/sec
Context switches:	51/sec	284/sec
Memory
Private memory:	48.15 MB	21.59 MB
Private (maximum):	78.6 MB
Private (minimum):	37.04 MB
Non-paged memory:	48.15 MB	21.59 MB
Virtual memory:	335.72 MB	140.96 MB
Virtual memory (peak):	486.78 MB	169.69 MB
Working set:	64.78 MB	18.61 MB
Working set (peak):	88.24 MB	37.95 MB
Page faults:	7,674,638/min	2,039/min
I/O
I/O read transfer:	959.24 KB/sec	1.02 MB/min
I/O read operations:	74/sec	343/min
I/O write transfer:	733.79 KB/sec	274.99 KB/min
I/O write operations:	27/sec	227/min
I/O other transfer:	17.29 KB/sec	448.09 KB/min
I/O other operations:	296/sec	1,671/min
Resource allocations
Threads:	32	12
Handles:	986	600
GUI GDI count:	536	103
GUI GDI peak:	661	142
GUI USER count:	329	49
GUI USER peak:	430	71

Process properties

Tray notification:	Yes
Integrety level:	Medium
Platform:	64-bit
Command lines:	C:\windows\explorer.exe "C:\windows\explorer.exe" "explorer.exe"
Owner:	User
Parent process:	conhost.exe (by Microsoft)

Threads

Averages

ntdll.dll
Total CPU:	0.10345089%	0.272967%
Kernel CPU:	0.02801898%	0.107585%
User CPU:	0.07543192%	0.165382%
CPU cycles:	3,540,780/sec	5,741,424/sec
Context switches:	2/sec	79/sec
Memory:	1.68 MB	1.16 MB
IDMNetMon64.DLL
Total CPU:	0.10012007%
Kernel CPU:	0.07403837%
User CPU:	0.02608170%
CPU cycles:	2,891,033/sec
Memory:	204 KB
Explorer.EXE (main module)
Total CPU:	0.09042724%
Kernel CPU:	0.05928235%
User CPU:	0.03114490%
CPU cycles:	2,668,530/sec
Context switches:	10/sec
Memory:	2.75 MB
SHLWAPI.dll
Total CPU:	0.08102996%
Kernel CPU:	0.03859062%
User CPU:	0.04243934%
CPU cycles:	2,685,152/sec
Context switches:	2/sec
Memory:	452 KB
pnidui.dll
Total CPU:	0.00258803%
Kernel CPU:	0.00156473%
User CPU:	0.00102330%
CPU cycles:	59,971/sec
Memory:	1.74 MB
WINMM.dll
Total CPU:	0.00159497%
Kernel CPU:	0.00042392%
User CPU:	0.00117106%
CPU cycles:	33,993/sec
Memory:	236 KB
MMDevApi.dll
Total CPU:	0.00014284%
Kernel CPU:	0.00000000%
User CPU:	0.00014284%
CPU cycles:	2,373/sec
Memory:	300 KB
ole32.dll
Total CPU:	0.00013473%
Kernel CPU:	0.00000000%
User CPU:	0.00013473%
CPU cycles:	3,294/sec
Memory:	2.01 MB
Wlanapi.dll
Total CPU:	0.00007727%
Kernel CPU:	0.00003480%
User CPU:	0.00004247%
CPU cycles:	9,695/sec
Memory:	128 KB
fxsst.dll
Total CPU:	0.00005404%
Kernel CPU:	0.00005404%
User CPU:	0.00000000%
CPU cycles:	598/sec
Memory:	860 KB
gdiplus.dll
Total CPU:	0.00001527%
Kernel CPU:	0.00001527%
User CPU:	0.00000000%
CPU cycles:	218/sec
Memory:	2.09 MB

Common loaded modules

These are modules that are typiclaly loaded within the context of this process.

Distribution by Windows OS

OS version	distribution
Windows 7 Home Premium	36.00%
Windows 8.1 Pro	14.00%
Windows 7 Ultimate	12.00%
Windows 8.1	10.50%
Windows 7 Professional	6.50%
Windows 8	6.50%
Windows 8.1 Single Language	6.00%
Windows 8.1 N	4.00%
Windows 8 Single Language	2.50%
Windows 8.1 Pro with Media Center	2.00%

Distribution by country

United States installs about 51.50% of Windows Explorer.

Distribution by PC manufacturer

PC Manufacturer	distribution
Hewlett-Packard	23.75%
ASUS	23.33%
Dell	14.17%
Toshiba	13.33%
Acer	12.08%
Lenovo	6.67%
Alienware	3.33%
Samsung	3.33%

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