How to end explorer.exe in Windows 8.1 (It restarts each time I do so)

Question

So I'm writing an app that needs to end explorer.exe before it installs. However, when using the following code Windows automatically restarts the process:

Dim proc() = System.Diagnostics.Process.GetProcessesByName("explorer.exe")
For Each item as Process in proc()
item.Kill()
Next

Due to this problem I found a way to kill explorer.exe using taskkill here's the code and it works perfectly fine:

Dim taskkill as New ProcessStartInfo
taskkill.FileName = "cmd.exe"
taskkill.Arguments = "/c taskkill /F /IM explorer.exe"
taskkill.WindowStyle = ProcessWindowStyle.Hidden
Process.Start(taskkill)

But I don't want to depend on cmd.exe to do that task? Can somebody tell me how to do this using vb.net or c# code?

Thanks.

Whoa. Back a step first. How have you determined that you need to end explorer before it installs? Have you seen *any* other installer that kills explorer before installing? What makes you think that your app needs to? — Damien_The_Unbeliever, Jun 09 '15 at 06:22

score 2 · Answer 1 · edited Mar 20 '17 at 10:18

this may be not a good practice of posting others answers,so please forgive me,i just meant to guide you by providing a small light to your problem. this answer is actually from superuser provided by t3hn00b..All credits to him

to start with ,the windows (windows 7 and XP) use a registry key to automatically restart the explorer process.so to disable we have to programatically reset the value of that key,we can use the code.

        Dim key As Microsoft.Win32.Registry
        Dim ourkey As Microsoft.Win32.RegistryKey
        ourkey = key.LocalMachine
        ourkey = ourkey.OpenSubKey("SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon", True)
        ourkey.SetValue("AutoRestartShell", 0)
        ' Kill the explorer by the way you've post and do your other work
        ourKey.SetValue("AutoRestartShell", 1)

or in C#

RegistryKey ourKey = Registry.LocalMachine;
ourKey = ourKey.OpenSubKey(@"SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon", true);
ourKey.SetValue("AutoRestartShell", 0);
// Kill the explorer by the way you've post and do your other work
ourKey.SetValue("AutoRestartShell", 1)

Anyway i dont recommend changing windows default settings for a problem which have alternatives(using cmd.exe).

the code will have errors,forgive me for that too.just tried to give your problem a little start.try and check it,it is proved to work well in win7 and XP. you can see more details in the superuser link above.Hope it will help.Thanks to the t3hn00b.

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 31 '16 at 21:16

In vb.net to kill explorer.exe you can use

    Try
        Dim Processes() As Process = Process.GetProcessesByName("explorer")
        For Each Process As Process In Processes
            Process.Kill()
        Next
    Catch ex As Exception
    End Try

This will only work if you put the code in a timer and starting the timer when you would like to kill explorer.exe.

In c# try make sure you also put it in a timer and start it when you would like to kill explorer.exe

try {
    Process[] Processes = Process.GetProcessesByName("explorer");
    foreach (Process Process in Processes) {
        Process.Kill();
    }
} catch (Exception ex) {
}

Hope this helps.

great solution!! Worked exelent for me – Dec 31 '16 at 21:36 — , Dec 31 '16 at 21:36

How to end explorer.exe in Windows 8.1 (It restarts each time I do so)

2 Answers2