explorer.exe task purpose and description:

Explorer.exe is normally a file that will arrive on your pc as preinstalled software. The actual disk and folder location of this file is shown below for you, always verify your file is in the proper location if you think its suspicious, as many spyware or adware related programs use similiar names in attempts to fool you, but verifying the file location will make sure you have the proper file. This is a Windows program which will show on all pcs. Explorer.exe is for your desktop or for your explorer window, you can even terminate it to shutdown your desktop, and restart it up again if you wish. Do not remove explorer.exe from your system startup, doing this will cause problems as your entire desktop will not show anymore on reboot (I removed this startup registry entry myself just to test it, and you will get nothing but a blank screen with no desktop icons or buttons anymore). It will run automatically when you reboot. This file is considered safe and is not spyware or adwaer related. (See the details below for the actual location of this file.)

Actual process or task name: (You can view alphabetical task list here)
explorer.exe

File type:
This is an executable program.

Where is this file and folder located on my computer?
This explorer.exe file is located in your Windows folder (or Winnt folder), or system32 folder.

General information:
Be aware that many tasks will be similiar names to existing tasks or processes. You can always view the running tasks on your computer by pressing ctrl-alt-del to view the windows "task manager", and then view the "processes" tab. This will show you all tasks running or currently active on your PC. Although this shows you all running tasks, it does not show dll file thats are loaded, as they get loaded as part of other processes. Many spyware writers attempt to hide their files on your computer, for example, explorer.exe may be intentionally misspelled to look like a similiar task, or spyware may be named very similiar to a Windows system task. The reason they do this is so you cannot easily recognize the name in your tasklist as I have mentioned above. Make sure always check the location of the file if you are concerned. You can always find the location of explorer.exe on your computer by using your Windows search options, but I will also try to list the file location of every file described on this website, so you can verify the correct location. You can view the entire tasklist directory with the link below.

View entire task list here!