Windows 7 explorer.exe and Atbroker.exe error on start up and then grey screen

[darrenj]

Hello

As stated in title on boot up I get an explorer.exe and atbroker error and then just a grey screen.
I can boot up fine in safe mode. Any help would be appreciated.

thanks Darren

 

[eeboater]

Hi, I'm experiencing the same exact issue. Has anyone experienced this as well? I'm running an HP EliteBook 6930p with a From-scratch install of Windows 7 Professional.

 

[minimack]

hmmm... me too. after installing some updates(not sure what they are) it just doesn't start and it does the exact same thing as specified. not in the mood to reinstall windows! ;( i got a Dell inspiron 1521 from 2007. i bet there are a lot of computers with this issue, and that's not making microsoft look very good... what i tried(none worked, but you can give it a shot) is to put in your windows 7 disc, restart your computer and immediately hit the f8 key to select your boot device. there should be a a selection telling you "repair your computer". select it. do the first option at the top after providing the login info. unfortunately, this didn't work for me. if anyone knows any other way to fix the problem without having to reinstall windows, please tell me

 

[simonh]

I've also got the same issue. Rebooted late on the 28th Jan (UK time) and got the AtBroker.exe error followed by the explorer.exe error.

So far, and without success, from safe mode I have tried:
1) Full system virus scan overnight
2) System restore back to a point on Tuesday morning (26th Jan)
3) Disable all Remote Desktop related services in msconfig
4) Run CCleaner and its registry cleaner

Downloading malwarebytes now to give that a go.

Any other suggestions gratefully received!

 

[Bajeroo]

Same here guys

Hi Folks,
My Nephews PC started throwing that up last night. Exactly the same error.
I tried rebooting in safe mode. Checked the error logs and found that a lot of key services were not starting when the errors were happening. Can't remember which just now as i've just woke up.
Tried changing them all back to automatic startup, but no change anyway, maybe one servvice that they depend on that i've missed.
Anyway, from reading the other forums on this ATBroker.exe, it is used for remotely connecting to the machine so i don't see why it is affecting us as we are not.
I also tried uninstalling the latest updates whilst in safe mode. Only the ones from yesterday as the PC seemed to be fine before that. No change.
I myself have exactly the same PC with Win7 installed in the next room to him.(That's what i'm writing this post on.) I haven't installed any updates for a few days now. I have 4 waiting. I think i shall wait until we get to the bottom of this first.
Goodluck!

 

[Mark S]

Same Here

Started Yesterday 1/28/2010. Tried everything mentioned above but Winow 7 still Gives me the ATAutobroker.exe and the explorer.exe error on login.

 

[Bajeroo]

Well, I've tried uninstalling all updates from the past week and setting the majority of system services to start up automatically. Result? Still gubbed.
Gonna just go for a reinstall. Nightmare.

 

[geoffreyj]

AtBroker and explorer Application Error

I have exactly the same problem which occurred yesterday 29 Jan 10. Can open in the Safe Mode with Networking. This allows me to access the Internet and Emails. I updated from Windows Vista to Windows 7 Home Premium. I have checked the update CD to see if I can locate the files with no success. Can anybody help me or direct me to a Microsoft site for help?

 

[Bajeroo]

I reinstalled and refused to take any updates from the past week and it's running fine.
I'm gonna just leave it there.
I installed W7 Pro as an upgrade to Vista Business.
How did you all install?

 

[tenten]

I have the same exact problem since yesterday (Jan 28) reboot in the afternoon. Has anybody found a solution to this problem yet, or any pointers on microsoft support websites? I have also upgraded from Vista to Win 7. That seems to be the common setup among the reports above.

 

[minimack]

Hi Folks,
My Nephews PC started throwing that up last night. Exactly the same error.
I tried rebooting in safe mode. Checked the error logs and found that a lot of key services were not starting when the errors were happening. Can't remember which just now as i've just woke up.
Tried changing them all back to automatic startup, but no change anyway, maybe one servvice that they depend on that i've missed.
Anyway, from reading the other forums on this ATBroker.exe, it is used for remotely connecting to the machine so i don't see why it is affecting us as we are not.
I also tried uninstalling the latest updates whilst in safe mode. Only the ones from yesterday as the PC seemed to be fine before that. No change.
I myself have exactly the same PC with Win7 installed in the next room to him.(That's what i'm writing this post on.) I haven't installed any updates for a few days now. I have 4 waiting. I think i shall wait until we get to the bottom of this first.
Goodluck!

ok, how can i check the error logs? it would let me attempt to pull up task manager, but that went corrupt too. none of the .exe services are starting on mine, but it varies.

 

[tenten]

One other note. I also had a Win32/WebSearch trojan alert early in the day on Jan 28 before this problem popped up. Has anybody else run into this also?

 

[tenten]

av software

folks, those of you having this particular problem that started on Jan 28th, what AV software are you using? Anybody using CA antivirus? I found this post:

Link Removed - Invalid URL

I am trying the recommendations from that forum now, lets see if it takes care of this problem.

 

[minimack]

just got off the phone with microsoft. tried all kinds of methods, spent an hour and 1/2 talking to someone who i barely understood, and finally came to the conclusion that the research team will call me back on sunday, looks like we got a mystery!! you can call microsoft's tech support line at-(866) 234-6020. just be sure you can speak forign languages... XD

 

[TristanShiz]

hi im Tristan =]
I got this problem yesterday afternoon around 4pm... in the morning i did notice a virus be picked up by CA antirus but it sayd infected not quarrantened or anything.
then when i stated it up later that afternoon i got atbroker.exe has failed to initalize as well as explorer...

i have no clue as what has happened, im going to replace atbroker.exe with another version of the file on my laptop...

This is really annoying as my pc has been running fine since the first time i built the pc in august, its been running win 7 rtm since then fine...
i hope there is a fix as i dont want to rebuld this machine

 

[minimack]

agreed...rebuilding sucks. currently i am scanning(nothing yet). does anyone know if CA has a version for win7? this might be a problem in the future...

 

[TristanShiz]

ca antivirus 2009 works fine on w7, im using it now....

it just checked the logs in safe mode and is sayd that a file infection in shell32.dll in system 32 was reported but nothing was done.
hmm, i might just delete that file and replace it with the one from my laptop.....gonna give it a try

 

[minimack]

good i dont think my .dll is screwed up, but it does say occasionally that it is corrupt. personally i think it was a virus that attacks your comp's shell32.dll. do you use limewire/frostwire/bearshare? they are great ways to sneak viruses into your machine.

 

[TristanShiz]

i fixed it..
removing and replacing the dll files did nothing whatso ever..

i saw on that uninstalling CA antivirus will allow your pc to boot...
i uninstalled it and what do you know.... it just booted

im going to get another antivirus software as ca just seems incompatable..

even if you dont use ca antivirus remove your software just to try while you are in safe mode.

 

[tenten]

I was able to fix it as well. If you don't want to uninstall the CA AV software, here are the steps to fix:

restart in safe mode
start CA AV
set exclusion for \windows\system32\shell32.dll in CAAV options panel for Real Time and On Demand virus checks
Run a full scan (not sure if this is necessary or not)
Reboot in normal mode and the problem is gone

CA forums say that even though 2009 works on Win 7, it is not officially supported, and recommend upgrade to 2010 version. But I doubt that is the issue. The problem seems to be the virus sig 7266 which was updated on the 28th, caused a false positive on shell32.dll and quarantined it, making it inaccessible to the filesystem, hence desktop could not load. I updated the virus sig to latest version, run another scan on shell32.dll and it did not report the false positive anymore, but the file is still stuck in quarantine list for some reason.

In anycase, either uninstall the CA AV, or just add the shell32.dll to exlusion list for the AV, and the problem should be resolved.