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I'm currently experimenting with a custom shell on a couple of similar Windows 8.1 devices.

When I exit the custom shell and then manually start explorer through Task Manager, sometimes it will start the default Windows 8.1 shell, sometimes it will only start a file explorer.

From past experience, I gathered that the latter case usually happens if explorer is already running. But there are no running Windows Explorer instances I'm aware of.

So, what controls this behavior? How can I force Explorer to always start in "shell mode"?

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  • What do you mean by "shell mode"? Mar 6, 2015 at 19:10
  • @CanadianLuke: The mode in which Windows Explorer provides the main Windows user interface, like the task bar, the Start screen, the desktop and so on. Mar 6, 2015 at 19:12
  • I believe Explorer will only become the shell, when it is set as the shell. Simply starting it doesn't make it a shell if something else is configured to be the shell.
    – Zoredache
    Mar 7, 2015 at 17:35
  • @Zoredache: The process works perfectly on other devices. If I set Notepad to be the shell, exit it after a reboot and start Explorer, I'll get my shell as expected. On another device the situation is as described in my question. Given that Explorer isn't the shell by default on either device, no other instances of Explorer (or anything else that isn't a service) are running. Mar 8, 2015 at 13:51

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