Killing explorer.exe when a process starts and restarting it when a process ends

Question

I have a game which doesn't look perfect as long as explorer.exe is running. Currently the process is to start the game, kill explorer.exe from the task manager then once the game is done restart explorer from the task manager. I was wondering if there was some way to set up the shortcut for the game to do this. I know you can execute commands from within the shortcut's properties, but I don't know how.

Just to restate, I want to have the shortcut kill explorer.exe, start the game, then restart explorer.exe once the game is finished.

I am running Windows 7 Professional 64-bit.

Solution 1

I've had a similar problem with a game I have. You can easily create a short batch script that will kill and restartexplorer.exe and then run the batch script whne you want to start the game. Here's the script startgame.bat:

@echo off
taskkill /f /IM explorer.exe
game.exe
Start explorer.exe

Obviously replace game.exe with your exe. Place the batch file next to your game exe and run it instead.

Solution 2

I've had similar problems with Diablo 2 on Windows 7. Got it fixed by setting the compatibility mode to Windows XP. Right click on the exe -> properties -> click the compatibility tab and from there you can enable the compatibility mode and choose which OS is most suitable for the program. This have saved me alot of times.

I was actually searching for the batch code to end explorer while executing a certain program. GTA IV is totally unplayable on my computer while explorer is running heh

Solution 3

if explorer dont start after exit game try:

taskkill /f /IM explorer.exe

game.exe

C:\windows\explorer.exe

///info to last line: or yours path to windows folder

Comments

[indyK1ng]

And I would link to the batch script in the shortcut for the game?

[indyK1ng]

Command and Conquer. It runs fine, but Explorer seems to be overlaying some weird colors for some reason.

[Force Flow]

I saw mention of a 3rd-party mod that may address the color issue: purefaction.org Though, I'm not sure if you would be able to play multiplayer with gamers running without the mod. Also, I stumbled across this: sevenforums.com/gaming/…

[heavyd]

Yep, you would create a shortcut to this batch scrip to replace your current shortcut.