Running Windows without Explorer after disabling it for performance

[tribdog]

This computer my boss gave me seems to get bogged down too easily. especially when I get online. I have to wait for about 5 minutes after connecting before I can do anything. But what I did last time I connected was hit ctrl-alt-del then stop the explorer process. This wiped out my desktop, then I started a new application and started iexplorer. Now it's running like a charm. I don't have a desktop, but everything seems to work fine. Is there any reason why I shouldn't be running the computer in this fashion, other than lack of convienience?

 

[russ_watters]

This computer my boss gave me seems to get bogged down too easily. especially when I get online. I have to wait for about 5 minutes after connecting before I can do anything. But what I did last time I connected was hit ctrl-alt-del then stop the explorer process. This wiped out my desktop, then I started a new application and started iexplorer. Now it's running like a charm. I don't have a desktop, but everything seems to work fine. Is there any reason why I shouldn't be running the computer in this fashion, other than lack of convienience?

Sounds like a virus (trojan, actually) - run a scan and make sure the scanner is up to date. A quick way to check is to open a command prompt and type "netstat" - if you get more than a small handful of connections, its a trojan.