Windows 8 Explorer Fails To Restart Correctly

I keep experiencing increasing memory usage by Windows Explorer. Most frequently when moving files, or if I use the "Open containing folder" for a file playing in Foobar. It takes several of these to amount to an actual increase but that's only a minor annoyance.

The real problem is that, after opening task manager and selecting to restart explorer, it quite frequently acts as if it has restarted (explorer.exe appearing in the program list), but does not actually load. No desktop, no icons, no start button (I use classic shell), no charms menu, and the windows button to return to the start screen does nothing. All I get is the system clock and the few icons next to it. The problem continues even if you continually restart, until it randomly corrects itself. Could take 1 additional restart, could take 15-20.

This is majorly problematic and annoying, google turns up nothing, and I'm honestly starting to wonder if there's just something wrong with my computer. There's already a hardware problem in that my webcam has an internal disconnect and the display itself has vertical lines randomly appearing, which I am settling with HP, but there are no other noticeable problems.