Explorer Error in KERNEL32.DLL

[DW]

Have recenty been getting a consistent error
message: "Explorer has caused an error in KERNEL32.DLL and
will now close. If you continue to experience problems
try restarting your computer." Closing the error message
merely locks up the computer. Even a "CTRL-ALT-DEL" will
not restart the computer. Hard-power down is the only
alternative...and not a good one. Source of the problem
is unknown, and fix is just as elusive. Tried reloading
IE 6.0 without effect.

Any clues/suggestions?

Thanks, DW

 

[Frank Saunders, MS-MVP]

Have recenty been getting a consistent error
message: "Explorer has caused an error in KERNEL32.DLL and
will now close. If you continue to experience problems
try restarting your computer." Closing the error message
merely locks up the computer. Even a "CTRL-ALT-DEL" will
not restart the computer. Hard-power down is the only
alternative...and not a good one. Source of the problem
is unknown, and fix is just as elusive. Tried reloading
IE 6.0 without effect.

Any clues/suggestions?

Thanks, DW

You may need new video drivers. Check the site for your video board
manufacturer. Meanwhile you can do the following:
1. Use the default mouse pointers.
2. Turn down your color depth. (Right click the desktop and choose
Properties | Appearance | Settings) Some people find that increasing color
depth helps.
3. Turn down your graphics hardware acceleration. (For Win 98, Start |
Settings | Control Panel | System | Performance | Graphics button) You will
see little, if any, performance degradation.
4. Turn off your desktop wallpaper.

If these make the problem go away you need new video drivers.

If you have an ATI video board, try adding these lines to System.ini

[display]
DevBMP=0 <--- That's a zero

If that isn't it see:
Dealing with Unwanted Spyware, Parasites, Toolbars and Search Engines
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm