Explorer.exe--Serious Problem! Help! Pleeeease!

[Harrison Demchick]

For whatever reason, for the past several weeks I have
been having a rather odd problem with explorer.exe. When
logging into the network, which works on Novell,
explorer.exe does not run automatically. I need to hit
ctrl-alt-delete to bring up the task list and run it
manually.

But that's not the real problem. That's just an
inconvenience. When I try to log in on "Workstation only,"
without the network, I am logged in and <i>immediately</i>
logged right back out, with no time to try, well,
anything. If I am not attached to a modem port and if I am
not in the range of the network, I cannot access my
computer at all.

What could be causing this? My computer has been scanned
for viruses and found clean by a program installed no
earlier than September. I need this problem solved by
Thanksgiving.

-Harrison Demchick

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

For whatever reason, for the past several weeks I have
been having a rather odd problem with explorer.exe. When
logging into the network, which works on Novell,
explorer.exe does not run automatically. I need to hit
ctrl-alt-delete to bring up the task list and run it
manually.

But that's not the real problem. That's just an
inconvenience. When I try to log in on "Workstation only,"
without the network, I am logged in and <i>immediately</i>
logged right back out, with no time to try, well,
anything. If I am not attached to a modem port and if I am
not in the range of the network, I cannot access my
computer at all.

What could be causing this? My computer has been scanned
for viruses and found clean by a program installed no
earlier than September. I need this problem solved by
Thanksgiving.

-Harrison Demchick

This typically happens when hard disks are changed. Before you
change disks, delete any inappropriate or non-existing devices
as per Step 2 below.
1. From dos, copy userinit.exe to all the other hard drives
This should allow you to log in.
2. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/MountedDevices/:
delete all keys which look like "\DosDevice\<DRIVE_LETTER>:"
3. Point KEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Windows NT/Current Version/
Winlogon/Userinit to the correct location of userinit.exe
See also http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=249321

You can also edit the registry of the problem machine via
a network connection to point the paging file back to where
it belongs:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\
Memory Management
======================
Alternatively, this link might help:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;256194
======================
If none of this helps then I would do this:
- Back up all my data files
- Re-install Win2000, allowing it to format the disk and making sure
that drive C: consumes only about 5 GBytes. The rest is reserved
for data on drive D:
- Re-install all apps
- When the dust has settled, create an image with DriveImage or
Ghost, and store it on D:.

This technique allows me to restore a damaged installation in
less than 30 minutes.

 

[Harrison Demchick]

-----Original Message-----



This typically happens when hard disks are changed. Before you
change disks, delete any inappropriate or non-existing devices
as per Step 2 below.
1. From dos, copy userinit.exe to all the other hard drives
This should allow you to log in.
2. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/MountedDevices/:
delete all keys which look

3. Point KEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Windows NT/Current Version/
Winlogon/Userinit to the correct location of userinit.exe
See also http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=249321

You can also edit the registry of the problem machine via
a network connection to point the paging file back to where
it belongs:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Sessio n Manager\
Memory Management
======================
Alternatively, this link might help:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en- us;256194
======================
If none of this helps then I would do this:
- Back up all my data files
- Re-install Win2000, allowing it to format the disk and making sure
that drive C: consumes only about 5 GBytes. The rest is reserved
for data on drive D:
- Re-install all apps
- When the dust has settled, create an image with DriveImage or
Ghost, and store it on D:.

This technique allows me to restore a damaged installation in
less than 30 minutes.


.

I have considerably less idea of what I am doing than you,
so the following may be stupid questions and/or statements.

First, I haven't changed the hard disk. It simply stopped
working one day--indeed, it worked in the morning and did
not in the afternoon.

Second, where would I put userint.exe? And if it isn't in
DOS, might that be my problem?

Re: step 3 . . . how?

Re: subsequent statement . . . what?

I'll get to work on the things you have suggested, but if
you could answer some of these questions, it would be much
appreaciated.

Thanks!

-Harrison Demchick

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

See below.

If your experience with Win2000 is limited then it might
be best if you asked a friend who is competent in such
things to assist you. The instructions I gave in my reply
are not aimed at a novice - they assume a fair amount of
prior experience with Win2000 at a nuts and bolts level.

I have considerably less idea of what I am doing than you,
so the following may be stupid questions and/or statements.

First, I haven't changed the hard disk. It simply stopped
working one day--indeed, it worked in the morning and did
not in the afternoon.

Things happen with PCs - sometimes (but rarely) by themselves,
often due to influences (e.g. viruses, hackers, bad programs) that
we're not aware of.

Second, where would I put userint.exe? And if it isn't in
DOS, might that be my problem?

Userinit.exe must go into c:\winnt\system32. Furthermore, following
the instructions given by Microsoft, it should temporarily go into
d:\winnt\system32, e:\winnt\system32 etc.
Your question about DOS makes no sense. DOS is an operating
system which you don't have - you have Win2000.

Re: step 3 . . . how?

You have to modify the registry via a networked machine,
using regedit.exe.

 

[Harrison Demchick]

Apparently, your instructions were easier than I
though/feared. The first three steps did the job
perfectly. Thanks! You succeeded where Gateway Tech
Support failed miserably.

-Harrison Demchick