View Full Version : Explorer malfunction
Hey,
I've been dealing with this longer than I thought. I can use my pc for a wee bit then I get the following warning:
Explorer
"This program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down. If the problem persists contact the program vendor."
I received this for a while and when I closed the window I had to hurry save everything and shut down. Not restart but shut down and start up.
I upgraded "Internet Explorer" because it seemed to have something to do with that. Now besides getting the top warning I also get the following:
"An errorer has occured in Internet Explorer. Internet Explorer will now close. If the problem continues please restart your computer."
I don't have to totally shut down but I can only do a wee bit before I get freeze up. I can restart and work again for a while but then I get freeze up.
I use Windows '98. I almost never use IE but that is the warning regardless.
Even when I haven't used it.
I have found simple ways around it but it slows down my day!
Thanks as always for the help, Sue
I know that error so well.
Things I do to minimize that error.
-Run ScanDisk utitlity
-Use Norton WinDoctor to clean up errant registry entries and active X controls that might be causing IE to have a bad day
-Use Fixit Utilities 4 to do pretty much the same thing as Windoctor, but more of it, and better.
-Try to keep my hard drives less than 75% full
-Defrag the hardrives when they are more than 2% fragmented.
I find I get those IE errors much more frequently when I install and uninstall programs. That is no doubt because of the fragments they leave behind. That is why the cleanup utilities like Nortin WinDoctor and/or Fixit have helped stop that problem for me.
Hope this helps
Dale
Thanks for the tips, it has been a while since I did any of those. I'll give them a shot ! Sue
What version of IE are you using?
To view your version, click on Help > About Internet Explorer
NOTE: Only use the following IF you know what you are doing. These applications can just as easily delete files or change settings you need in order for your system to run.
-Use Norton WinDoctor to clean up errant registry entries and active X controls that might be causing IE to have a bad day
-Use Fixit Utilities 4 to do pretty much the same thing as Windoctor, but more of it, and better.
Are you using win 98 first or second edition? To find this information, right click the My Computer Icon on the Desktop and choose properties. Under System it should tell you the version information. If it's second edition, I believe it should say so.
Another item you might try is good ole windows update. Scan disk and defrag seem to work for me, even though I tend to reinstall everything every month or so :)
All of the above are good suggestions, and as Starr pointed out, it is best not to play around with programs that change your system settings or that can possibly delete system files, if you do not know what you are doing.
The BEST suggestions that has been mentioned here are to DEFRAG your hard drive..... OFTEN and stay updated via Windows Update.
If you use your computer as most people do, you really should take the time to Defrag your hard drive at least once every 2 weeks. If you do a lot of file moving or playing with graphic intensive programs, then you should Defrag each week.
Be sure to check for Windows/IE updates often, making sure to get every "Security Update" that comes out for IE.
Just my "For What It's Worth"
Yes Starr, I should have said that, thank you.
While we're on the subject of warning, it is NEVER a good idea to do modifications to your system without having a backup and a way to restore what you changed in case there is a problem.
Since my computer is a little older, I still use an HP Colorado Tape Drive backup with full restore capabilities.
Other options include:
Roxio's Easy CD Creator 5 has a utility in it to backup your hard drive(s) to CD.
Roxio's GoBack3 is a system recover utility that takes snapshots of your computer and allows you to revert a current damaged state to an earlier "snapshot" version.
Go to www.downloads.com and enter "backup" into the search window and see a number of other options.
Sorry about the cavalier advice before. Caution is needed whenever you make modifications to the Windows system. It is very touchy.
Dale
Hi
I haven't been able to get my defrag to run for a year, kind of forgot about working with it. I called the Gateway support ages ago and was told that antivirus needed to be disabled and then it should run. Something else must interfer because it still doesn't run, starts over and over.
I ran scan disc and found a corrupt file according to "sophos" but could not find the file to delete. I then ran "norton" (?)scan disc and didn't find anything wrong. It is suppose to auto repair.
I use 98 second edition and I have only used about a third of my disc space. It does make my day long and I did have to laugh that it did keep putting up that warning even while I was trying to run the defrag. It also throws my active desktop into a spin if I don't shutdown and start again. You all are so helpful and I was very pleased to see this forum. I have tried the support at microsoft and I don't use it because it appears to be a never ending or opening window.
Thanks so much, Sue
When any program tries to access the hard disk during defrag it will cause it to start over. Same is true with scandisk. I usually run scandisk from safe mode. When I want to run a defrag, I use the control/alt/delete key combination to bring up the Close Program window. Doing one at a time, I highlight then close each operation that is running on my computer till the only ones left are Explorer and Systray. I know you must leave these open for Windows to run. The rest will just get in the way.
With everything closed out, I run the defrag, then reboot. I find the Norton Speed Disk utility is a lot faster than the native Windows defrag.
You really should find get defrag completed once in a while, it will make a difference.
Come on back if you need more help
Dale
Well, I finally had some cooperation in that once I convinced the programs to close as Dale suggested I had the defrag run. It ran 10% then hung there appearing to restart (over and over for 1 hour). 10% is certainly better than 2%!? I may try that again later to see how it goes. I had never used the control, alt., delete before except in an effort to close after a freeze, so I was surprised to find the box. Thanks Dale.
Star, IE is the current version 6. I was having the warnings before the upgrade and I had hoped that would make it go away. It probably did help in that I now can do more after the warnings where before it was hurry or lose.
I think what I added about the time the whole thing started was "callwave" and I didn't really get it set up and I can't seem to get it deleted either. The phone machine from clone ville or something, probably great when it is fully setup. I believe it perfers AOL and I don't. (How cheap of me? ) Thanks! Sue
If defrag is hanging on you, you might wish to run scandisk first to see if there are any error within your harddisk, than run defrag.
Hope this helps!
Spyware will often do this, too. It is very sneaky (sorry Danu), and likes to run regularly, logging your activity. It will most likely not show in the Close Program dialogue box, either.
To look into finding and deleting spyware, check out AdAware. This site has lots of info:
http://www.cexx.org/adware.htm
I dont know that spyware is the source of the activity that is halting your defrag process. I suppose it is worth checking, anyway.
You can also check yourself, if you know what to look for. I dont know the names of the current spyware apps (if they even have names you can find), but some of the older ones are SaveNow, Onflow, and Gator. You can check for these by doing a file search....Start/Find/Files or Folders.
Hope this helps, or is it least intersting.
Dale
Sue,
You mentioned that you ran "Norton" scan disk (Norton Disk Doctor). If you have Norton Utilities installed, then you should also have Norton Speed Disk available to you. Run it INSTEAD of defrag. It does a much better job and normally does not have the same problems as what Defrag does.
But with Speed Disk or ANY optimization utility, any program that accesses the hard drive while it's working will cause it to restart. Check in your task tray (lower right corner) and see what is running and disable or turn off anything that you can prior to running Speed Disk or Defrag (they will restart when you reboot). Sometimes the only way to turn them off is to right click and "Disable" them. But again, this will only last until you reboot the system.
You also mentioned running active desktop. You may want to try turning that off and then see how IE acts without an active desktop running. I've seen those two have conflicts and cause IE to freeze or crash before.
Just my "For What It's Worth"
Wow, was surprised with spyware thing and yes I did find savenow in the close box. How do I get rid of this?
I did get through a scan disc that took forever and started over and over. I have yet to try defrag again. I had turned off everything including active desktop but it refused to run without turning the desktop back on.
I haven't really had the opportunity to see if it improved yet.
You all have been helpful and thank you. This has been an education and is proving to be more so all the time. Sue.
It would probably be a good idea to look at the link I gave in my last post. There is a list of most of the spyware names you might want to be on the lookout for.
Removing some spyware can be tricky,,,as it leaves parts behind that can be a real disaster. I would download the free version of AdAware and let it remove these for you.
You can always try removing them going to Start/Settings/Control Panel/ Add/Remove Programs. Highlight the item(s) on the list, hit the remove button, and cross your fingers, hold your breath, and hope that it deletes cleanly.
Good luck, Sue. I am willing to bet that once you get rid of the spyware you will be able to Defrag.
Dale
I use Norton Scandisk and Defrag to maintain systems reliability, but sometimes, I find that running a DOS Scandisk does help.
Just restart the system to MS-DOS mode. Type the following line:
scandisk /all /autofix /nosave /nosummary
/all - to scan all drives in the computer.
/autofix - to fix any discrepancies on the drive. Don't include if you wish to see what is wrong and decide on the course of action.
/nosave - to not save any errors.
nosummary - to not see what is the end result.
Use/not use the switches to your desire. I've found that sometimes taking Windows out of the picture helps resolve minor issues that give bigger problems.
Disable screensavers, and other programs that make calls to the hard drive. Running diagnostics/maintenance utilities in Safe Mode is a good idea.
Hello All,
Well I went to the site recommended by Dale and downloaded the AdAware. I had Bonzibuddy and thought maybe he was a creepy monkey. I also thought that if I turned him off he didn't follow me, silly me. Okay two components are like passwork protected and they involve "Web Compass" which is part of IE. You can't delete them because they are access denied. This is not really that bad. Thanks to you all I can once again defrag and scan disc is better as it didn't start over and over. After defraging 30% (I forgot to turn off screen saver) I haven't received the Explorer warning since. Not that I've had a lot of work time. It seems to be a success. Now if I can just find some cheap but not creepy way to let the kids (3 and 6yrs) type on the keyboard and the speaker say what they type, everyone will be happy for now. Thanks! Sue PS thanks for the other info I needed Barry!
Sue
Glad you stuck with it. Glad you got things on track. While all the info I shared with you was simple, it reflects a lot of my learning done the hard way, and a lot of hours of headbanging on the keyboard. Luckily I have a hard head *s*
Dale
Sue,
I should have added this other switch to my DOS scandisk line.
/surface
This will do a surface scan in DOS mode and identify/lock out any bad sectors of the hard drive.
I normally do this by itself, rather than combine with the other switches.
Good to hear that your system is running better.
:)
Maybe your hard drive is going bad. Before my old drive went south, it always locked up while running scandisk. You ever hear any clicking noises?
Hosemeyer
5-25-02, 10:50 AM
i de-frag my hard drive everynight, just something i have set...
Howdy all,
For future reference, if you have trouble running ScanDisk or Defrag while in Windows, do the following:
Disable any antivirus or diagnostic utilities. Disable your screen saver. Restart the machine in Safe Mode (when you go to shut down, it should be one of the options available to you). Once in Safe Mode, let the machine fully boot, and then CTRL-ALT-DEL and close down all processes except Explorer and Systray. Since you are in safe mode, there may not be any other process listed there, but check just in case.
More than likely, closing down these other processes while in Normal Windows operating mode will be enough to allow you to defrag, etc. with no issues. It may hang up on 10% or so for forever, but then after a while jump to 80% or more... stranger things have happened.
Running those utilities in safe mode, though, gets rid of a lot of difficulties. Safe mode prevents many 'unnecessary' (to basic computing operations, anyway) things from loading in the first place, so it's not such an issue to unload them from Windows. And going into Safe Mode really isn't that inconvenient, because you are unlikely to do anything at all with your machine while Defrag is happening anyway. Even when doing a Defrag in normal-mode Windows, you should reboot after it completes...
Hope this helps someone the next time they perform this...
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