# [Resolved] Explorer.exe...error...kernel32.dll - Tried everything



## ultimax (Apr 25, 2002)

Hi!

HELP! I'm desperate. I did the usual preliminary search for help on the net and I've tried all the solutions presented to me. Those that i could understand at least. But to no avail.....the problem's still there.

A few days ago, ICQ gave way and refused to work. It just happened all of a sudden. One afternoon when I booted up ICQ, it caused an error with kernel32.dll. The problem just happened out of the blue!

Then within the same day, explorer.exe (both My Computer and Internet Explorer) refused to work! I'd get "Explorer has caused an error with kernel32.dll". As such, I haven't been able to use My Computer, to do File Search or to even access the Control Panel!

I decided to fix ICQ first so i uninstalled everything and reinstalled ICQ and it now works fine.

I read on the net that this problem could be due to a corruped copy of IE. So I did the same for IE but I couldn't successfully uninstall IE. So I downloaded IE 6.0 and installed it anyway. DIdn't work at all! Problem was still there. I even deleted the IE directory on my computer and installed IE again but that turned out to be bogus because while the dialog box said everything was installed fine, in actuality nothing was installed!

The funny thing is everything works fine in SAFE mode. I've not installed anything recently so it can't be a problem of an errant new program. Unless it's the stupid Comet Cursor nonsense which auto-installs?

Oh yeah I can't even drag stuff from my desktop to the QuickLaunch bar!

Someone suggested I could be a victim of the Klez virus, which till now, I thought was pretty harmless tho widespread. I did a virus scan and uncovered a bunch of viruses, deleted the files, rebooted but i still have the problem?

Anyone have any ideas? Because My Computer doesn't work I'm practically paralysed! I can't browse my files, copy, transfer etc. I'm using WinME.

Thanks!

Shu
[email protected]


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## Rollin' Rog (Dec 9, 2000)

The problem could well be due to Comet Cursor and other spy and advertising related installs.

If Comet Cursor is listed in Add/Remove, remove it. Also remove he following, one at a time, rebooting after each removal, if you see them:

New.net
SaveNow
Webhancer
Web3000

Assuming you can use IE, download and install Ad-aware 5.71:

http://www.jamcomputerservices.com/lavasoft/aaw.exe

and the current signature file:

http://www.jamcomputerservices.com/lavasoft/reflist.zip

After installing Ad-aware, unzip the signature file to

C:\Program Files\Lavasoft Ad-aware

to update and overwrite the previous signature file.

Run Ad-aware and configure it to scan all drives on which you have installed programs, memory and registry.

Check all entries it finds and click "backup" and "Finish". Reboot afterwards and run a second scan to ensure complete cleaning.

http://tomcoyote.com/lsdownloads.html


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## ultimax (Apr 25, 2002)

Hi Rollin' Rog,

thanks for your detailed reply.

The problem is, I can't use IE at all! it causes the kernel32.dll error!

I'm using Netscape now (it always works!). WIll that do?

Anyway, what exactly does the b/m do? Does it prevent future Comet Cursor sneak installs or does it address my current situation?

whatever the case, thanks a lot for your advice!



> _Originally posted by Rollin' Rog:_
> *The problem could well be due to Comet Cursor and other spy and advertising related installs.
> 
> If Comet Cursor is listed in Add/Remove, remove it. Also remove he following, one at a time, rebooting after each removal, if you see them:
> ...


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## Rollin' Rog (Dec 9, 2000)

You can download and install Ad-aware using Netscape. To prevent future Comet Cursor installs, go to Internet Options > Advanced and make sure "install on demand" is UN checked. Run ad-aware occasionally to ensure that it has not snuck in with some other program.

After you've completed the running of Ad-Aware, if you are still having problems, boot in Normal mode and run *msinfo32*. Click on "Software Environment" and "Startup Programs". Then click Edit>Select All>Edit>copy and paste the copied text in a reply. This will tell us what else you may have running at start which could be causing conflicts.


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## ultimax (Apr 25, 2002)

Hi Rollin',

thanks for all your help. the program looks promising....it found 132 spyware whatevers whcih i 'm guessing is bad news.

anyway, when i tried to backup i got the following error msg when i clicked "ok" to save the file in whatever name i chose :

Error 1009 : THe configuration registry database is corrupt : Unable to query info

what next? should i just skip the backup?

thanks!


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## Mosaic1 (Aug 17, 2001)

No. Don't let it go any further. Ad-Aware is having a problem. Choose not to allow it to delete anything.
Close up.
Try to run Ad-Aware again. See if it generates another error.


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## ultimax (Apr 25, 2002)

ok thanks for the tip

i'll prob log off and reboot. hopefully it'll work!

Everything's gone screwy coz it appears a lot of programs rely on Explorer to function......i guess it's like a template or something

i've already configued windows to load the bare minimum each time i boot (via msconfig --> startup groups and i checked only systray and this program from my ADSL connection)

thanks!


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## Rollin' Rog (Dec 9, 2000)

Ad-Aware can also be run in safe mode; since you indicate that you were not having the previous problems there, it might be better to run it that way.

If you continue to have problems, try this: restart in MS-DOS mode and at the c:\windows\> prompt enter:

scanreg /fix

Then try another run of ad-aware


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## ultimax (Apr 25, 2002)

i logged off, rebooted and tried again. same problem. however, i noticed that if i didn't select all of the 132 components (like maybe just 5 or 6 ...maybe more i only tried with 6), it worked without any problem.

will try again in SAFE mode


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## ultimax (Apr 25, 2002)

Rolling Rig,

Hi i ran Ad-Aware in SAFE mode and the backup still didn't work.

So I decided to backup the components in groups. I suspected 1 entry was giving me problems and this allowed me to single it out.

Turns out something called Cydoor or CyberDoor software was the component which could not be backed up. I didn't check that box and the rest backed up fine.

But the good news is everything's back to normal! Explorer works and IE probably will too. I've just gotta download it from Microsoft.com.

Is there any way of preventing websites or whatever from installing programs without our knowledge?

So a million thanks for your help! You've been extremely wonderful. This site's really a god send! Heck no you (and everyone who dispenses advice arnd here) are!

THANKS!


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## Rollin' Rog (Dec 9, 2000)

Good work. For what it's worth here is a page describing cydoor. Ad-aware is supposed to be able to remove it; but they say the "host" software must be removed first. You would have to figure just what that was.

http://accs-net.com/smallfish/cydoor.htm

Internet Explorer has an option to "install on demand" which is enabled by default in Internet Options > Advanced. This needs to be disabled to prevent websites from installing components like Coment Cursor without your approval. Other things get slipped in shareware or freeware if you are not monitoring the license agreement carefully.


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## Mosaic1 (Aug 17, 2001)

From what I've read about removing Spyware and Cydoor, it is recommended that the Host Software be uninstalled first. But the reason is that by removing the Spyware, the Host Software is rendered useless. It no longer functions. If you find something no longer functions after a spyware removal, that utility is probably the Host.


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## ultimax (Apr 25, 2002)

hey guys there's still a tiny problem

i can't seem to add anything to the QuickLaunch bar.

I drag the item in from the desktop but nothing happens (it doesn't transfer or copy itself into the quicklaunch bar). 

Any idea what's up?


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## Mosaic1 (Aug 17, 2001)

It could be that your Quick Launch toolbar is corrupt. Let's hope so. It's easy to repair.
Go to:
C:\WINDOWS\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer
Open the Quick Launch Folder and copy all the shortcuts.

Go back to
C:\WINDOWS\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer 
Right Click and Create a new Folder. Paste the shortcuts into it.
Delete the old Quick Launch folder.

Rename the new Folder you created which contains the Shortcuts as Quick Launch.

The toolbar will have disappeared from the Taskbar. Right click on the taskbar, choose Toolbars and check Quick Launch to bring it back. To have it end up on the left, be sure no other programs have an icon on the taskbar, or you will have to drag it to the left to get it back into position.


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## ultimax (Apr 25, 2002)

oh no bad news!

i spoke too soon.

Sure i don't get the explore.exe VS kernel32.dll message anymore, but everything's blank when I click on My Computer.

When i double click My Computer I get to see all the drive icons (A:, C:, D: etc) but when i double click on any of the drives, I get a blank screen.

The same for Control Panel and File Search.

I also deleted my C:\Windows\Internet Explorer folder in frustration so maybe i'll have to reinstall that first before i can repair the QuickLaunch etc.

man this is getting complicated!

anyway, thanks for your advice it's been crazy but i've learnt a lot.


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## ultimax (Apr 25, 2002)

how i did it, i don't know but I fixed everything!

I managed to force IE to uninstall itself. I got all the error msgs possible - Components were already installed, Unable to restore old configuration, Unable to repair installation etc.

But somehow after rebooting like 1000 times I managed to install IE 6.0 and i'm glad to report that everythings working 100%. No false alarms here......the folders show accordingly in My Computer, I can search for files, and the QuickLaunch Bar allows me to add stuff now!

So I guess that's that!

However, while uninstalling IE, i noticed there were a bunch of programs listed under "Add/Remove Programs" which simply could not be uninstalled because the uninstall log was corrupted or whatever. Take Norton Anti-Virus for example. It says "Uninstall can only be done when the program is installed". all this when Norton Anti-Virus is running in the background! 

Is there a program which force uninstalls these trouble some progs?

Which brings me on to another issue - Startup. I ran msconfig and found my startup group to be chock full of useless stuff i swore I uninstalled a long time ago! Right now I'm booting up using selective bootup which allows me to select what progs i want to start up with. This is far from ideal. How can I remove all the unwanted programs once and for all? So that the start up group (in msconfig, no under start --> start up) will only list the programs that i want.

Thanks!


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## Rollin' Rog (Dec 9, 2000)

Whew, I was getting worried as I read the continuation of this thread this morning; so I hope the positive results are holding up.

When you have Unchecked something in msconfig the entry should be moved to the "disabled startup" folder in the start menu's Programs dialog. You can delete those shortcuts.

Alternately you can run *regedit* and navigate to the key:

Hkey_local_machine
software
Microsoft
Windows
CurrentVersion
RUN-

When you highlight the RUN- folder you will see disabled items in the right hand pane. You can right click on these and delete what you don't want.

There are a couple of ways to get rid of those "orphan" entries in Add/Remove programs. One is to install the utility TweakUI:

http://www.windows-help.net/windows98/tweakui2000.shtml

To install TweakUI, create a new temporary folder for the download. Once the zip file is down, unzip its contents to that folder. Find the TweakUI.inf file and right click on that and select "install". It will now be in the Control Panel. TweakUI has many powerful features, use caution with them. Do not try hiding or disabling the Control Panel or you will lock your self out of it.

Alternately to TweakUI, you can manually remove entries from the registry.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q247501


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## cpuhack.com (Apr 25, 2002)

One more tidbit of advice on this thread...download a trial version of "evidence eliminator" from a site like download.com. It's a great program to clean-up the loads of other junk that may exist on your hard drive.

-Adam


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## Rollin' Rog (Dec 9, 2000)

Don't do it. I fully agree with the comments and suggestions posted here:

http://discussions.virtualdr.com/Forum2/HTML/059452.html


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## ultimax (Apr 25, 2002)

Hi guys,

thanks for the tips. I think Ad-Aware's enough for now. and I got rid of the the problem progs using TweakUI.

As for the Startup Problem, I found this nifty little program called StartCop which solved everything! It's freeware too.

Are there any (good) complete uninstallation tools which scan your PC for junk and helps you clear them out once and for all?


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## Rollin' Rog (Dec 9, 2000)

I like JV's RegCleaner which allows for both registry cleaning and uninstalling. I recommend you do NOT use it or any other program to remove "orphan" dlls though. This is a risky maneover prone to errors.

http://www.vtoy.fi/jv16/shtml/regcleaner.shtml


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## ultimax (Apr 25, 2002)

Hi Rollin' Rog,

program worked great.

But Norton Anti-Virus continues to be a pesk. I can't use the uninstall it came with and it now gives me an error msg whenever i bootup (it can't find some file or whatever). I probably accidentally deleted one of its components. Minor problem, coz i can just press enter and bootup will continue. But i definitely want to fix it.

Any idea how to clear it out of my PC. I definitely do not want it anymore.

thanks!


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## Super-D-38 (Apr 25, 2002)

Thanks for the help. I joined just to say this. 
I had almost the exact same prob. as Ultimax. Windows Explorer and Internet Explorer wouldn't load.
I used your suggestion to run Ad-aware and it worked great. No more page faults with kernel32.dll .... I even had to use Netscape to get here last night. Thanks again, and if, (when)I have another problem I will come here first.


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## cpuhack.com (Apr 25, 2002)

I've used it on quite a few machines and never experienced any unintentionally destructive behavior.

FYI, I didn't see any facts on that link that was provided...it seemed to be merely a hollow slander thread on another tech. help message board. 
PC Magazine (a reputable ZDnet magazine) has given positive reviews of this utility in their publication.

Glad to see there are some free alternatives though...

*My* personal experience with their product still warrants my recommendation as a decent clean-up utility (in trial form).

-AMG


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## Rollin' Rog (Dec 9, 2000)

Ultimax: what version is it? I have a couple of bookmarked manual uninstall links:

Norton AntiVirus 2001 7.0

http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/nav.nsf/docid/19966118478

You might find others by entering "uninstall" in their search base:

http://www.symantec.com/search/

Super-D-38  glad to hear you did so well 

cpuhack: I hear ya, but just wanted to save someone a possible bad trip. Evidence Eliminator seems like overkill for most who just want a basic cleanup utility.


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## ultimax (Apr 25, 2002)

I've got the latest version of Norton AntiVirus.

You knwo what, I'll prob reinstall it now and uninstall it. the instllation probably got screwed when i had the previous errors.


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