Explorer problems (W98)

[SarahBird]

When I start Explorer either from the menubar or from windows\explorer.exe I am unable to use it.

It minimizes to the bottom of my taskbar but when I click on it it travels to the upper right side of my screen where I can neither see it or click on it. However it also remains as an icon on my taskbar and I can click it back and forth to the upper right side. I can right click on it and get options but none restore it to it's normal use. Nor prevent it acting as it is.

This problem only started today, no other changes have been made to my PC and trying to use without explorer isn't as much fun.

My PC is an AMD 1200 with 512 Mb SDram.
Win 98 SE.

I have run scandisk and defrag and even SFC but am lost.

Any ideas appreciated.

Thanks.

[TonyKlein]

Hi Sarah,

Would you please try this:

Copy the bold to Notepad, save as Streams.reg, and doubleclick.
Answer 'yes' to the prompt whether you want to merge the contents of Streams.reg into the Registry.

Subsequently, reboot.


REGEDIT4

[-HKEY_USERS\.Default\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Cur rentVersion\explorer\StreamMRU]

[-HKEY_USERS\.Default\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Cur rentVersion\Explorer\Streams]


Good luck, Tony

[SarahBird]

Hi Tony,
I tried it sadly it still acts exactly the same as previously.

Should I now remove the contents of streams.reg? if yes how?

I'm now using a free program called powerdesk which acts like explorer, although would still love the original explorer back working properly.

Thanks again.

Sarah.

[TonyKlein]

Hi Sarah,

Too bad that didn't do it. I rather thought it might.

The regfile can be deleted completely as soon as you've run it.

Try restoring a copy of the registry of just before this problem originated:

Go to Start > Shutdown, and choose "Restart the computer in MS-DOS mode

Type the following lines, each one followed by pressing 'enter'.

cd\
cd windows\command
scanreg /restore

- Select the previous registry you want to restore, and then press ENTER.
NOTE: A properly working registry has the word "Started" next to the date.
- When you receive notification that you restored a properly working registry, press ENTER to restart your computer.

Good luck, Tony

[SarahBird]

It had 5 selections listed all with started next to them. The earliest was dated Sept 30 and failed to restore. I also tried Oct 1 same thing.

Should I or can I simply re-install Win 98 over the existing Win 98?

Thanks.
Sarah.

[TonyKlein]

You can, but I can't predict whether it will fix your problem.

If you have Internet Explorer 6.0 installed, please read this first:

<a target="_blank" href=http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q312474>How to Remove Internet Explorer 6.0 or Outlook Express 6.0 Before You Reinstall Windows (Q312474)</a>

[SarahBird]

Read it and since I do have explorer 6.0.2800 and Outlook express 6.00.2800, I'll skip even trying.

I guess I could always try to upgrade to XP assuming no additional steps are required for that, but it seems hardly worth the expense.

Thanks again.
Sarah.

[TonyKlein]

I wouldn't upgrade to XP just for that.

You might also want to look at this article:

<a target="_blank" href=http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;EN-US;q228779&>"SCANREG /RESTORE" Command May Not Restore Registry</a>

SYMPTOMS
When you use the SCANREG /RESTORE command at a command prompt in MS-DOS mode to restore the registry, you may receive an error message stating that the registry was not restored.

CAUSE
This behavior can occur if a third-party program (such as Norton Unerase) has the drive's disk access locked.

[SarahBird]

Read it and tried re-starting and loading only Himen.sys and then trying to restore the reg.
However now the only available (started) next to them are Oct 3 and Oct 4 I tried to restore Oct 3 although after the date my problem started and still the reg could not be restored.

Thanks.
Sarah.

[TonyKlein]

Just to humor me, would you try doing this:

Go to Start &gt; Shutdown, and choose 'Restart the computer in MS-DOS'

At the blinking cursor, type the following commands successively, hitting 'enter' after EACH line:

cd\
cd windows\command
scanreg /fix

The Scanreg tool will now proceed to rebuild your registry, which can take some time.

When it finished, type exit or win, followed by hitting 'enter' to return to Windows.
Ctrl-alt-delete will work as well.

You will have refreshed, compacted and repaired your Registry, and although it certainly isn't guaranteed to work, it can't hurt either, and usually does some good.

Good luck, Tony

[SarahBird]

That worked fine, the registry was rebuilt at least that was the message. However after exit, restart into windows explorer still acts exactly the same as before.

Sarah.

[TonyKlein]

Tell you what, I'm asking a friend to come and have a look at it.

She may well have some fresh ideas to throw at this one.

[Mosaic1]

Hi SarahBird,
Let's try removing two values from the registry and rebooting to see if your window positions do as they are told.

Go to Start&gt;Run and type regedit. Press enter.
Navigate to:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main

Click on Main and look in the right pane for this entry. It wil be at the bottom of the list.
Window_Placement

Right click on it and choose Delete from the menu.

Then go up to:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Desktop\oldWorkAreas

Click oldWorkAreas and look in the right pane for this entry:
OldWorkAreaRects

Right click on that and choose delete from the menu.

Restart the computer.

[SarahBird]

Hi,
Did the exact steps you said. After re-boot no changes explorer reacts exactly the same.

Sarah.

[Mosaic1]

You have not installed or uninstalled anything new? I would like you to try a few things, please. The first would be to extract a fresh copy of shell32.dll and then a fresh copy of explorer.exe from your Install disk or the cabs on the hard drive if you have them (you would if you use a restore disk. That location would be C:\windows\options\cabs)
Explorer.exe gets extracted to C:\windows

Shell32.dll gets extracted to C:\windows\system

Here's a link to a site if you are not familiar with using SFC to extract files.
<a target="_blank" href=http://users.erols.com/dj-paulen/ss/>http://users.erols.com/dj-paulen/ss/</a>

IF that doesn't help. Please go to start&gt;run and type msinfo32 Press enter
Go to Software&gt;Running tasks. Go to edit on the toolbar and select all. Copy and paste into a post here.


Are you actually not able to resize the Window when it appears in the upper right corner? IF you are, try doing that and then closing the Window while you hold the CTRL Button.
Another thing to try is to right click on the taskbar and select Tile Winodws Horizontally. Close the Windows and see how that reacts.

If worse comes to worse, you can start and IE repair. But instead of choosing Repair, choose Revert to the previous Windows Configuration. That will take you back to a previous Internet Explorer. Then you can do an upgrade again if you choose.

[SarahBird]

I wasn't familiar but the explainations were easy enough.

I have installed the new copies from my cabs in c:\win98

When explorer goes to the upper right I cannot see it at all, just see that it went there. However the icon for it remains in my bottom task bar.

Tiling windows horizontally it reacts exactly the same it stays on my bottom task bar, when I click it, it travels to the top right and disappears but the icon i clicked remains on the bottom and I can click it again and watch explorer travel back from the top right to the taskbar. This movement is fast not slow else I'd try to screen capture it.

I have installed the new shell32.dll and explorer.exe though haven't yet re-booted. If it works when I re-boot I'll return straight away if not then it didn't work.

You also wrote about IE repair I don't know what that is?

Thanks for your help.

Sarah.

[Mosaic1]

Sarah,
You're welcome.

Try the actual Repair first. Go to Control Panel&gt;Add Remove Programs. Scroll to the Internet Explorer Entry. Highlight it. Click the Remove button. Three choices will appear. Choose Repair. That will require a reboot too.


Please don't forget to post the list of running tasks too.

[SarahBird]

Sorry, after re-boot it reacts exactly the same.

You mention internet explorer, it's explorer.exe I guess it's the shell? that my problems are with. Internet Explorer runs fine?

Also what do you mean "Please don't forget to post the list of running tasks too"?

Thanks.

[Mosaic1]

Internet Explorer and widows Explorer are so tied together, it's hard to tell which function is controlled by which files. Many files which are needed to start Windows and actually build the menus and windows etc are actually Internet Explorer Files. they control both IE and Windows Explorer. That's called Integration.

The running tasks :
IF that doesn't help. Please go to start&gt;run and type msinfo32 Press enter
Go to Software&gt;Running tasks. Go to edit on the toolbar and select all. Copy and paste into a post here.

[SarahBird]

Ok tried repair...no luck.

MSINFO32

Kernel32.dll 4.10.2222 Microsoft Corporation Win32 Kernel core component C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\Kernel32.dll 4.3 Microsoft(R) Windows(R) Operating System
MSGSRV32.EXE 4.10.2222 Microsoft Corporation Windows 32-bit VxD Message Server C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MSGSRV32.EXE 4.0 Microsoft(R) Windows(R) Operating System
Mprexe.exe 4.10.1998 Microsoft Corporation WIN32 Network Interface Service Process C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\Mprexe.exe 4.0 Microsoft(R) Windows(R) Operating System
Mstask.exe 4.71.1972.1 Microsoft Corporation Task Scheduler Engine C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\Mstask.exe 4.0 Microsoft® Windows® Task Scheduler
Vsmon.exe 3.1.291 Zone Labs Inc. TrueVector Service C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\ZONELABS\Vsmon.exe 4.0 TrueVector Service
Minilog.exe 2.6.357 Zone Labs Inc. TrueVector Basic Alert Logger C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\ZONELABS\Minilog.exe 4.0 ZoneAlarm
MMTASK.TSK 4.03.1998 Microsoft Corporation Multimedia background task support module C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MMTASK.TSK 4.0 Microsoft Windows
Explorer.exe 4.72.3110.1 Microsoft Corporation Windows Explorer C:\WINDOWS\Explorer.exe 4.0 Microsoft(R) Windows NT(R) Operating System
PTSNOOP.EXE C:\WINDOWS\PTSNOOP.EXE 4.0
Taskmon.exe 4.10.1998 Microsoft Corporation Task Monitor C:\WINDOWS\Taskmon.exe 4.0 Microsoft(R) Windows(R) Operating System
Systray.exe 4.10.2222 Microsoft Corporation System Tray Applet C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\Systray.exe 4.0 Microsoft(R) Windows(R) Operating System
Icsmgr.exe 4.10.2222 Microsoft Corporation Microsoft Internet Connection Sharing Manager C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\Icsmgr.exe 4.0 Microsoft(R) Windows(R) Operating System
Qttask.exe C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\Qttask.exe 4.0
Stimon.exe 4.10.2222 Microsoft Corporation Still Image Devices Monitor C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\Stimon.exe 4.0 Microsoft(R) Windows(R) Operating System
Hpztsb03.exe 2,40,0,0 HP  C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\Hpztsb03.exe 4.0 HP DeskJet
Atiptaxx.exe 6.13.10.2529 ATI Technologies, Inc. ATI Desktop Control Panel C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\Atiptaxx.exe 4.0 ATI Desktop Component
Realsched.exe 0.1.0.1566 RealNetworks, Inc. RealNetworks Scheduler C:\PROGRAM FILES\COMMON FILES\REAL\UPDATE_OB\Realsched.exe 4.0 RealOne Player (32-bit)
Zonealarm.exe 2.6.357 Zone Labs Inc. ZoneAlarm C:\PROGRAM FILES\ZONE LABS\ZONEALARM\Zonealarm.exe 4.0 ZoneAlarm
Avpm.exe 3.5.133.2410 Kaspersky Labs. AVP Monitor shell C:\PROGRAM FILES\ANTIVIRAL TOOLKIT PRO\Avpm.exe 4.0 Kaspersky Anti-Virus (AVP)
Spool32.exe 4.10.1998 Microsoft Corporation Spooler Sub System Process C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\Spool32.exe 4.0 Microsoft(R) Windows(R) Operating System
Wmiexe.exe 5.00.1755.1 Microsoft Corporation WMI service exe housing C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\Wmiexe.exe 4.0 Microsoft(R) Windows NT(R) Operating System
Msimn.exe 6.00.2800.1106 Microsoft Corporation Outlook Express C:\PROGRAM FILES\OUTLOOK EXPRESS\Msimn.exe 4.0 Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
Pstores.exe 5.00.1877.3 Microsoft Corporation Protected storage server C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\Pstores.exe 4.0 Microsoft(R) Windows NT(R) Operating System
Msinfo32.exe 4.10.2222 Microsoft Corporation MSInfo32 C:\PROGRAM FILES\COMMON FILES\MICROSOFT SHARED\MSINFO\Msinfo32.exe 4.0 Microsoft System Information

[POBrien]

Right click on the explorer entry in the taskbar. Select Move. Use your arrow keys to re-position explorer. Maximize Explorer then go to File on the Menu then Close. Explorer should re-open maximized.

If no go, then maybe the user profile itself has become corrupted. Go to Control Panel/Users Applet. What does it show in this area?

Patrick (http://www.winguides.com/forums/sendprivate.php?Cat=&User=POBrien&Board=&Number=&what=online&page=&view=&sb=&part=&vc=><font)</font color=green> /images/forums/icons/smile.gif
<a target="_blank" href=http://www.winguides.com/subscribe/?guide=registry>WinGuides</a>

[SarahBird]

YES!!

Thanks to you all for helping me.
I had tried this originally but with the mouse not the ctrl arrows.

I really appreciate all the help from everyone, spending your time helping others.

Thanks all once again.

Sarah.

[Mosaic1]

Pat,
Great solution. I get too complex sometimes. LOL

Sarah,
Sorry. I am glad you got that settled.

Mo

[TonyKlein]

Great work, guys! :)

That should teach us to start with the obvious first... LOL

[POBrien]

Hey Sarah,

That's good news. We're glad it worked out.

Mo/Tony,

Actually you two led me to the obvious. After reading through your posts I was shaking my head wondering why your tips didn't resolve it. So I started playing with explorer and hence the post.

Veteran techs that we are and with so much knowledge, have a tendency too over analyze, which in my opinion, is a good thing. It comes in handy when faced with complex issues at hand.

I also want to take this opportunity to mention that I think both of you, Andy, Bert are really outstanding techs. I think we all have our strengths. For instance, Bert blows me away in the hardware dept! etc..

There's too many posts where the originator never responds back and we spend our time trying to help or you get some clown coming in here bashing peoples efforts.

For the record and on behalf of all the MIAOP's (Missing In Action Original Poster's)

Thanks for taking the time to help out!!!!!!

To the real Win Guides!

Cheers,

Patrick