Your EXPLORER.EXE is suspicious. Following are the Properties of it in
Win98SE...

EXPLORER.EXE
Desc: Windows Explorer
Loc: C:\WINDOWS
Size: 180,224 bytes
Mod: Friday, April 23, 1999 10:22:00 PM
Ver: 4.72.3110.1

That file has NEVER changed, despite I took every critical at Windows
Update. Better replace it from your .cab's. Here is how to do it in
DOS...

(a) DIR /s /a C:\EXPLORER.EXE
Will say whether you have it, & where it is. Should be in
"C:\Windows", thus...

C:\DIR /s /a C:\EXPLORER.EXE
Directory of C:\WINDOWS
EXPLORER EXE 180,224 04-23-99 10:22p EXPLORER.EXE
1 file(s) 180,224 bytes

If yours is elsewhere, especially in "C:\", it could be a virus or
corrupt. Also, it's size is very suspicious. RENAME any that does not
look like mine (but I am Win98SE)...

REN C:\Explorer.exe Explorer.exeX
....If it is in "C:\", for instance.

(b)
"EXTRACT /a /L C:\Windows LOC\Base4.cab EXPLORER.EXE"

That is all one line between the quotes with 5 spaces, but do not enter
the quotes. It will offer to overwite, if one is already there.

LOC is the location of "Base4.cab". This may be discovered as
follows...

C:\DIR /s /a C:\base4.cab
Directory of C:\WINDOWS\OPTIONS\CABS
BASE4 CAB 168,960 04-23-99 10:22p BASE4.CAB
1 file(s) 168,960 bytes

If you have the .cabs on a CD, you will use your CD-ROM drive letter,
instead of "C:\" in that DIR command.

So, in my case, the command is...

"EXTRACT /a /L C:\Windows C:\WINDOWS\OPTIONS\CABS\Base4.cab
EXPLORER.EXE"

All one line: no quotes: there are 5 spaces in the line, including one
after "Base4.cab".


--
Thanks or Good Luck,
There may be humor in this post, and,
Naturally, you will not sue,
should things get worse after this,
PCR

"tgregg99" wrote in message
...
| Gary/Glen ... here's what I've done since last communication:
|
| 1. I booted up, went to Command Prompt Only and entered 'edit
| c:\windows\system.ini' then changed 'Shell=Progman.exe' to
| 'Shell=Winfile.exe' as you suggested, then I saved and exited and
re-booted.
|
| 2. This time the File Manager window was displayed with directory of
| folders and files. I then tried the IE6 repair command by entering
the
| command you sent me for IE6 in the Run prompt. A pop up was displayed
asking
| me to Repair IE or Add a Component. I tried both. When i selected
Repair
| IE, nothing happened. When I selected Add a Component, I got an error
| message saying I needed to go to a Windows menu I did not see. So I
rebooted
| again.
|
| 3. I replaced the 'Shell=Winfile.exe' back to 'Shell='Progman.exe'
and
| rebooted. This time I noticed I did not get the subject error message
and
| the 'Program Manager - Accessories' window was displayed (which did
not
| display the first time i changed the shell to 'Progman.exe' earlier
and
| rebooted). So I went to c:\progra~1\intern~2\explorer.exe and tried
to
| launch the explorer.exe program -- i was able to double click on it,
and when
| i did, the hourglass was displayed for a short time appearing to be
| processing something, but nothing happened, and i tried to launch it
from the
| Run command promt on same window -- but again, nothing happened.
when i
| clicked the setup file, nothing happened at all. But I checked the
| Properties of the 'Explorer.exe' file and it specified version
6.00.2800.1106
| .. 94,208 bytes, last changed 8/11/03. I turned off the pc.
|
| So while it "appears" I have all my standard Windows programs in the
c:
| directory on the Program Manager - Accessories window, I still have no
| desktop icons and no programs are launching.
|
| Thoughts?
|
| p.s. I realize you may not be able to call me, but in the event that
you
| can, my number is 404-329-0959. I'll be leaving the library within
the hour
| to go home. I'll check my email up until that time. And I'll check
back to
| this thread tomorrow morning if I don't hear from you beforehand.
|
| Thanks for your continued support!!!!
|
|
| "glee" wrote:
|
| Thanks Gary....I am at work (on lunch right now), and can't get back
to this thread
| for a few hours.
| --
| Glen Ventura, MS MVP Shell/User, A+
| ~ In memory of our friend, MVP Alex Nichol ~
| http://aumha.org/alex.htm
| http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
|
| "Gary S. Terhune" wrote in message
| ...
| Again, be very careful not to do anything more than run IE Repair
using
| Winfile.exe for a Shell. Long filenames can easily be messed up.
Also,
| if IE Repair doesn't fix the problem (after re-editing System.ini
back
| to using Explorer.exe for a Shell) then the next step is to
| force-reinstall IE. You do this by again switching to
Shell=Winfile.exe
| and then finding Setup.exe in the Internet Explorer folder
(usually
| C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer) and running it. Choose "Add
| Components" (or "Minimal or Custom Installation" if that's the
option
| that offers itself.) Then put a check mark for every item that is
bolded
| (already installed) and continue. If you haven't previously
deleted the
| setup files (usually in C:\Windows Updates Setup Files") then this
will
| probably be a smooth operation. If you don't have the installation
files
| on hand, it will be necessary to connect to the internet to
download
| them, and that can be problematic, depending on your system.
|
| --
| Gary S. Terhune
| MS MVP Shell/User
| http://www.grystmill.com/articles/cleanboot.htm
| http://www.grystmill.com/articles/security.htm
|
| "tgregg99" wrote in message
| news | Gary,
|
| I'm at the library and about to leave for home, where I'll
follow your
| recommendation. I won't give up. I'm very methodical, and I
take
| great care
| in following the procedures (i'm a project manager and technical
| writer :-)
| .. anyways, I'll follow up with you later this afternoon with my
| results.
|
| Thanks!!!
| Terry
|
|
| "Gary S. Terhune" wrote:
|
| Try Shell=Winfile.exe, as suggested.
|
| And don't give up. We're giving you answers step-by-step, and
when
| one
| thing doesn't work, that tends to provide hints as to what to
do
| next.
| IOW, just because some suggestion doesn't bear immediate
fruit,
| doesn't
| mean it didn't need to be done.
|
| --
| Gary S. Terhune
| MS MVP Shell/User
| http://www.grystmill.com/articles/cleanboot.htm
| http://www.grystmill.com/articles/security.htm
|
| "tgregg99" wrote in
message
| ...
| Gary,
|
| I did change 'Shell=Explorer.exe' to 'Shell=Progman.exe' but
upon
| re-booting, the following error was displayed:
|
| 'Error loading Program.exe. You must reinstall Windows.'
|
| so, what can i do now?
|
| Thanks!!!
| Terry
|
|
| "Gary S. Terhune" wrote:
|
| As explained in the references Glen gave you earlier, you
use
| the
| Command Prompt Only boot to edit System.ini and change the
| "Shell=Explorer.exe" line to:
|
| Shell=Progman.exe
|
| Then restart and you will possibly be able to boot to
Windows
| without
| having to load Explorer.exe. From there, you run the IE
Repair
| or
| reinstall IE as needed. If Shell=progman.exe doesn't work,
try
| Shell=Winfile.exe. But be very careful when using these
modes,
| and
| only
| use them to perform these limited tasks, as they can mess
up the
| file
| system if you do certain things, particularly
Copy/Paste/Move
| operations. When the IE Repair or reinstallation are
completed,
| re-edit
| System.ini to restore normal Shell to Explorer.exe.
|
| --
| Gary S. Terhune
| MS MVP Shell/User
| http://www.grystmill.com/articles/cleanboot.htm
| http://www.grystmill.com/articles/security.htm
|
| "tgregg99" wrote in
message
| ...
| Glen,
|
| Thanks. I had no luck by trying to restore the most
recent
| registry
| backups
| -- i tried every one listed, which went back a coupe
days
| before
| my
| problem
| -- still, this didn't work.
|
| I'm confused about ...
|
| Following that, use the info mentioned in the link I
gave
| you to
| reinstall IE, but
| instead of progman.exe, use winfile.exe.
|
| .. the IE repair tool instructions assumed i could
click
| Start ..
| Run
| ....
| but I can't. so I can only get to a command prompt and
use
| DOS
| .... so
| how do
| i reinstall IE from the DOS command prompt?
|
| Thanks .. looking forward to your answer!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
| Terry
|
| "glee" wrote:
|
| Each time you use a different .cab file backup in
scanreg
| /restore,
| you are
| replacing the Registry with the one using that dat,
and
| "going
| back"
| to that date as
| far as the Registry is concerned. So, if none of the
| restores
| helped the problem,
| you should go back and restore the most recent backup
prior
| to
| when
| you began the
| restoring experiment (Of course, if you onlty went
back a
| couple
| of
| days, there
| should not be much difference other than the entries
for the
| updates
| you did).
|
| Following that, use the info mentioned in the link I
gave
| you to
| reinstall IE, but
| instead of progman.exe, use winfile.exe.
|
| Post back with your results.
| --
| Glen Ventura, MS MVP Shell/User, A+
| ~ In memory of our friend, MVP Alex Nichol ~
|
| http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
|
|
| "tgregg99" wrote
in
| message
|
...
| Glee ...
|
| I tried using DOS command 'scanreg /restore' and
selecting
| the
| backup
| (rb###.cab files) -- i tried each one, rebooting
each
| time,
| but
| that didn't
| work. I also used the DOS command to 'edit the
| c:\windows\system.ini' file
| and replaced 'explorer.exe' with 'progman.exe' where
you
| told
| me,
| then saved
| and rebooted, then got an error that 'progman.exe
could
| not be
| found, must
| reinstall windows' or something to that effect.
|
| One other thing i forgot to mention. I downloaded
Windows
| updates
| to my pc,
| the night before my Windows crashed. One or two of
the
| updates
| were for IE6.
|
| Any other suggestions? Thank you for helping me
with
| this!!!!
|
| Terry
|
| "glee" wrote:
|
| Before trying the procedure mentioned in my first
reply,
| you
| may
| want to try
| this
| first:
| Boot to DOS Mode by accessing the boot menu at
startup
| and
| selecting Command
| Prompt
| Only (you get to the boot menu the same way you
get to
| it
| when
| you selected Safe
| Mode).
| At the DOS Prompt, type:
| scanreg /restore
| and press Enter.
| Select one of the backups (rb###.cab files) dated
JUST
| prior
| to
| when the problem
| occurred.
| --
| Glen Ventura, MS MVP Shell/User, A+
| http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
|
|
| "glee" wrote in message
| ...
| Follow the procedures he
| Recovering From a Failed Internet Explorer
Upgrade in
| Windows
| 98:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
http://www.cs.bsu.edu/~gjjones/admin...nd ows98.html
| or
| http://tinyurl.com/r5ba
|
| Especially this section at the end:
|
| "If you still have boot problems after you
reboot, you
| should
| use the command
| prompt
| to edit the c:\windows\system.ini file. On the
command
| line
| type edit
| c:\windows\system.ini.
|
| "Once it is open, change the line
shell=explorer.exe
| to
| shell=progman.exe.
| What
| you
| are doing here is changing the default shell
(that is
| having
| problems) from
| the
| Windows Explorer to the old Windows Program
Manager
| shell.
|
| "Reboot Windows. It should now successfully boot
with
| no
| errors into an empty
| Program Manager shell. Use the File | Run |
Browse
| drop
| down
| menu selection to
| browse to c:\program files\internet explorer and
| launch
| ie5setup.exe or
| ie6setup.exe
| (depending on what is there). Do a custom
install and
| check
| all the Bold faced
| options. When the setup program alerts you that
these
| files
| are already
| installed,
| tell it to reinstall all of the files.
|
| "When the Internet Explorer Setup program is
done and
| reboots,
| hit the F8 key
| to
| bring up a Boot Menu. Choose Command Prompt and
boot
| to
| the
| command prompt.
| Once
| there, type edit c:\windows\system.ini and, once
it is
| open,
| change the line
| shell=progman.exe back to shell=explorer.exe.
Save and
| exit
| the file. You have
| now
| set the shell back to the original value."
| --
| Glen Ventura, MS MVP Shell/User, A+
| http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
|
|
| "tgregg99"
wrote
| in
| message
|
| news | Can someone please help me resolve my problem?
Upon
| starting MS Windows 98,
| I see the MS Windows screen then it appears to
start
| loading
| programs as
| usual, then i get the above ERROR message. I
then
| restarted
| via SAFE mode,
| but there were no desktop icons. Upon
checking
| Program
| Manager, I only see
| 'Runapp' and no other programs listed. I
checked my
| memory
| via DOS prompt,
| and everything looks normal (but I really am
not a
| DOS
| user,
| so I'm limited
| in my ability to use DOS commands). I
restarted
| again
| and
| tried step by
| step
| confirmation, but again, I only get the above
ERROR
| message.
|
| I don't have the CD - or - the diskettes for
loading
| MS
| Windows 98. Is
| there a way to restore my MS Windows 98
otherwise?
|
| I appreciate your time and help very much ..
thank
| you!!!
|
| Terry
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|