Error loading windows explorer.exe

I believe I have a condition that has been introduced by loading the latest
critical update for Windows 98. I downloaded the update before christmas when
my dell laptop was fully functional, I did not restart the laptop immediately
after the down load . After coming back from the christmas break my laptop no
longer loads Windows 98 and I get the following errors.

1. At the same time that the windows login window comes up I get the
following error "Virusscan could not start due to missing or outdated
Avsynch.dll library".

2. After clicking OK on the error message above I then get a message that
says "Error loading explorer.exe. You must reinstall windows".

3. Ater clicking OK on that error message I then get error message saying
that "A required .dll file is missing shlwapi.dll was not found".

Then I get one of two things happen.

1. the laptop locks up
2. I click on the OK button and windows shuts down.

Is anyone else having prblems like after loading a microsoft critical update?

I really do not want to reinstall if I can help it.

Regards

"Rshep" wrote:

I believe I have a condition that has been introduced by loading the latest
critical update for Windows 98. I downloaded the update before christmas when
my dell laptop was fully functional, I did not restart the laptop immediately
after the down load . After coming back from the christmas break my laptop no
longer loads Windows 98 and I get the following errors.

1. At the same time that the windows login window comes up I get the
following error "Virusscan could not start due to missing or outdated
Avsynch.dll library".

2. After clicking OK on the error message above I then get a message that
says "Error loading explorer.exe. You must reinstall windows".

3. Ater clicking OK on that error message I then get error message saying
that "A required .dll file is missing shlwapi.dll was not found".

Then I get one of two things happen.

1. the laptop locks up
2. I click on the OK button and windows shuts down.

Is anyone else having prblems like after loading a microsoft critical update?

I really do not want to reinstall if I can help it.

Regards

What happens if you boot the computer into Safe Mode?

Turn on the computer and press the Ctrl key just as soon as the first
informantion of any kind shows on the screen. Hold it down until the
Windows Startup Menu appears and choose Safe Mode from the menu.

Good luck


Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"The reason computer chips are so small is computers don't eat much."

Thx for the response, the system does not boot up in safe mode, I get the
same response "Error loading Explorer.exe You must reinstall Windows" and
shlwapi.dll not found. System does boot up in safe mode command prompt only
and I can run Dos commands from here. I have also restored the registry file
from previous versions. I tried running win setup.exe and replacing the
system.dat file with system.1st file but this still hasn't resolved the issue.

Regards Rshep

"Ron Martell" wrote:

"Rshep" wrote:

I believe I have a condition that has been introduced by loading the latest
critical update for Windows 98. I downloaded the update before christmas when
my dell laptop was fully functional, I did not restart the laptop immediately
after the down load . After coming back from the christmas break my laptop no
longer loads Windows 98 and I get the following errors.

1. At the same time that the windows login window comes up I get the
following error "Virusscan could not start due to missing or outdated
Avsynch.dll library".

2. After clicking OK on the error message above I then get a message that
says "Error loading explorer.exe. You must reinstall windows".

3. Ater clicking OK on that error message I then get error message saying
that "A required .dll file is missing shlwapi.dll was not found".

Then I get one of two things happen.

1. the laptop locks up
2. I click on the OK button and windows shuts down.

Is anyone else having prblems like after loading a microsoft critical update?

I really do not want to reinstall if I can help it.

Regards

What happens if you boot the computer into Safe Mode?

Turn on the computer and press the Ctrl key just as soon as the first
informantion of any kind shows on the screen. Hold it down until the
Windows Startup Menu appears and choose Safe Mode from the menu.

Good luck


Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"The reason computer chips are so small is computers don't eat much."

System.1st is your original Registry & may not even be complete. Can you
get back something more recent, perhaps even out of RBBAD.cab? There was
a recent thread here about a shlwapi.dll mishap. Sadly, something such
as the following did not work in that thread...

SHLWAPI.DLL
Desc: Shell Light-weight Utility Library
Loc: C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM
Size: 394,752 bytes
Mod: Wednesday, July 07, 2004 06:48:42 PM
Ver: 6.00.2800.1552

That's mine in IE6 SP1, fully updated. I KNOW it is updated beyond what
SP1 provides, by the IE Cumulative critical update(s) at "START, Windows
Update", as I have run SFC after taking them. Perhaps it is best for you
to do the following. Afterwards, go to Windows Update, & hopefully the
latest Cumulative will come in to update it to what I have.

Explorer & IE are basically one & the same. Therefore, may as well try
this write-up, originally from a Gateway WEB site, which is a temporary
reversion to an earlier version of IE...

ONE THING: Do nothing more than stated here using Winfile, because, if
you move a file with it, you will lose that file's LFN (Long File Name)
in the destination.

Desktop Icons and Taskbar Are Missing

Affected Products: Software, System CDs
Affected Operating Systems: Windows® 98 , Windows® 98 SE,
Windows® Me

ISSUE: After starting Microsoft® Windows® 98 or Windows
Me, the taskbar is missing and there are no icons. When
starting Windows, the taskbar may flash on for a brief
second and then disappear. The only display visible is the
background wallpaper and the mouse cursor. Pressing
CTRL+ALT+DELETE brings up the Close Program dialog box,
but selecting End Task on the items on the list may not
have an effect. When the computer is started into Safe
mode, the issue still occurs. Running Scanreg /Restore
does not resolve the issue.

There have been several reports that the issue occurred
when restarting the computer after receiving a dialog box
that displays "Virus/spyware found. Do you wish to
remove?" or "Do you want to install Spyware Monitor?" The
dialog box only has Yes or No selections, and selecting
either can cause the issue. There is no X to close the
dialog box, however pressing CTRL+ALT+DELETE to bring up
the Close Program dialog box lists a "Remove found
spyware?" entry, which can be end tasked.

(1) Press CTRL+ALT+DELETE, & click Shut Down.

(2) After the computer has been shut down, turn on the computer. Hold
CTRL as you boot for the Startup Menu, or begin pressing the F8 key in
one-second intervals. If you complete this step successfully, the
Microsoft Windows Startup Menu is displayed. If no menu is displayed and
Windows starts up normally, repeat this step.

(3) At the Microsoft Windows Startup Menu, use the ARROW keys to select
"Command Prompt Only", and then press the ENTER key.

(4) At the command prompt, type:
EDIT C:\Windows\System.ini
Press ENTER.

(3) In the C:\Windows\SYSTEM.INI file, locate the line of text under the
[boot] section that lists "Shell=Explorer.exe". This is typically the
third line in the file.

(4) Edit the "Shell=Explorer.exe" line by deleting the "Explorer.exe"
text and replacing it with "Winfile.exe". The line should list the
following:
Shell=Winfile.exe

(5) To save the changes, press the ALT+F keys.

(6) A menu displays in the upper left corner of the screen. Press the X
key to exit.

(7) Press ENTER to save the changes and return to the command prompt.
(TAB would move you to the next button.)

(8) At the command prompt, restart the computer by pressing the
CTRL+ALT+DELETE keys. Once Windows has restarted, it starts into the
Windows File Manager (Winfile.exe).

(9) In the File Manager window, double-click "progra~1" in the left hand
window to open the Program Files folder.

(10) Double-click "intern~1" in the left hand window to open the
Internet Explorer folder.

(11) Double-click "setup" in the left hand window to open the Setup
folder.

(12) In the File Manager window, double-click "Setup.exe" in the right
hand window to launch Internet Explorer setup.

NOTE: If the setup folder is not available, Internet Explorer has not
been updated and a previous version of Internet Explorer cannot be
restored. You cannot use this method. Close "Winfile", shut down, & post
back, or try the URL at the very bottom of this post, which is an
over-install of IE.

(13) In the Internet Explorer 6 and Internet Tools Setup window, click
OK.

(14) In the Setup Message dialog box, click Yes to restore the previous
version of Internet Explorer.

(15) Internet Explorer setup removes components.

(16) In the Internet Explorer 6 and Internet Tools - Restart Windows
dialog box, click Restart Windows.

When the computer is restarting, hold CTRL for the Startup Menu, or
begin pressing the F8 key in one-second intervals. If you complete this
step successfully, the Microsoft Windows Startup Menu is displayed. If
no menu is displayed and Windows starts up normally, repeat this step.

(17) At the Microsoft Windows Startup Menu, use the ARROW keys to select
Command prompt only, and then press ENTER.

(18) At the command prompt, type:
EDIT C:\Windows\System.ini
Press ENTER.

(19) In the C:\Windows\SYSTEM.INI file, locate the line of text under
the [boot] section that lists "Shell=Winfile.exe". This is typically the
third line in the file.

(20) Edit the "Shell=Winfile.exe" line by deleting the "Winfile.exe"
text and replacing it with "Explorer.exe". The line should list the
following:
Shell=Explorer.exe

(21) To save the changes, press the ALT+F keys.

(22) A menu displays in the upper left corner of the screen. Press the X
key to exit.

(23) Press ENTER to save the changes and return to the command prompt.
(TAB would move you to the next button.)

(24) At the command prompt, restart the computer by pressing the
CTRL+ALT+DELETE keys

(25) Windows starts to a blue screen, but will still be
accessing the hard drive for a period of time. When
finished, Windows is on the desktop with icons, but an
older version of Internet Explorer is installed. You
should update your antivirus software, and then perform
Windows Update to install a new version of Internet
Explorer again.

....snip

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;[LN];249191
Blank Desktop or Illegal Operations Error Message After You Install
Internet Explorer. This is a temporary reversion to an earlier IE, IF
that option is present.

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=293174
Over-Install IE in Progman. This is an over-install of IE. I have a
detailed write-up for it, if you want.


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

"Rshep" wrote in message
...
| Thx for the response, the system does not boot up in safe mode, I get
the
| same response "Error loading Explorer.exe You must reinstall Windows"
and
| shlwapi.dll not found. System does boot up in safe mode command prompt
only
| and I can run Dos commands from here. I have also restored the
registry file
| from previous versions. I tried running win setup.exe and replacing
the
| system.dat file with system.1st file but this still hasn't resolved
the issue.
|
| Regards Rshep
|
| "Ron Martell" wrote:
|
| "Rshep" wrote:
|
| I believe I have a condition that has been introduced by loading
the latest
| critical update for Windows 98. I downloaded the update before
christmas when
| my dell laptop was fully functional, I did not restart the laptop
immediately
| after the down load . After coming back from the christmas break my
laptop no
| longer loads Windows 98 and I get the following errors.
|
| 1. At the same time that the windows login window comes up I get
the
| following error "Virusscan could not start due to missing or
outdated
| Avsynch.dll library".
|
| 2. After clicking OK on the error message above I then get a
message that
| says "Error loading explorer.exe. You must reinstall windows".
|
| 3. Ater clicking OK on that error message I then get error message
saying
| that "A required .dll file is missing shlwapi.dll was not found".
|
| Then I get one of two things happen.
|
| 1. the laptop locks up
| 2. I click on the OK button and windows shuts down.
|
| Is anyone else having prblems like after loading a microsoft
critical update?
|
| I really do not want to reinstall if I can help it.
|
| Regards
|
| What happens if you boot the computer into Safe Mode?
|
| Turn on the computer and press the Ctrl key just as soon as the
first
| informantion of any kind shows on the screen. Hold it down until
the
| Windows Startup Menu appears and choose Safe Mode from the menu.
|
| Good luck
|
|
| Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
| --
| Microsoft MVP
| On-Line Help Computer Service
| http://onlinehelp.bc.ca
|
| "The reason computer chips are so small is computers don't eat
much."
|

Hi, I got as far as step 12 and got an error message "There is not enough
memory to start the specified application". Not sure how use the ie upgrade
link if I cannot load explorer in the affected laptop.

Thx Rshep

"PCR" wrote:

System.1st is your original Registry & may not even be complete. Can you
get back something more recent, perhaps even out of RBBAD.cab? There was
a recent thread here about a shlwapi.dll mishap. Sadly, something such
as the following did not work in that thread...

SHLWAPI.DLL
Desc: Shell Light-weight Utility Library
Loc: C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM
Size: 394,752 bytes
Mod: Wednesday, July 07, 2004 06:48:42 PM
Ver: 6.00.2800.1552

That's mine in IE6 SP1, fully updated. I KNOW it is updated beyond what
SP1 provides, by the IE Cumulative critical update(s) at "START, Windows
Update", as I have run SFC after taking them. Perhaps it is best for you
to do the following. Afterwards, go to Windows Update, & hopefully the
latest Cumulative will come in to update it to what I have.

Explorer & IE are basically one & the same. Therefore, may as well try
this write-up, originally from a Gateway WEB site, which is a temporary
reversion to an earlier version of IE...

ONE THING: Do nothing more than stated here using Winfile, because, if
you move a file with it, you will lose that file's LFN (Long File Name)
in the destination.

Desktop Icons and Taskbar Are Missing

Affected Products: Software, System CDs
Affected Operating Systems: Windows® 98 , Windows® 98 SE,
Windows® Me

ISSUE: After starting Microsoft® Windows® 98 or Windows
Me, the taskbar is missing and there are no icons. When
starting Windows, the taskbar may flash on for a brief
second and then disappear. The only display visible is the
background wallpaper and the mouse cursor. Pressing
CTRL+ALT+DELETE brings up the Close Program dialog box,
but selecting End Task on the items on the list may not
have an effect. When the computer is started into Safe
mode, the issue still occurs. Running Scanreg /Restore
does not resolve the issue.

There have been several reports that the issue occurred
when restarting the computer after receiving a dialog box
that displays "Virus/spyware found. Do you wish to
remove?" or "Do you want to install Spyware Monitor?" The
dialog box only has Yes or No selections, and selecting
either can cause the issue. There is no X to close the
dialog box, however pressing CTRL+ALT+DELETE to bring up
the Close Program dialog box lists a "Remove found
spyware?" entry, which can be end tasked.

(1) Press CTRL+ALT+DELETE, & click Shut Down.

(2) After the computer has been shut down, turn on the computer. Hold
CTRL as you boot for the Startup Menu, or begin pressing the F8 key in
one-second intervals. If you complete this step successfully, the
Microsoft Windows Startup Menu is displayed. If no menu is displayed and
Windows starts up normally, repeat this step.

(3) At the Microsoft Windows Startup Menu, use the ARROW keys to select
"Command Prompt Only", and then press the ENTER key.

(4) At the command prompt, type:
EDIT C:\Windows\System.ini
Press ENTER.

(3) In the C:\Windows\SYSTEM.INI file, locate the line of text under the
[boot] section that lists "Shell=Explorer.exe". This is typically the
third line in the file.

(4) Edit the "Shell=Explorer.exe" line by deleting the "Explorer.exe"
text and replacing it with "Winfile.exe". The line should list the
following:
Shell=Winfile.exe

(5) To save the changes, press the ALT+F keys.

(6) A menu displays in the upper left corner of the screen. Press the X
key to exit.

(7) Press ENTER to save the changes and return to the command prompt.
(TAB would move you to the next button.)

(8) At the command prompt, restart the computer by pressing the
CTRL+ALT+DELETE keys. Once Windows has restarted, it starts into the
Windows File Manager (Winfile.exe).

(9) In the File Manager window, double-click "progra~1" in the left hand
window to open the Program Files folder.

(10) Double-click "intern~1" in the left hand window to open the
Internet Explorer folder.

(11) Double-click "setup" in the left hand window to open the Setup
folder.

(12) In the File Manager window, double-click "Setup.exe" in the right
hand window to launch Internet Explorer setup.

NOTE: If the setup folder is not available, Internet Explorer has not
been updated and a previous version of Internet Explorer cannot be
restored. You cannot use this method. Close "Winfile", shut down, & post
back, or try the URL at the very bottom of this post, which is an
over-install of IE.

(13) In the Internet Explorer 6 and Internet Tools Setup window, click
OK.

(14) In the Setup Message dialog box, click Yes to restore the previous
version of Internet Explorer.

(15) Internet Explorer setup removes components.

(16) In the Internet Explorer 6 and Internet Tools - Restart Windows
dialog box, click Restart Windows.

When the computer is restarting, hold CTRL for the Startup Menu, or
begin pressing the F8 key in one-second intervals. If you complete this
step successfully, the Microsoft Windows Startup Menu is displayed. If
no menu is displayed and Windows starts up normally, repeat this step.

(17) At the Microsoft Windows Startup Menu, use the ARROW keys to select
Command prompt only, and then press ENTER.

(18) At the command prompt, type:
EDIT C:\Windows\System.ini
Press ENTER.

(19) In the C:\Windows\SYSTEM.INI file, locate the line of text under
the [boot] section that lists "Shell=Winfile.exe". This is typically the
third line in the file.

(20) Edit the "Shell=Winfile.exe" line by deleting the "Winfile.exe"
text and replacing it with "Explorer.exe". The line should list the
following:
Shell=Explorer.exe

(21) To save the changes, press the ALT+F keys.

(22) A menu displays in the upper left corner of the screen. Press the X
key to exit.

(23) Press ENTER to save the changes and return to the command prompt.
(TAB would move you to the next button.)

(24) At the command prompt, restart the computer by pressing the
CTRL+ALT+DELETE keys

(25) Windows starts to a blue screen, but will still be
accessing the hard drive for a period of time. When
finished, Windows is on the desktop with icons, but an
older version of Internet Explorer is installed. You
should update your antivirus software, and then perform
Windows Update to install a new version of Internet
Explorer again.

....snip

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;[LN];249191
Blank Desktop or Illegal Operations Error Message After You Install
Internet Explorer. This is a temporary reversion to an earlier IE, IF
that option is present.

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=293174
Over-Install IE in Progman. This is an over-install of IE. I have a
detailed write-up for it, if you want.


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

"Rshep" wrote in message
...
| Thx for the response, the system does not boot up in safe mode, I get
the
| same response "Error loading Explorer.exe You must reinstall Windows"
and
| shlwapi.dll not found. System does boot up in safe mode command prompt
only
| and I can run Dos commands from here. I have also restored the
registry file
| from previous versions. I tried running win setup.exe and replacing
the
| system.dat file with system.1st file but this still hasn't resolved
the issue.
|
| Regards Rshep
|
| "Ron Martell" wrote:
|
| "Rshep" wrote:
|
| I believe I have a condition that has been introduced by loading
the latest
| critical update for Windows 98. I downloaded the update before
christmas when
| my dell laptop was fully functional, I did not restart the laptop
immediately
| after the down load . After coming back from the christmas break my
laptop no
| longer loads Windows 98 and I get the following errors.
|
| 1. At the same time that the windows login window comes up I get
the
| following error "Virusscan could not start due to missing or
outdated
| Avsynch.dll library".
|
| 2. After clicking OK on the error message above I then get a
message that
| says "Error loading explorer.exe. You must reinstall windows".
|
| 3. Ater clicking OK on that error message I then get error message
saying
| that "A required .dll file is missing shlwapi.dll was not found".
|
| Then I get one of two things happen.
|
| 1. the laptop locks up
| 2. I click on the OK button and windows shuts down.
|
| Is anyone else having prblems like after loading a microsoft
critical update?
|
| I really do not want to reinstall if I can help it.
|
| Regards
|
| What happens if you boot the computer into Safe Mode?
|
| Turn on the computer and press the Ctrl key just as soon as the
first
| informantion of any kind shows on the screen. Hold it down until
the
| Windows Startup Menu appears and choose Safe Mode from the menu.
|
| Good luck
|
|
| Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
| --
| Microsoft MVP
| On-Line Help Computer Service
| http://onlinehelp.bc.ca
|
| "The reason computer chips are so small is computers don't eat
much."
|

As you do have a setup folder containing Setup.exe, that procedure would
be the right one to try. However, you get an error message about memory.

http://search.support.microsoft.com/...dv=1&spid=1139 MSKB
Search "Not enough memory to start"; Windows 98; Weighted; Full Text;
All Words; Anytime; comes up with many. Here is one...

http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;132571
..........Quote of article............
Cannot Start Windows or Programs in Windows
Article ID : 132571
Last Review : December 16, 2004
Revision : 1.2
This article was previously published under Q132571
If this article does not describe your hardware-related issue, please
see the following Microsoft Web site to view more articles about
hardwa
http://support.microsoft.com/support...hwddresctr.asp
On this Page
SYMPTOMS
CAUSE
RESOLUTION
MORE INFORMATION

SYMPTOMS
When you try to start Windows or a program in Windows, you may receive
an error message indicating that there is not enough memory to do so.

CAUSE
This behavior can occur if there is not enough real and virtual memory
to start the Windows shell or the program.

RESOLUTION
Start your computer to a command prompt and free some space on the hard
disk on which the swap file is located. Once you free space on your hard
disk, restart Windows normally and try to run the program again. To
start your computer to a command prompt, follow the steps in the
appropriate section below:
Windows Millennium Edition (Me)
Use your Windows Me startup disk to start to a command prompt.
Windows 95
Restart your computer. When you see the "Starting Windows 95" message,
press the F8 key, and then choose Command Prompt Only.

Windows 98
Restart your computer, press and hold down the CTRL key after your
computer completes the Power On Self Test (POST), and then choose
Command Prompt Only from the Startup menu. For more information about
Windows 98 startup, see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge
Base:

ARTICLE-ID: 178548
TITLE : No "Starting Windows 98" Message at Startup

MORE INFORMATION
If you try to start a program on a computer that has 4 megabytes (MB) of
random access memory (RAM) and less than 8 MB of free space on the hard
disk containing the swap file, you may be unable to shutdown and restart
your computer normally. In this case, you must press CTRL+ALT+DEL to
open the Close Program dialog box, and then click Shut Down to shut down
Windows.
........EOQ....................

I guess, at the DOS Prompt...

(1) SMARTDRV
This speeds up hard drive processing considerably in DOS--
considerably, & yet it may still seem slow if TIFs are incredibly huge!

(2) DEL C:\Windows\Win386.swp
DEL C:\Win386.swp
That is the Swap File itself. It may be at either location. It will
be recreated at boot, perhaps to a much smaller initial size.

(3) DELTREE C:\Windows\Temp /y
Normally, one should do a reboot before deleting this, as it may
contain programs to run if you've been warned: "Reboot to complete" an
install.

(4) DELTREE C:\Windows\Cookies\ /y
These are your Cookies. They may hold settings & passwords, site
specific.

(5) DELTREE C:\Windows\Tempor~1\ /y
These are your Temporary Internet Files. A DOS delete does reset
the Index.dat in Content.IE5 to 32 KB. It won't stay that small for
long. However, Cookies in the top TIF folder would survive this Deltree.

(6) DELTREE C:\Windows\History\ /y
This is a collection of shortcuts to the sites you have visited.
It will begin to grow again, depending upon "Days to keep..." at
"Internet Options, General tab".

(7) Ctrl-Alt-Del to Windows.

WARNING: DELTREE is a powerful command. It will wipe out the folder you
specify. DO NOT HIT ENTER too soon, or you will wipe out your system.
Get all the way to the end of those DELTREE lines.


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

"Rshep" wrote in message
...
| Hi, I got as far as step 12 and got an error message "There is not
enough
| memory to start the specified application". Not sure how use the ie
upgrade
| link if I cannot load explorer in the affected laptop.
|
| Thx Rshep
|
| "PCR" wrote:
....snip
|
| (12) In the File Manager window, double-click "Setup.exe" in the
right
| hand window to launch Internet Explorer setup.
|
| NOTE: If the setup folder is not available, Internet Explorer has
not
| been updated and a previous version of Internet Explorer cannot be
| restored. You cannot use this method. Close "Winfile", shut down, &
post
| back, or try the URL at the very bottom of this post, which is an
| over-install of IE.
....snip

Completed steps 1 - 7 and still get the same error.

I checked the new size of the win386.swp file and it is 63,654,447 bytes
with 1,244,620MB free in the Windows diretory.

I still get the error Virusscan could not start due to missing or outdated
Avsynch.dll library, please reinstall product. When clicking OK I get the
file manager display and then get the shlwapi.dll error. When I click on OK
on the error I get into file manager.

When in the file manager and try to run setup I get the error there is not
enough memory, I also get this error when trying to run command from
file/run. In fact I am pretty sure I can't run any programs from file manager
due to this memory issue.

Thx for your help so far.

Cheers

Rshep

"PCR" wrote:

As you do have a setup folder containing Setup.exe, that procedure would
be the right one to try. However, you get an error message about memory.

http://search.support.microsoft.com/...dv=1&spid=1139 MSKB
Search "Not enough memory to start"; Windows 98; Weighted; Full Text;
All Words; Anytime; comes up with many. Here is one...

http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;132571
..........Quote of article............
Cannot Start Windows or Programs in Windows
Article ID : 132571
Last Review : December 16, 2004
Revision : 1.2
This article was previously published under Q132571
If this article does not describe your hardware-related issue, please
see the following Microsoft Web site to view more articles about
hardwa
http://support.microsoft.com/support...hwddresctr.asp
On this Page
SYMPTOMS
CAUSE
RESOLUTION
MORE INFORMATION

SYMPTOMS
When you try to start Windows or a program in Windows, you may receive
an error message indicating that there is not enough memory to do so.

CAUSE
This behavior can occur if there is not enough real and virtual memory
to start the Windows shell or the program.

RESOLUTION
Start your computer to a command prompt and free some space on the hard
disk on which the swap file is located. Once you free space on your hard
disk, restart Windows normally and try to run the program again. To
start your computer to a command prompt, follow the steps in the
appropriate section below:
Windows Millennium Edition (Me)
Use your Windows Me startup disk to start to a command prompt.
Windows 95
Restart your computer. When you see the "Starting Windows 95" message,
press the F8 key, and then choose Command Prompt Only.

Windows 98
Restart your computer, press and hold down the CTRL key after your
computer completes the Power On Self Test (POST), and then choose
Command Prompt Only from the Startup menu. For more information about
Windows 98 startup, see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge
Base:

ARTICLE-ID: 178548
TITLE : No "Starting Windows 98" Message at Startup

MORE INFORMATION
If you try to start a program on a computer that has 4 megabytes (MB) of
random access memory (RAM) and less than 8 MB of free space on the hard
disk containing the swap file, you may be unable to shutdown and restart
your computer normally. In this case, you must press CTRL+ALT+DEL to
open the Close Program dialog box, and then click Shut Down to shut down
Windows.
........EOQ....................

I guess, at the DOS Prompt...

(1) SMARTDRV
This speeds up hard drive processing considerably in DOS--
considerably, & yet it may still seem slow if TIFs are incredibly huge!

(2) DEL C:\Windows\Win386.swp
DEL C:\Win386.swp
That is the Swap File itself. It may be at either location. It will
be recreated at boot, perhaps to a much smaller initial size.

(3) DELTREE C:\Windows\Temp /y
Normally, one should do a reboot before deleting this, as it may
contain programs to run if you've been warned: "Reboot to complete" an
install.

(4) DELTREE C:\Windows\Cookies\ /y
These are your Cookies. They may hold settings & passwords, site
specific.

(5) DELTREE C:\Windows\Tempor~1\ /y
These are your Temporary Internet Files. A DOS delete does reset
the Index.dat in Content.IE5 to 32 KB. It won't stay that small for
long. However, Cookies in the top TIF folder would survive this Deltree.

(6) DELTREE C:\Windows\History\ /y
This is a collection of shortcuts to the sites you have visited.
It will begin to grow again, depending upon "Days to keep..." at
"Internet Options, General tab".

(7) Ctrl-Alt-Del to Windows.

WARNING: DELTREE is a powerful command. It will wipe out the folder you
specify. DO NOT HIT ENTER too soon, or you will wipe out your system.
Get all the way to the end of those DELTREE lines.


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

"Rshep" wrote in message
...
| Hi, I got as far as step 12 and got an error message "There is not
enough
| memory to start the specified application". Not sure how use the ie
upgrade
| link if I cannot load explorer in the affected laptop.
|
| Thx Rshep
|
| "PCR" wrote:
....snip
|
| (12) In the File Manager window, double-click "Setup.exe" in the
right
| hand window to launch Internet Explorer setup.
|
| NOTE: If the setup folder is not available, Internet Explorer has
not
| been updated and a previous version of Internet Explorer cannot be
| restored. You cannot use this method. Close "Winfile", shut down, &
post
| back, or try the URL at the very bottom of this post, which is an
| over-install of IE.
....snip

On Tue, 28 Dec 2004 18:02:03 GMT, Ron Martell
"Rshep" wrote:

I believe I have a condition that has been introduced by loading the latest
critical update for Windows 98. I downloaded the update before christmas when
my dell laptop was fully functional, I did not restart the laptop immediately
after the down load . After coming back from the christmas break my laptop no
longer loads Windows 98 and I get the following errors.

Did you check your laptop for viruses, trojans and commercial malware
before installing the updates? It's good practice to do that,
especially with service packs and "just re-install".

1. At the same time that the windows login window comes up I get the
following error "Virusscan could not start due to missing or outdated
Avsynch.dll library".

OK; that's one file to Search for, then ;-)

2. After clicking OK on the error message above I then get a message that
says "Error loading explorer.exe. You must reinstall windows".

Don't re-install Windows, or at least not on that throw-away advice.

But you may need to avoid using Explorer.exe as the shell, i.e. edit
SYSTEM.INI so that this line...

shell=explorer.exe

....becomes these lines:

; shell=explorer.exe
shell=taskman.exe

Anything other than "shell=explorer.exe" will most likely mean active
malware is (or has been) present.

3. Ater clicking OK on that error message I then get error message saying
that "A required .dll file is missing shlwapi.dll was not found".

Shlwapi.dll, eh? Let me Google that one...

"shlwapi.dll is a library which contains functions for UNC and
URL paths, registry entries, and color settings."

Color settings?

http://www.generation.net/~hleboeuf/shlwapi.htm

http://www.experts-exchange.com/Oper..._20793747.html

The last one is interesting, in that it refers to "Scandisk doing it's
thing" - either the dude's living with a sick HD or chronic shutdown
problem, or he's casually bad-exiting. Either way, he's doomed; it's
just a matter of when he eventually falls over.

But generally, it smells like "version soup", so...

http://cquirke.mvps.org/9x/dllhell.htm

....may refer.

Is anyone else having prblems like after loading a microsoft critical update?
I really do not want to reinstall if I can help it.

Nor should you have to. Being forced to re-install is as unacceptable
an outcome as coming back from hospital in a body-bag.

What happens if you boot the computer into Safe Mode?

Prediction: If it's additional software that isn't trying too hard to
integrate into the OS, he'd be OK. If he's not OK, it's either
version soup or corruption within the shell (Explorer.exe, IE, and the
faceless sprawling multitude of support files) or malware that *is*
trying hard enough to integrate with the system.

If he can get to Explorer, try killing Active Desktop and "View As Web
Page". If he can get to Control Panel, Internet (or IE, Options) then
try disabling 3rd-party browser enhancements (i.e. BHOs).

If the above step works, get out the cannons (AdAware, Spybot,
HiJackThis); it's time to lynch some commercial malware ;-)



---------- ----- ---- --- -- - - - -
"He's such a character!"
' Yeah - CHAR(0) '
---------- ----- ---- --- -- - - - -

I see cquirke has good info. Now, I recall a similar problem happening
(unable to boot to Windows), after I updated McAfee's virus definitions.
Did you do that too, as well as taking the Windows critical update?
Avsynch.dll is a McAfee file!

Are you sure you cannot boot to Safe Mode, though? You selected it from
the Startup Menu? If you cannot boot to Safe Mode, your condition is
worse than McAfee would do. Otherwise...

Here was the solution for me. (It also cured a pronounced sluggishness
when running with McAfee's Auto-System Scan on.)...

(1) Boot to Safe Mode. (Hold CTRL during boot for the Startup Menu, &
select it.)

(2) Rename C:\Autoexec.bat, where McAfee has lines to do a scan during
boot. May as well rename C:\Config.sys as well. Call them Autoexec.batX
& C:\Config.sysX.
Alternatively, just put a "REM " (with space, no quotes) in front
of the McAfee lines.

(3) Turn McAfee off, perhaps using it's icon in the Control Panel.

(4) Boot to Normal Mode, and...
http://us.mcafee.com/
Find your way to & take the latest "Superdat" (SDAT4367.EXE, back then
anyway). It comes with a full set of definitions, as well as whatever
performs the fix (probably a new engine). After that, you may return to
McAfee's Update button. The site did say McAfee v.8 cannot update by way
of Superdat, though.

(5) Rename Autoexec.batX & Config.sysX back to what they were. If new
ones had generated, delete those first.

(6) Run the Superdat you had downloaded, & reboot to Normal Mode.


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

"Rshep" wrote in message
...
| Completed steps 1 - 7 and still get the same error.
|
| I checked the new size of the win386.swp file and it is 63,654,447
bytes
| with 1,244,620MB free in the Windows diretory.
|
| I still get the error Virusscan could not start due to missing or
outdated
| Avsynch.dll library, please reinstall product. When clicking OK I get
the
| file manager display and then get the shlwapi.dll error. When I click
on OK
| on the error I get into file manager.
|
| When in the file manager and try to run setup I get the error there is
not
| enough memory, I also get this error when trying to run command from
| file/run. In fact I am pretty sure I can't run any programs from file
manager
| due to this memory issue.
|
| Thx for your help so far.
|
| Cheers
|
| Rshep
|
| "PCR" wrote:
|
| As you do have a setup folder containing Setup.exe, that procedure
would
| be the right one to try. However, you get an error message about
memory.
|
| http://search.support.microsoft.com/...dv=1&spid=1139 MSKB
| Search "Not enough memory to start"; Windows 98; Weighted; Full
Text;
| All Words; Anytime; comes up with many. Here is one...
|
| http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;132571
| ..........Quote of article............
| Cannot Start Windows or Programs in Windows
| Article ID : 132571
| Last Review : December 16, 2004
| Revision : 1.2
| This article was previously published under Q132571
| If this article does not describe your hardware-related issue,
please
| see the following Microsoft Web site to view more articles about
| hardwa
|
http://support.microsoft.com/support...hwddresctr.asp
| On this Page
| SYMPTOMS
| CAUSE
| RESOLUTION
| MORE INFORMATION
|
| SYMPTOMS
| When you try to start Windows or a program in Windows, you may
receive
| an error message indicating that there is not enough memory to do
so.
|
| CAUSE
| This behavior can occur if there is not enough real and virtual
memory
| to start the Windows shell or the program.
|
| RESOLUTION
| Start your computer to a command prompt and free some space on the
hard
| disk on which the swap file is located. Once you free space on your
hard
| disk, restart Windows normally and try to run the program again. To
| start your computer to a command prompt, follow the steps in the
| appropriate section below:
| Windows Millennium Edition (Me)
| Use your Windows Me startup disk to start to a command prompt.
| Windows 95
| Restart your computer. When you see the "Starting Windows 95"
message,
| press the F8 key, and then choose Command Prompt Only.
|
| Windows 98
| Restart your computer, press and hold down the CTRL key after your
| computer completes the Power On Self Test (POST), and then choose
| Command Prompt Only from the Startup menu. For more information
about
| Windows 98 startup, see the following article in the Microsoft
Knowledge
| Base:
|
| ARTICLE-ID: 178548
| TITLE : No "Starting Windows 98" Message at Startup
|
| MORE INFORMATION
| If you try to start a program on a computer that has 4 megabytes
(MB) of
| random access memory (RAM) and less than 8 MB of free space on the
hard
| disk containing the swap file, you may be unable to shutdown and
restart
| your computer normally. In this case, you must press CTRL+ALT+DEL to
| open the Close Program dialog box, and then click Shut Down to shut
down
| Windows.
| ........EOQ....................
|
| I guess, at the DOS Prompt...
|
| (1) SMARTDRV
| This speeds up hard drive processing considerably in DOS--
| considerably, & yet it may still seem slow if TIFs are incredibly
huge!
|
| (2) DEL C:\Windows\Win386.swp
| DEL C:\Win386.swp
| That is the Swap File itself. It may be at either location. It
will
| be recreated at boot, perhaps to a much smaller initial size.
|
| (3) DELTREE C:\Windows\Temp /y
| Normally, one should do a reboot before deleting this, as it
may
| contain programs to run if you've been warned: "Reboot to complete"
an
| install.
|
| (4) DELTREE C:\Windows\Cookies\ /y
| These are your Cookies. They may hold settings & passwords,
site
| specific.
|
| (5) DELTREE C:\Windows\Tempor~1\ /y
| These are your Temporary Internet Files. A DOS delete does
reset
| the Index.dat in Content.IE5 to 32 KB. It won't stay that small for
| long. However, Cookies in the top TIF folder would survive this
Deltree.
|
| (6) DELTREE C:\Windows\History\ /y
| This is a collection of shortcuts to the sites you have
visited.
| It will begin to grow again, depending upon "Days to keep..." at
| "Internet Options, General tab".
|
| (7) Ctrl-Alt-Del to Windows.
|
| WARNING: DELTREE is a powerful command. It will wipe out the folder
you
| specify. DO NOT HIT ENTER too soon, or you will wipe out your
system.
| Get all the way to the end of those DELTREE lines.
|
|
| --
| Thanks or Good Luck,
| There may be humor in this post, and,
| Naturally, you will not sue,
| should things get worse after this,
| PCR
|
| "Rshep" wrote in message
| ...
| | Hi, I got as far as step 12 and got an error message "There is not
| enough
| | memory to start the specified application". Not sure how use the
ie
| upgrade
| | link if I cannot load explorer in the affected laptop.
| |
| | Thx Rshep
| |
| | "PCR" wrote:
| ....snip
| |
| | (12) In the File Manager window, double-click "Setup.exe" in the
| right
| | hand window to launch Internet Explorer setup.
| |
| | NOTE: If the setup folder is not available, Internet Explorer
has
| not
| | been updated and a previous version of Internet Explorer cannot
be
| | restored. You cannot use this method. Close "Winfile", shut
down, &
| post
| | back, or try the URL at the very bottom of this post, which is
an
| | over-install of IE.
| ....snip
|
|
|

Boot to DOS mode and change directories to Windows\System. Look for
shlwapi update file by doing
dir shlwapi*.*

It should show as shlwapi.001 or somesuch. Whatever it is currently
named subtitute that into this

ren shlwapi.001 shlwapi.dll

Press Alt+Ctrl+Delete to reboot into Windows.
I would like to look at your wininit.bak file which is a text file in
your Windows folder. Just post the contents of it if you will. TIA