Explorer performed illegal operation on startup HELP!

I have been getting this on startup and cannot get into
Windows. When I click close the screen becomes blank and
just the wallpaper background appears. Ive tried the
steps the Microsoft site has given me that I searched for
the problem. It appears that they know how to fix the
problem and had encountered this problem before. In the
steps, i have done it right but i had encountered a step
where it goes to add/remove programs and then it seem to
not contain any programs. Just a blank programs box in
the add/remove programs tab. This is where I'm suppose to
fix Internet Explorer or repair it through add/remove.
Please help. thanks


SYMPTOMS
You may receive the following error message after you log
on to a Windows 98-based computer:

This program has performed an illegal operation and will
be shut down. If the problem persists, contact the
program vendor.
If you click Details, you receive the following error
message:

- EXPLORER caused an invalid page fault in module
EXPLORER.EXE at 167:00401f31

- EXPLORER caused an invalid page fault in module
BROWSEUI.DLL at 167:00401f31

Try this for your Add/Remove problem.

All Installed Programs May Not Be Displayed in the Add/Remove Programs
Tool
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=240348

I have fixed several of these recently for others.
The problem will occur in these two situations:

1. The uninstall keyname for an application is greater than 63
characters.
Solution: Rename the keyname.
e.g. this is invalid
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\Uninstall\12345678901234567890123456789 01234567890123456789012345678901234]

2. The DisplayName for the key is greater than 63 characters.
Solution: Shorten DisplayName
e.g. this is invalid
"DisplayName"="12345678901234567890123456789012345 67890123456789012345678901234"

If you need a second opinion, export the key to a text file and email
it to me.

*** Note that the invalid entry that can cause this is not necessarily
connected with the ones missing so you must check all entries.

.....Alan
-
Alan Edwards MS MVP W95/98 Systems

In microsoft.public.win98.apps, "Kevin S"
wrote:

I have been getting this on startup and cannot get into
Windows. When I click close the screen becomes blank and
just the wallpaper background appears. Ive tried the
steps the Microsoft site has given me that I searched for
the problem. It appears that they know how to fix the
problem and had encountered this problem before. In the
steps, i have done it right but i had encountered a step
where it goes to add/remove programs and then it seem to
not contain any programs. Just a blank programs box in
the add/remove programs tab. This is where I'm suppose to
fix Internet Explorer or repair it through add/remove.
Please help. thanks

Blank Desktop or Illegal Operations Error Message After You Install Internet
Explorer:
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=kb;en-us;249191

quote
Start your computer from a command prompt, edit the System.ini file by changing
Shell=Explorer.exe to Shell=Winfile.exe, and then restart your computer.
Click Run on the File menu in File Manager, and then type the following command:
rundll32 setupwbv.dll,IE5Maintenance "C:\Program Files\Internet
Explorer\Setup\SETUP.EXE" /g "C:\WINDOWS\IE Uninstall Log.Txt"

This command runs Internet Explorer Repair (if available) and is case sensitive.
unquote

Continue through the procedures in that article.

If those procedures do not help, have a look he
Recovering From a Failed Internet Explorer Upgrade in Windows 98:
http://tinyurl.com/r5ba
--
Glen Ventura, MS MVP W95/98 Systems
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm


"Kevin S" wrote in message
...
I have been getting this on startup and cannot get into
Windows. When I click close the screen becomes blank and
just the wallpaper background appears. Ive tried the
steps the Microsoft site has given me that I searched for
the problem. It appears that they know how to fix the
problem and had encountered this problem before. In the
steps, i have done it right but i had encountered a step
where it goes to add/remove programs and then it seem to
not contain any programs. Just a blank programs box in
the add/remove programs tab. This is where I'm suppose to
fix Internet Explorer or repair it through add/remove.
Please help. thanks


SYMPTOMS
You may receive the following error message after you log
on to a Windows 98-based computer:

This program has performed an illegal operation and will
be shut down. If the problem persists, contact the
program vendor.
If you click Details, you receive the following error
message:

- EXPLORER caused an invalid page fault in module
EXPLORER.EXE at 167:00401f31

- EXPLORER caused an invalid page fault in module
BROWSEUI.DLL at 167:00401f31