explorer help

when i turn on my comp. if i click on an icon nothing
happens,then if i try to click another icon my comp. locks
up. if i try to play freecell or solitaire i get a default
message saying it caused a fatal error in kernl32.exe if
the problem persist contact the vendor. what can i do
please help.

Clean up your system, though in your case the first thing to try is to =
get into Safe Mode. Hold down the Ctrl or F8 key as you are starting up =
(sometimes need to repeatedly press the key to avoid a stuck-key error.) =
With luck, you'll get the Startup Menu. Form there, choose Safe Mode. If =
that seems to work normally, Start=3DRun. Type in MSCONFIG enter. =
Choose Selective Startup, then uncheck everything *except* the items =
having to do with WIN.INI and SYSTEM.INI. Click OK, reboot when =
prompted. See if that helps when you get back into Normal mode.

But, before doing that, print out this message and the linked articles, =
and download the programs that are suggested. You're going to need them.

The below includes everything I think is necessary, no more, and =
certainly no less. Yes, there are valid differences of opinion regarding =
which antivirus software to use, but the rest of my suggestions have =
fairly unanimous support among the cognoscenti. The initial suggestions =
go hand in hand with maintaining a clean and secure system.

See my article, "Clean Boot--What it is and why you need it"
http://www.google.com/groups?selm=3D...NGP11.phx. g=
bl

Because some of the more recent known invaders are capable of =
interfering
with the suggestions contained in the above, I suggest you also consider
first doing the following, though it may be necessary to set up a clean
boot, and even then manually kill a malicious process or two before you =
can
even get these accomplished. Many invaders are built to first detect and
disable protections that are in place, so that you might, for instance, =
have
to obtain and employ a DOS-boot antivirus like F-Prot. Repeated running =
of
scanners, booting back and forth from Safe Mode to Normal, or into DOS
Mode--a lot of gymnastics are often required to get to an error-free and
nasties-free condition. Once there, however, some user sanity and =
education,
plus regular "wetware" updating, will *keep* your system healthy.

Update your Antivirus, run a full scan. Then, if you haven't already,
obtain, update, and run any or all of the following
Trojan/Parasite/Adware/Spyware cleaners. I recommend getting and running
*all* of them. They each target slightly different things. Again, be =
sure
you update the definitions they are using to identify crap before =
running
them, each time you run them--which, depending on your surfing habits,
should be anything from once a month, to once a week, to once a day, to =
once
an hour if you're really into junkware sites (aka "Free goodies", game
sites, fun-places-to-be, etc.)

Tradition had it that Firewalls were generally not needed when using =
simple
dial-up modem connections. Alas, this is no longer the case. *Everyone*
needs a firewall! Also, I make no bones about it--Norton, McAfee and
Trend-Micro products (and probably a few others) are ABOMINATIONS!,
particularly when it comes to Win9x systems. They are massive suites =
that
intrude into basic functions where they simply do not need to go. For
freeware solutions, I suggest AVG or AVAST (based upon the =
recommendations
of others, though each has it's minor drawbacks) and ZoneAlarm Firewall. =
But
for really good, inexpensive, and trustworthy protection, you simply =
can't
beat eTrust Armor. Antivirus and Firewall combined, very non-intrusive =
upon
the system itself (I've *never* seen a crash caused by EZ Antivirus, and
there's hardly any impact whatsoever on Resources, etc.) eTrust is from
Computer Associates Inc.--the antivirus is a version of their corporate
product usually known as Inoculan, and they got smart recently and =
switched
to using a version of ZoneAlarm for their firewall.

You can get a one-year free trial of eTrust EZ Armor at
http://www.my-etrust.com/microsoft/. This offer was initially slated to =
end
this June, but has been extended through February 2005. The trial offer =
is
also included in at least some versions (not sure about all languages) =
of
Microsoft's Windows Security Update CD, an item *everyone* should own.
(However, do *not* just run the Update CD on your system without a =
proper
analysis of where your system stands with regard to Updates. Might do =
more
harm than good.) EZ Armor would normally cost $50 for the first year (a =
deal
in itself), and yearly renewal subscriptions only cost $25--an absolute
steal when compared with other offerings. Order the Windows Security =
Update
CD directly from MS, totally free, including S&H, at
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/cd/order.asp

In addition to Antivirus and Firewall protection, I consider the =
following
items to be indispensable protection and clean-up utilities. My judgment =
is
based upon their being free, good, accurate, and safe, if handled =
correctly.
See, also, suggestions from MVP Mike Burgess on his site,
http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/, particularly the general Windows/IE
Security page, http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/security.htm. More =
current
discussions of Security issues can be found at the Windows Support =
Center
(provided by MVP Jim Eshelman, a true Saint!) at http://www.aumha.org

(SpyBot S&D =3D "SpyBot Search & Destroy")

Ad-Aware http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/
SpyBot S&D http://www.safer-networking.org/inde...age=3Ddownload
HijackThis http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/files/HijackThis.exe
CWShredder http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/files/cwshredder.zip
Spyware Blaster http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html

PLEASE! Before doing any of these, see also,
http://www.mvps.org/inetexplorer/Darnit.htm for suggestions and =
cautionary
information about internet surfing, and some important hints about using =
the
above. ESPECIALLY, be aware that HijackThis scans result in a LOT of =
stuff
that you *don't* want to delete. The admonishment to save a log and show =
it
to an expert is critically good advice. Not following that advice can =
really
do some damage to your system. SpyBot S&D, too, is capable of similar
problems, especially if you change default scan settings, or "Immunize".

An additional tool that is very helpful in protecting your machine is a
HOSTS file. Microsoft MVP Mike Burgess maintain a frequently updated =
list of
bad sites. They may be sites that provide most of the junky =
advertisements
you see in other places, or sites that install spyware/adware, or that, =
for
whatever reason, you shouldn't allow into your system. Using the HOSTS
file, you can redirect such addresses to a site that's guaranteed will =
fail
to load on most machines--your own computer.
HOSTS Overview -- http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm

After using it for some time, now, I also consider MVP George Geyde's =
HOSTS File Manager an indispensable tool. I've been amazed at how well =
this one tool stopped most of the crap from getting in in the first =
place. You can find it at the bottom of this page:
http://www.mvps.org/PracticallyNerded/Software.htm

--=20
Gary S. Terhune
MS MVP for Win9x
=20
"mark" wrote in message =
...
when i turn on my comp. if i click on an icon nothing=20
happens,then if i try to click another icon my comp. locks=20
up. if i try to play freecell or solitaire i get a default=20
message saying it caused a fatal error in kernl32.exe if=20
the problem persist contact the vendor. what can i do=20
please help.