Question

Explorer.exe Application error - Explorer will be closed by Windows - cycle

Asked by: HighTechGeek

Dell Inspiron 5000
currently Windows 2000 SP 3 (see below)
currently IE 5 (see below)
128MB RAM

Every time I boot and log into Windows 2000, the desktop begins to appear and then one of the following windows appears:


explorer.exe - Application Error
------------------------------------
The instruction at "0x77fcc641" referenced memory at "0x002e005f". The memory could not be "read".
Click on OK to terminate the program
                  |OK|

--and/or--


Program Error
----------------
explorer.exe has generated errors and will be closed by Windows.
You will need to restart the program.

An error log is being created.
                |OK|



If I click OK on the first window, explorer closes, the desktop disappears, re-appears and then the error appears again. (Note - the memory address is not always the same)

If the second window appears, explorer closes by itself automatically and then the desktop disappears, re-appears and then the error appears again.

The errors also occur in Safe Mode.

I can End Task on explorer.exe before the error occurs and run almost any program (except explorer.exe) through the Task Manager File\Run command - (finding the correct commands and switches has been fun!)

I have done a complete online scan for Viruses at Symantec's site... It is Safe and Clean

I have installed and uninstalled Win2K SP4 and IE 6 with all updates.

I have run the repair options with the Win2K Pro CD.

I used Dell's diagnostic tools to verify the memory and hardware

I loaded LiteStep, a replacement shell for Windows (www.litestep.net) and it gives me a desktop and the problem is gone as long as I use LiteStep as my shell. I can even open file manager and it uses explorer.exe to do it (explorer.exe shows up in the task manager).

However, I need to run the normal native Windows explorer shell without these errors. My understanding is that re-installing Windows will wipe out my docs and programs.

Thanks,
Dan

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Asked On
2003-11-12 at 21:26:31ID20796444
Tags

error

,

application

,

windows

Topic

Windows 2000 Operating System

Participating Experts
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Points
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Comments
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by: sunray_2003Posted on 2003-11-12 at 21:36:10ID: 9737399

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by: Stoner79Posted on 2003-11-13 at 07:21:59ID: 9740016

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