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steven_grice

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Windows will not start, 'Explorer has performed an illegal operation' on startup.

I was recently uninstalling some unwanted software from my system (Kazaa and Sidefind) when the system crashed. When I rebooted I was presented with the Windows 98 installation screens asking for registration code and such (I assume the registry may have been damaged). I proceeded with the setup and had to reboot again. Now whenever I start the computer, Windows attempts to run, I get a login window for Microsoft networking, then I get an error pop up saying 'Explorer has performed an illegal operation' and can get no further. Most of the data on the hard drive is not backed up so I can't just reformat. Any suggestions on how I could salvage my dying computer?
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njxbean

you could slap that hard drive in another computer to recover the data.  Then format that computer.  OR.  and if you do this you must be very comfortable with dos and careful.  You could del tree your windows directory and reinstall windows.  Before doing this, you would need to copy the data that might be on the desktop or in my documents to the root of the c drive.  I would go with the first option and use the 2nd for emergency only.
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Try starting up in "Safe Mode".

Keep jabbing the F8 key fairly soon after pressing the Power On button.  It should reach a menu of "Boot Options".
You should see several options, and one of them will be "Safe Mode".
Arrow down to it, and press <Enter>.
It can take a while to start up into Safe Mode.

If you can get into Safe Mode, go to MSCONFIG's "Startup" tab and uncheck everything except  SystemTray.

(Start menu > "Run" option > and type MSCONFIG > then click "OK")

It would also be interesting to know what Startup entries were listed.

Personally, I would first try and reinstall Windows on top of itself after booting to a Win98 Boot Floppy with CD-Rom Support.  Install to WINDOWS rather than any other folder it might offer, eg. WINDOWS.000.

The object isn't to create a parallel functional installation, it is an attempt to restore missing files, or overwrite corrup files and registry settings.

Most of your program settings remain untouched this way, but you would have to reinstall programs like Office 2000 and upwards, Internet Explorer 5.5 and upwards, and any Windows or MS Office patches or updates.

SOLUTION
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BillDL
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Hi Steven,
are you running Internet Explorer 6? I had a similiar problem and it turned out that IE6 was the problem. I had to go back to IE5.5
You will need to boot into safe mode to do this

Michael

Avatar of steven_grice

ASKER

I tried starting up in Safe Mode but this had the same result as a normal boot so nothing useful could be achieved.

I also tried the so called 'dirty install' of Windows and this attempted to reformat the drive (perhaps I did something wrong) so that was no help.

Finally, I tried Joe's scanreg suggestion and for only a few minutes work I was back up in no time (if only I had tried it first...)So, many thanks to Joe for solving my problem.

I would also like to thank BillDL for the help with copying to another HD as I am buying a new larger drive and can use this advice for copying from old to new.

Cheers, Steve.
Steven

You are very welcome. I have been on this site since 1999 and just love helping people. I also have learned so much by reading other's comments comments and the URl they have posted.

gonzal13(Joe)
You're welcome, Steve.  Hope everything goes to plan.  If not, then you know where to ask :-)
Steve:

I am happy that we helped you. This is a wonderful site.

Gonzal13(joe)