Please Help! Major kernel32.dll problem! (1 Viewer)

[Jeff]

Just out of nowhere, for no reason, my Windows 98 has stopped functioning properly.
When ever I load my Internet Explorer, My Computer, or click on any of the drives, I get the following error:

EXPLORER caused an invalid page fault in
module KERNEL32.DLL at 0257:bff76844.
Registers:
EAX=017801cc CS=0257 EIP=bff76844 EFLGS=00010246
EBX=017801cc SS=025f ESP=01780000 EBP=01780014
ECX=01780098 DS=025f ESI=81952214 FS=42e7
EDX=bff76859 ES=025f EDI=017800c0 GS=0000
Bytes at CS:EIP:
ff 75 0c ff 75 08 ff 55 18 83 c4 10 64 8f 05 00
Stack dump:
017800dc 01780098 017801cc bff76859 017801cc 017800a8 bff87fc0 017800c0 017801cc 017800dc 01780098 bff76859 01780284 81952214 017bf090 00000000

(Minus the smiley face above)
I have done numerous google searches, and I can't find a solution. I've checked for errors, run Norton, and nothing comes up.
I haven't installed any hardware or software recently.
My hardware:
Celeron 400
ABIT BX6 R2
256K Ram
Maxtor 40 gig drive
Voodoo 3 video card
Awe 64 Gold Sound Card
Any ideas here?
Thanks,
Jeff

 

[Randy_T]

What version of Internet Explorer are you running? I would go here and download and install IE6. You probably have a corrupted KERNEL32.DLL file.
Randy T

 

[Jeff]

I don't know what my prior IE version is but I have updated to version 6 but it does nothing.
Looks like it's reinstalling time. :frowning:
Jeff

 

[Jeff]

Well, what do you know. I found the problem. SPYWARE! It was a vx2.dll file on my C drive. I had tons of other Spyware as well. I got a nifty little program that seeks it out and deletes it. As soon as it deleted these files, everything worked...I didn't even have to reboot.

If anyone is interested, the program is called "Ad-aware" by Lavasoft.

Man, Spyware is as bad as viruses!

Jeff

 

[Francois Caron]

For many of us, Spyware ARE viruses! Go to http://www.dslreports.com and read about how one company's "bundleware" actually REMOVES your copy of Lavasoft's Ad-Aware from your system during the installation process.

 

[Drew Wimmer]

fyi, with the way that most people use their systems, windows has a tendency to corrupt itself over time, that's just the nature of the beast, gotta do a backup/format/clean-install from time to time (though this obviously wasn't the case here)

to make your install last as long as possible, make sure you carefully follow instructions for hardware/software installation and removal, particularly the driver software for your hardware and avoid doing hard resets or shutdowns (pressing the buttons on the front of your case instead of going through windows)