Another Fatal Exception

[fred peck]

Windows 98.

Hangs up when trying to open Outlook Express, IE, and Kazaa (son's pc); after clearing using Ctrl/Alt/Del, get fatal exception message with code 0028:C001EDAF. Thereafter impossible to open any program - just reverts to fatal exception.

I tried a search here, also MS site, but can't find any specific help.

I've run a scandisc and defrag.

Any ideas?

[E-Liam]

Hi Fred,

Kazaa comes loaded with spy and adware. Also by defenition, any P2P program has the ability to dump stuff on the machine that you don't want. You could have a virus or two as well.

Removal of this rubbish will almost certainly disable Kazaa. I'd say that's a good thing, but your son may disagree.. :D

There are other safer (define irony) :D P2P programs, if he really wants to use them. Go here (http://www.spywareinfo.com/articles/p2p/) for more info.

Then please download 'Hijack This!' from here (http://www.merijn.org/files/hijackthis.zip), unzip, doubleclick HijackThis.exe, and hit "Scan". When the scan is finished, click "Save Log", and copy and paste it in a reply.

This will give me a rundown of what’s going on in your PC. Don’t fix anything yourself yet, as a lot of the stuff on that list will be harmless or required.

Cheers

Liam

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

fred peck,

Another thing you could do would be to:

[list=1]
Run Trend Micro's HouseCall (http://housecall.trendmicro.com)
Download, Install and Run LavaSoft's Ad-Aware (http://lavasoft.element5.com/software/adaware/)
[/list=1]

Lets see what those two programs find.

Take Care,

Richard

[fred peck]

Thanks.

I downloaded "highjack this" onto a floppy on my pc, transfered to my son's; unzipped OK but won't open: " A required .DLL file, MSVBVM60.DLL was not found" is the message.

Bit more background: All was OK until a few days ago when the pc hung up on shutdown and my wife switched it off then on again rapidly by mistake.....could that have spiked it?

It's KazaaLite he's got.

I can't open IE on his pc to download anything...we've been using Belkin Wireless USB Adaptors to connect his to mine (broadband).

thanks guys.

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

fred peck,

Since you have the PCs networked, then try this:

[list=1]
Open Windows Explorer on your Son's Comp and share Drive C
Run HouseCall on your computer and tell it to scan the shared drive on your Son's PC.
After the scan finishes, try rebooting your Son's Computer and then try to run HouseCall and Ad-Aware on his computer.
[/list=1]

Take Care,

Richard

P.S. Scanning though another computer is not the optimal solution, but in this case, it seems like the best option.

[E-Liam]

Hi Fred,

Kazaalite is OK..ish. :) but the rest still stands for P2P file sharing.

Re the runtime error, go ]here (http://download.microsoft.com/download/vb60pro/Redist/sp5/WIN98ME/EN-US/vbrun60sp5.exe[/url) and download the required dll. I think you will have to download it direct to the affected machine though.

You could also try a repair of IE. Go to Start | Programs | Accessories | System Tools | System Information | Tools | Internet Explorer Repair Tool and do it from there. See how you get on with that.

Cheers

Liam

[fred peck]

Thanks for the info guys.

I ran the IE Repair Tool.

My network connection looks to be a bit iffy, got good signal strength but can't access files...maybe that's why his pc won't connect.

However.....still getting the fatal exception error, but managed to open Windows Media Player and transfering all his music files to that right now.

Some programs open OK (Word) others hang up (Outlook Express).

Anyhow, got a few days of work now, when I get back maybe it's down to the local repair shop!

Thanks for your interest, Fred.

[ORAC]

There are which might apply, it depends on the rest of the error message. See here (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=http://support.microsoft.com:80/support/kb/articles/Q189/6/55.ASP&NoWebContent=1) and follow the link for others.

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

Fred,

Before spending money at a repair shop, you might want to think about doing a fresh install of Win98SE.

All Win9X OS's have been known to corrupt their system files and usually need a fresh install every few months. (Especially if you are installing and uninstalling programs, demos, etc. on a regular basis.)

If you need help, we could walk you though an install and even point you to all the drivers you will need, if you list all the hardware in the computer for us.

Take Care,

Richard

[fred peck]

Well I've got the disc...

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

Fred,

If you want to go ahead with this, then start by having your son backup all his data he does not want to lose.

Next step would be making a bootable floppy. In Win98SE, have it make an emergency disk. (That will give you the drivers so you can access your CD Drive after booting with a floppy.)

After Win98SE finishes making the floppy, then go to C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND.

In there you will find the files, fdisk.exe, format.exe, xcopy32.exe, and xcopy32.mod. (It has been a long time since I used Win98SE, I am not sure if I listed the xcopy32 extensions correctly or not, but you will have not trouble finding the two xcopy32 files.) Copy all those files to your floppy. Now you have a very powerful tool for controlling your computer.

For installing Win98SE on a computer, I prefer to load the .CAB files on to the hard drive before I start the install.

(After you have backed up all the data on the computer.)

Boot with the floppy you created and see if you can access the Win98SE CD in the CD Drive. If you have access, it is time to get the hard drive ready for the install. (The CD Drive will be Drive D or Drive E, etc. you need to find out which drive letter the CD Drive is.)

From the A:\ Prompt I want you to type:

format C: /s

When that completes, remove the floppy from the drive and see if the computer will boot to a C:\ Prompt from the hard drive. If it does, then type:

MD WINDOWS
CD WINDOWS
MD OPTIONS
CD OPTIONS
MD CABS

Then reboot with the floppy in the drive.

Now we are going to copy all the files from the Win98SE CD to the hard drive. (Make sure you have he Win98SE CD in the Drive.)

From the A:\ Prompt, type: (If the CD Drive is not D, then substitute below the D with the letter of your CD Drive.)

XCOPY D:\WIN98\*.* C:\WINDOWS\OPTIONS\CABS\*.* /S

(That will copy all the files you need to install Win98SE on to your hard drive.)

When it completes, remove the floppy and the CD. Reboot the computer and type:

CD WINDOWS\OPTIONS\CABS

You should see a prompt:

C:\WINDOWS\OPTIONS\CABS

Type Setup

and you are now installing Win98SE right from your hard drive.

(The only thing to be aware of while installing, the installation will complain because C:\WINDOWS already exists. It will try to get you to install in a new directory, something with 001 or so on the end of the directory name. Just make it install in C:\WINDOWS)

Take Care,

Richard

P.S. If you give us the hardware list for the computer, we could help you download all the drivers your computer will need, before you start the install.

[E-Liam]

Hi,

For automatic backing up of drivers,

try here..

http://www.majorgeeks.com/download2545.html

Can you dl it to the good machine and network it across?

It'll save time if you can.

Cheers

Liam

[fred peck]

Thanks for your interest guys.

Well, after a very interesting week, including a diversion due to snow, a non scheduled night stop, gale force winds, and more, I finally got home to find No.1 son had given his pc to a friend of a friend to "have a look at."

I'll let you know the outcome.

Cheers.

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

fred peck,

Well if #1 Son's friend really messes it up, we can always do the fresh install, so no real problem. ;)

Take Care,

Richard

[fred peck]

It seems that Drive C was too full.

So, hopefully it's just a matter of going through and uninstalling unwanted programs and files to free up some space for Windows to stretch out.

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

fred peck,

Glad to hear it was an easy fix.

Take Care,

Richard