Sorry brickboo this really doesn't mean anything to anyone including the programmers of Explorer. And paying someone still won't help understand it. It is just a dump of CPU registers caused by a crash that could be due to anything. If it persists when you run Explorer I would certainly reinstall it.


[This message has been edited by Nigel (edited 11-12-2003).]

Boo, Sounds like an WinME problem. Have you recently done multiple Windows Updates, including IE6? If so, that could cause a freeze. You can go to Control Panel, Add/Delete Programs, and delete IE6, then reinstall it. Some people have problems finding IE6; it should be in your C:/Windows folder. If this soounds like the problem, let me know and I will email you some threads that worked for me.

Chris, Steve and others,

I'm running windows 98SE(second edition)I'm gonna look for the IE6 file now.

Chris - In fact I did download a spyware (maybe Adware)and ran it. It acted like it was free. Then it wanted me to purchase something that would remove some files it located. So I uninstalled it. I guess it got mad at me. If they do crap like this on purpose they should be hung by the neck until dead.

Steve - Yes! A pop up had been coming up for quite a while asking to view and install "Critical Updates from MS", so I did. I don't know which ones. I did all of this around the same time the other day and that is when the crap started.

I hope you guys can help me. Amazing Slow Downer, and Band In A Box just freezes up like Tom said, and I have to hold the off button for 7 or 8 seconds for the stupid thing to shut down. It won't shut off from the start up icon once it freezes up.

I don't seem to have trouble shutting down from the Net if I close the ISP first and then click the shut down icon.

I do have tons of pop ups trying to come up but popup stopper does the job, but it sure slows me down.

Thanks friends,
Boo

[This message has been edited by brickboo (edited 11-13-2003).]

Boo,

Remember the old adage "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." They got ya!

Several of the windows updates have caused more greif than anyone can imagine, and some were not even from windows. Windows 98SE is actually a good program and really doesn't need any patches to run quite efficiently.

The pop-ups can be eliminated in most instances by first going into windows and deleting all cookies in the cookies folder. There is usually an index cookie that will not allow itself to be deleted--don't worry about that one.

Next, go into the Windows history folder and delete all history. There are always lots of little gizmos in the history that allows the pop-up folks to target you.

Next, go into the Windows Temporary Internet Files and delete those as well. They take up lots of space, creat little things that the spyware folks love to target.

Now go into Internet Explorer and select Tools, Internet Options, then select the General Tab, click Clear History and Delete Temporary Internet Files.

Now go to the Recycle Bin and empty the recycle bin. This should nearly eliminate the popups, at least for a while.

There's a distince possibility that you may have corrupt files in Windows, probably originating from the update patches applied. Therefore, the next step is to again do a scan disk, then disk defragmentation.

If the errors go away, you've solved the problem. If they persist, you may have to start from scratch. This is a lousy job, but you wouldn't be the first person that had to back up his files on a CD or floppies, format the hard drive and reinstall windows, the drivers and all software. This can take a couple days if you know what you're doing. If you don't know, have one of the local computer shops do the job for you. They're pretty quick, they usually charge $50 to $75 in this part of the country and usually have the computer back to you the next day. They'll install windows, the internal hardware and associated drivers, but nothing more. Then you have to reinstall all your additional hardware, printers, etc, and all software. Then you'll essentially have a brand new computer with uncorrupted files.

Good Luck,

Gary

Boo, if this problem 'just' happened a couple days ago I may have a solution for you. But it requires you to go into DOS and restore the registry. Since you have Win98SE it's a no brainer, ie., (easy to do).

I can walk you through the steps (a step by step list of how to do it). I will have to know your answer very soon though as the Windows Registry Restore feature only keeps Back Up's for the last 5 days or so before refreshing and renewing the Registry list. If it goes beyond that '5' days (roughly) then you will lose that 'window' of opportunity to restore the Registry (revelant to the problem you're experiencing). You may also be able to fix the problem by "repairing" Internet Explorer. I can lead you through those steps too if necessary.

Best regards,
Mike

Tons of great advice - just one caution: repeated defragging can eliminate space purposely injected by programs to help them work more efficiently. If you get the darn thing to work, I suggest you leave the defragging for another time a few weeks from now.

I never heard of such a thing. When is it dedtramental to defrag, and when is it benificial, then? can't windows manage these tasks on it's own? If a program "reserves" space to use, then it should be space that's nearby.....you'd think anyway.

OK. Defrag did run to completion after turning everything off. But BIAB and Amazing Slow Downer still jammed up.

I stopped everything from starting up like Nigel instructed. I recommend everyone do this. I will check on it monthly if not weekly. I assume stuff downloaded and such keeps screwing this up. right Nigel?

I also found the IE6 or IE6 or whatever and just executed (I think maybe setup or whatever)it again. It said all of the components were there but I did it over anyway.

So, I rebooted and BIAB played great for 30 minutes or so and never quit, froze up or anything stupid. I'll try it again later today. I have to go to town now. I thing those two steps might have done the trick.

Nigel, Gary, Chris, Steve everyone, thanks a billion. A million isn't enough thanks. You saved me money.

I ASSUME I SHOULD DO SOME OF THE OTHER THINGS MENTIONED HERE ABOUT COOKIES AND SUCH?

CHRIS WHAT ABOUT THE ADWARE THINGY?

I'm going to print out the suggestion Gary made here and do that now.

Mike can you email me about about the registry problem that will probably help too. Or should I leave well enough alone?

Nigel one thing now is the scroll on the forum here is wacky. I have to click on the bar and drag it up and down. If I click on the down arrow it scrools to the bottom, if I click on the up arrow it goes to the top.
Maybe you could help with this annoyance?
Boo


[This message has been edited by brickboo (edited 11-14-2003).]

I've used Adaware for about a year with good results and no problems. Gary D. introduced me to Ultra Winsweep. It's much more thorough than Adaware, and will keep your computer "cleaned out" with periodic use.
DonM

TomTomSF & boo,

When I had this problem I found the solution (as always) at experts-exchange. The topic that specifically helped me is here:
http://www-level3.experts-exchange.com/Operating_Systems/Win98/Q_20769448.html

Try searching for the error messages reported in your specific case and you may well find a solution here (if you're not a member you can just paste the error message along with the words "experts exchange" into Google and it will return links to the experts-exchange pages containing the actual discussions)

As a general rule, if one program starts behaving strangely then it's usually enough to reinstall that program. If a number of applications start exhibiting weird behaviour then it's most likely that there's a problem with windows' internal communication. Typically this will be have been caused by corruption or deletion of certain system files and/or registry entries.

Most applications make the necessary adjustments to system files and registry entries when you run their installation or updater programs while Spyware apps like AdAware & SpyBot remove registry enries and other files from various different sources in bulk. It is not uncommon to encounter problems after running any of the above.

Most of the latest SpyWare killers place identified components in a quarantine area so that, if you encounter problems after running the SpyWare killer you can re-install the components which were removed. This has helped me out a couple of times in the past (I use Ad Aware Plus 6.0).

Chris

[This message has been edited by Chris A (edited 11-14-2003).]