Q:
- Hello! I have this problem: I have Windows 98 SE, and now when you turn off or restart the computer, often there is an error in the MPREXE.EXE program and after that you can turn it off only by pressing 3 keys ... Can you please, how to fix this problem?
- I start Outlook - there is a "messag" type: "MSMIN has performed an invalid operation and will be closed." :( This kind of type ... Either "The MSIMN program caused a crash when accessing the page of memory in the module INETCOMM.DLL at 0167: 5ec22198". Help…
- Quite often an error of the type occurs: "The EXPLORER program caused a crash when accessing the page of memory in the module MSHTML.DLL at 0167: 70db56f5". What is it?

A: I constantly receive similar questions, but, unfortunately, there is no unequivocal universal solution to such problems, and it is simply impossible to give a definite answer. The reasons for such failures are many, and no one is able to know them all. The fact is that each system, each bundle "operating system - software - hardware - drivers" is unique, and it is possible to eliminate the cause of such a failure only after spending a lot of time directly on the spot, that is, by preparing a specific computer on the screw and on the bait. If the "bug" appeared at some particular time, for example, after installing a program or driver, then it is easiest to restore the registry or the entire contents of the hard disk from the backup after removing such a program. (Well, how much can you say that the word "reserve" should literally be seen by the Windows user?). It's not so difficult to spend a few minutes once a week to create a reserve - nerves and time, this will save much more as a result. How all this is done, and how the prevention of failures is generally carried out, we have already repeatedly written in Upgrade - just flip through the log file or study the site http://upgrade.computery.ru/ . If it is not possible to return the system to a "buggy" state so easily, or the Windows and hardware malfunctions occur directly on a freshly installed OS, then there is only one way out - the user will have to look for the cause of the failure himself. In principle, the technology of "catching a glitch" was also mentioned in one of the magazines, but it was a long time ago, questions still continue to arrive, glitches are actively multiplying, so I think it makes sense to improve the technology for diagnosing the causes of Windows crashes.
So, you've got Gluck. We proceed to eliminate it. Be sure to remember all your actions so that you can later cancel them! Better still, at least now make a backup copy of the registry, configuration files, or the whole system, so as not to get even bigger problems as a result of your experiments.

  1. The first thing (point "zero", as I said, a competent user should be to restore the system or registry from a backup), write down exactly the error message that the system issues, and go to the Microsoft support site http: // search .support.microsoft.com / kb / c.asp or its Russian counterpart http://www.microsoft.com/eng/support/kbrus.htm . Try on the basis of your error message to formulate a query for the search engine in such a way as to get the most intelligible answer - a few attempts, I think, will help you find if not a clear solution to the problem, then at least an approximate idea of ​​the cause of the "glitch". Believe me, finding a solution in the Microsoft database is the easiest and quickest way to eliminate the "glitch", and you can not neglect it in any case.
  2. If you are unlucky, and Microsoft does not know about this "glitch", then run a specialized Internet search utility such as Copernic or domestic WebMachine and also try to find on the web materials on similar problems. Or use search engines such as Yahoo or Google. Search should not only on conventional web pages, but also in UseNet conferences - that's where the most valuable information is often located.
  3. Look at the site http://www.techadvice.com/ - there is a good collection of links to articles devoted to the elimination of specific failures. Read at last, the FAQ on the site of the magazine Upgrade !!!
  4. Visit the developer's website for a failed program or device - maybe he knows about the problem and offers some patch.
  5. In the end, open the documentation for the faulty program or expansion card!
  6. After the above-mentioned events that were unsuccessful, go to a web conference, for example, to the Upgrade magazine conference and, in detail, formulating a description of the "glitch" and configuration of your system, try to know the opinions of other users - perhaps someone already knows The decision or can prompt a direction of the further searches. Try to remember after what actions there was a failure.
  7. Completely remove the failed program and either discard it or reinstall it, preferably the latest version (or vice versa, the older one)
  8. Remove some programs that you installed last - perhaps some of them cause the system to crash or conflict with other programs and hardware, causing them to malfunction. Be sure to use a high-quality specialized uninstaller when installing and uninstalling programs - only so you can completely clean the system of all traces of the program or driver you are removing!
  9. Check the Control Panel for all system settings and check the settings in the options of the applications used - set everything to the "Default" position. Uncheck the size of the paging file, check if there is enough disk space.
  10. Reset the settings in the registry, in the configuration files USER.INI, SYSTEM.INI and MSDOS.SYS, made using utilities such as WinBoost, MTU Speed. Check the settings of AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS. Start the search in the registry for the word "Policies" and delete all the parameters in the found sections - perhaps, your failure is just a limitation of the user's rights.
  11. Update the system and install the latest "patches" on the Windows Update site ( http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/ ). Update Internet Explorer. Note that the installation of IE version 5.5 and higher on Windows 98 is often accompanied by "glitches", so it makes sense to leave the old version of the browser.
  12. Update DirectX. Sometimes it is useful to first remove DirectX by a special program, and then put it again. However, there are also such distributions that completely reinstall DirectX, even if its latest version is installed - their volume is about 25 megabytes, and in the file name there is the word "REDIST": DX8a_Redist.exe.
  13. Some boot problems (caused by the virus, for example) are eliminated if you re-create the C: system drive by booting from the Windows 9x CD and running the SYS C command. Restore the master boot record of the hard disk (MBR) with the command "FDISK / MBR", if it was damaged. Of course, check the system with fresh antivirus software.
  14. Delete all temporary files, clear the browser cache, Trash, Log, clear the C: \ Program Files \ Internet Explorer \ PLUGINS folder with IE plug-ins. Clear the folders from which the MS-Office scripts run (such as C: \ WINDOWS \ Application Data \ Microsoft \ Excel \ XLSTART, C: \ WINDOWS \ Application Data \ Microsoft \ Word \ STARTUP), start the NORMAL.DOT template used by MS -Office. Clear the C: \ WINDOWS \ Downloaded Program Files folder, C: \ WINDOWS \ APPLOG, C: \ WINDOWS \ NETHOOD, C: \ WINDOWS \ PRINTHOOD, C: \ WINDOWS \ RECENT. Delete the AUTORUN.INF files from all local disks.
  15. In the case of the driver - boot the PC in the fault protection mode, remove the problem device and after the download in the normal mode, install the latest driver. However, sometimes the older driver is more stable, so try different versions. Note that the elimination of the "glitch" is sometimes facilitated by using instead of restarting the complete shutdown of the PC and then turning it on after a few minutes of de-energized idle time. If the "glitch" has something to do with the network, then in the Network properties, delete all the network components and after the reboot, put everything you need again. Remove all printers if they have problems, and after reinstalling, reinstall their drivers.
  16. Update all the drivers for all devices, especially the drivers that come with the motherboard, or even more precisely, the chipset drivers (Intel INF Update + Intel Ultra ATA Storage Driver or VIA-4-in-1 + other drivers and patches from VIA ).
  17. Try to return to the original - "Default" - the configuration state in the BIOS, experiment with different options, for example, disable DMA, reduce memory timings, disable integrated devices, turn on the "hole" around 15 megabytes of memory. Update the BIOS. And give up overclocking!
  18. Set the PnP OS Installed = NO parameter in the CMOS Setup and disable the ACPI to distribute resources to the BIOS, not the OS. Disable everything in the CMOS Setup regarding power management. Alternatively, turn all these options on if they are disabled.
  19. Check the equipment is functioning properly, the jumper is correctly installed on it, test it with tools such as Memory Test ( http://www.aha.ru/~alegr/download/memtest.htm ), CPU Stability Test ( http: // www .saunalahti.fi / jv16 / download.html ), and the like. Check everything, up to the battery, the power supply voltage and the quality of the motherboard mounting - no spontaneous closures or unreliable contacts should be anywhere! Include the HIMEM driver in the CONFIG.SYS file: DEVICE = C: \ WINDOWS \ HIMEM.SYS / VERBOSE / TESTMEM: ON. Temporarily replace all memory modules - it is the device that crashes most often. Check the temperature and operation of the cooling devices of all components of the system! Ground the PC, install a surge protector or an uninterruptible power supply. Check the quality of the telephone cable, network cable, electrical wiring.
  20. Replace the problem device in another slot, check the system properties for no conflicts, manually re-enable interrupts (or other resources, for example, DMA channels or I / O ranges). Try replacing the problem device with the exact same one, or with a different brand device - perhaps you have a defective copy, or a change in the manufacturer of the expansion card will eliminate the conflict. For disks try another loop, try 40-wire instead of the 80-wire loop, and vice versa, check the jumper jumper settings, move the disk to another loop, set it to CMOS Setup or auto-detect mode, either explicitly set its parameters, or Set it to "NONE". Do not connect other devices to the same cable with the problem disk.
  21. Remove all additional devices from the PC, in the System Properties, delete their driver in the crash protection mode and see if the "glitch" has disappeared. If it's gone, then set them back in turn and repeat the procedure each time, which usually leads to an error message - maybe there is some kind of hardware conflict, and in this way you either reveal its source, or the system redistributes the resources and itself Will eliminate.
  22. Look at the properties of the problem device - perhaps there are settings that will eliminate the failure, for example, disable or enable DMA mode for the disk. On the "Performance" tab - "File system" - "Problems" ("File system properties" - "Troubleshooting") of the system properties menu, you can check the box to disable some functions that sometimes cause a problem. A similar tab for eliminating some problems is available in the System Configuration Utility (C: \ WINDOWS \ SYSTEM \ MSCONFIG.EXE): General - Advanced. If the computer does not boot, then access to these menus can be obtained from the Safe Mode.
  23. If the finished recipe could not be found, no settings helped, and the software update did not work, then you'll have to diagnose the system. Scan to start the disk and OS to detect all kinds of errors by programs like:
    • ScanDisk or Norton Disk Doctor - they will search for bad places on the hard drive and file system errors, with mandatory inclusion of test recording. If, for example, you can not boot Windows even in Safe Mode, try to "cure" the flashed disk with the same ScanDisk from under MS-DOS.
    • System File Checker - search for corrupt or spoofed system files in Windows 98. Do not forget to enable the search for changed files in the program options first! When modifying files, check that the installed version is newer than the previous one - if suddenly the disk has a version of the file that is older than in the Windows distribution, then restore the "native" file.
    • Norton Win Doctor - search for errors in the registry. Do not trust the program to automatically correct errors, try to determine the best method for their elimination. To do this, you should try to find out which program the registry entry belongs to by looking at the branch itself, which WinDoctor signals, sometimes by the file names, by the paths specified there, or the names of the ActiveX controls, it's easy to install the application that generated the error. If this program is deleted, then the registry entry can be deleted, if not, then you need to find out the cause of the error and fix it: most often there is simply an incorrect path to the file that needs to be fixed.
    Try using other specialized diagnostic utilities, for example, such as the DirectX Diagnostic Tool from Windows - checking the DirectX files, drivers, settings of some devices. Check the system with the powerful SiSoft Sandra information package ( http://www.sisoftware.demon.co.uk/sandra ). Some "glitches" are eliminated by the TweakUI program, for this purpose the "Repair" tab is provided.
  24. Track at the moment of appearance of a "glitch" for various system events, requests and registry calls using monitoring programs to try to identify an error parameter, a system error or a failed task. So, by analyzing the registry accesses, you can determine what parameters from the registry are requested by the program at the time of the failure - perhaps one of them is missing or has an incorrect value. And with the help of analysis of file accesses it is easy to understand what files the settings of the failed program are, and what files it does not have. This will help: It is possible that the cause of the "glitch" is a program, about which you do not suspect.
  25. If the problem disappears when loading in Safe Mode, which is most often the case, you can try to find out the cause of the failure if you bring the normal mode to Protect Mode from Failures, disabling some devices, canceling the startup of background programs, preventing potentially loading "Buggy" drivers and using the driver of a standard VGA-video adapter. That is, it is necessary to try by the method of exclusion to determine what is the source of the problem. To do this, it is necessary in the start menu (called by pressing the F8 button when the computer is booted) by selecting the Step-by-Step Confirmation mode, bypassing the AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS configuration files (often due to memory managers Or completely unnecessary DOS-drivers, for example, EMM386 causes ScanDisk to crash when loading the Russian version of Windows), disable Windows drivers, and prevent the autorun of all background programs. Such programs are launched not only from the "Startup" menu of the "Start" button, but also from the registry: keys
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Run ,
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ RunServices ,
    HKEY_USERS \ .DEFAULT \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Run ,
    HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Run
    And from the file WIN.INI: lines "LOAD" and "RUN" of the [WINDOWS] section. The most convenient way to do this is to use the utility MSCONFIG.EXE - in the "Millennium" it can cancel even the load of VxD-drivers. Do not forget about another file from which some programs can run - WINSTART.BAT. Select the standard VGA video adapter on the Advanced tab of the MSCONFIG.EXE configuration utility (this is done in fault protection mode if the system does not want to boot normally). If the problem occurs when you exit to MS-DOS mode, check the DOSSTART.BAT file from which the DOS drivers and programs are loaded when going into DOS.
    How does all this look in practice, if we talk a little easier? For example, you regularly receive such greetings from "Windows":
    "The program EXPLORER caused an error such and such in the module of such and such.DLL at the address of such and such." Immediately load the "Safe Mode" mode and repeat all operations leading to such a "glitch". If the "glitch" does not appear, then the problem is most likely solved. Reboot the PC by selecting the step-by-step boot mode, and bypass the AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files - again, repeat the procedure for calling the crash, and if everything is fine, then look for the culprit of all the problems in these files. If the system still issues an error message, call the MSCONFIG.EXE utility and cancel the startup of all the modules registered in the registry, and at the same time, remove all shortcuts from the Startup folder (MSCONFIG can do this as well), reload the PC and Repeat the same procedure for calling the "glitch". The next step is to cancel the download of programs from WINSTART.BAT, WIN.INI. Again, we check to see if the failure has not disappeared. Then you put in the same MSCONFIG.EXE on the "Advanced" tab the VGA mode - in case the video card conflicts. And, finally, it remains to find the cause of all the misfortunes in the drivers of virtual and not quite virtual devices. When you start Windows in step-by-step mode, cancel the download of "Windows" drivers - it's VXD-files, or files with the extensions ".386", ".DRV", which are loaded at the very end. Failed to crash - cancel the "buggy" driver. In the registry you will find it as the value of the parameter "StaticVXD" somewhere in the section
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ System \ CurrentControlSet \ Services \ VxD , or look for a call to this file in SYSTEM.INI. The program for configuring the MSCONFIG.EXE system from Windows Me, as I said, makes it very convenient to cancel not only the entire autoload, but also shows all VXD drivers on one of your pages, in Win98, unfortunately, either you have to climb in the registry manually , Or take MSCONFIG from the "Millennium".
  26. It is necessary to check the errors that occur when the PC is booted and the drivers are initialized according to the report in the C: \ BOOTLOG.TXT file, for which it is convenient to use RegRepair 2000 ( http://www.easydesksoftware.com/down.htm ) or Boot Log Analyzer ( http : //www.vision4.dial.pipex.com/ ).
  27. Reinstall Windows. Remember that when installing "Winds" on top of the previous version, the settings in the registry are saved, so if the cause of the "glitch" is in the incorrect registry settings, then this reinstallation will most likely not fix anything. Try to remove the VMM32.VXD file before reinstalling the system, in which the most basic drivers used on your PC are packed. It is also possible to remove all the equipment from the crash protection mode in the system properties so that Windows re-installs all the drivers. Try running Windows Setup with the following options: / d - disables the use of the current Windows settings stored in the Win.ini, System.ini configuration files, etc.
    / Pf - deletes the Windows registry when reinstalling from under MS-DOS (do not forget to make a backup copy of it!). Try different disks with the OS distribution - maybe your disk is just damaged.
  28. Completely erasing the "Windows" folders C: \ WINDOWS, C: \ PROGRAM FILES and C: \ RECYCLED and configuring the MS-DOS configuration (either repartitioning and formatting the disk), install Windows "in a nuts". Sometimes you need to format the disk with a special utility from the hard drive manufacturer.

That's all, I hope, of course, that you will not have to resort to this technique, but in any case, I'm waiting for your advice, additions and improvements to my technology to identify the causes of "glitches" of Windows. Write!