Hi there,

My computer has crashed in a bad way. When I boot up my computer, it does everything normally until it opens up Windows when it comes up with a white dialog box saing:

"Error loading Explorer.exe

You must reinstall Windows."

[OK]

When you press OK, a grey dialog box appears saying:

"A required .DLL file, SHLWAPI.DLL, was not found."

[OK]

The screen is now frozen. Pressing CTRL+ALT+DEL brings up the task box which only shows Mmtask.

You have to force that task to close. If you CTRL+ALT+DEL again you get Msgsrv32 (Not responding). Forcing that to close also then again pressing CTRL+ALT+DEL, you get a blank task box.

From here, there seems little else to be done other than to reboot or shut down.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Operaboy.

Boot to a DOS command prompt with a 98 Bootdisk ( * ). (<- A link if you don't have one.) Or without a floppy, start tapping the Ctrl key during the boot to get the MS Startup Menu. Choose Command prompt only.

If you're at an A:\> prompt, type in c: and hit Enter. This should bring you to the C: drive. Type in dir/s SHLWAPI.DLL and hit enter. If the file is still on the system, it should get listed. Next do the same; dir/s explorer.exe and hit enter. (Just to be sure it's there.) If the file is still on the system, it should get listed.

If the files are present, at the command prompt A:\> or C:\>, type in scandisk c: and press enter. If there are errors on the drive, follow the prompts, backup the changes (you'll be prompted, have a blank formatted floppy disk handy to write the changes to), make the changes/fixes, and when complete, remove the floppy and try to boot normally.

If the above isn't applicable, and the error just started recently, you can try a scanreg/restore. Note that if any files are actually mising, this won't help.

Boot to a DOS command prompt. At the A:\> or C:\> prompt, type in scanreg/restore. You should be presented with up to five dates. Pick a date which preceeds the problem. When completed, reboot normally.

Post back with your results.


( * )
The above bootdisk image file is a self extracting file and has to be executed (run) from a running Windows machine in order to create the actual startup diskette. (This image file produces the same bootdisk which 98SE creates.) This downloaded image file will format the floppy disk, write the files to the disk, then verify the file write, so it'll take a minute or three to create the bootdisk.

When you boot a machine with this boot floppy, it creates a RAMDRIVE in system memory to contain DOS system tools. Thus it will move your "normal" CDROM device/drive letter "up" one level. (If your CDROM is normally E:, it will be F: when booting with this bootdisk.) Watch for the CDROM device letter which will be assigned near the end of the floppy boot process.

Hi there,

No luck I'm afraid. Both files were found but rebooting after scandisk had run fully did not change the situation. Scandisk did not offer to repair anything either i.e. there was no call to save any changes onto a floppy disk. Even did surface scan to no avail.

Regards,

Operaboy.

I received your Private Message. As stated in the site rules (http://www.d-a-l.com/rules.php):

"3. Please do not contact a moderator, administrator or other member for computer help directly, either by Private Message or email. You will get a far quicker and more comprehensive response by posting your question in the appropriate category on the Forum, as it will be read by all members and techs."

OK. The next recourse is to install a new copy of explorer.exe;
(From; http://support.microsoft.com/kb/299313/en-us, have your 98 CD handy.)

1. Restart the computer by using a Windows 98 startup disk.

2. In the Microsoft Windows 98 startup dialog box, type 1, and then press ENTER.

3. Record the drive letter assigned to your computer's CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive.

4. Type Ext, and then press ENTER. The Microsoft Extract Command Line Helper starts.

5. At the Please enter the path to the Windows CAB files (a:): message, type drive:\win98 (where drive is the drive letter that you recorded in step 3), and then press ENTER. For example, type E:\win98, and then press ENTER.

NOTE: If you have an OEM installation of Windows, the CAB files may also be stored in the following location:
C:\WINDOWS\OPTIONS\CABS

6. At the Please enter the name(s) of the file(s) you want to extract: message, type Explorer.exe, and then press ENTER.

7. At the Please enter the path to extract to ('Enter' for current directory): message, type C:\Windows, and then press ENTER.

8. At the Is this okay? (y/n) message, type y, and then press ENTER. The file is extracted to the specified directory.

9. Remove the Windows 98 startup disk, and then restart the computer.

My apologies for breaching the rules.

I carried out all of your instructions and sadly still have not fixed the problem. The only noticeable difference is that instead of the screen freezing when it displays the shlwapi.dll dialogue box, upon pressing ok, the computer goes into shutdown mode and a few seconds later does exactly that.

I even tried the Windows 98 SE OEM option for extracting the explorer.exe file and it simply gave me an error message saying that something could not be read.

Back to you.

Thanks,

Operaboy.

Did you try the scanreg/restore?

If so and no luck, you can do an "over the top" install of windows. Boot with the bootdisk and perform a regular install. It may suggest c:\windows.000 as the install directory. Correct this to C:\WINDOWS. It should also offer to backup/save previous O/S etc files. If you have the disk space available do so. These can be deleted later if not required.

This error is usually caused by a recent software install that "adds" to this file. The shlwapi.dll is a shell light weight utility library which is used by various functions (sadly this includes malware, spyware, and a virus or two). Updating Internet Explorer can also cause this error.

Ok, thanks . Things seem to be improving. However, upon the reboot I get a DOS screen saying the following:

Cannot find a device file that may be needed to run Windows or a Windows application.

The windows registry or SYSTEM.INI file refers to this device file, but the device file no longer exists.

(Two more short paragraphs regarding uninstallation , then...)

OdIM.vxd
Press a key to continue.

Back to you,

Operaboy.

I guess we were posting at the same time.

The Odim.vxd (Vitual Extension Driver) file has to do with network and data communications. What happens when you "Press a key to continue"? Does windows continue to load? If not, have you tried booting into Safe Mode?

Yes, Windows continues to load in its usual way, with the same result. I tried Safe Mode as well but while it avoided the DOS screen, it also loaded the same way.

Operaboy.

So the SHLWAPI.DLL error is gone now, correct?

Windows loads, and the only error now is the odim.vxd?