Cannot open Explorer (shell32.dll error)

[Tim Hopkins]

Can anyone help? I am not able to open Explorer except in safe mode
for some reason. I sually get:

"Explorer has caused an error in SHELL32.DLL. Explorer will now
close."

Or

"Explorer has caused an error in <Unknown>. Explorer will now close."

I have tried system restore, spyware checks, and the other Microsoft
Knowledge base stuff online. As I said, it works fine in safe mode.
All I can figure is that there is some sort of conflict between
shell32.dll and Explorer. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Tim Hopkins

[Noel Paton]

Since it works in Safe Mode - I'd start by looking for driver problems....

Reboot to Safe Mode
Open Device Manager
Remove ALL instances of duplicated devices
Remove ALL error-flagged devices
Remove ALL devices not present on your system
Remove ALL entries in the 'Other Devices' branch (if present)
Reboot to Normal Mode - Windows will reinstall the required drivers (may
take a couple of reboots) - hopefully curing your problem.



--
Noel Paton (MS-MVP 2002-2004, Win9x)

Nil Carborundum Illegitemi
http://www.btinternet.com/~winnoel/millsrpch.htm

Please read http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm on how to post messages to NG's
or
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2001/Mar01/Mar27pmvp.asp
"Tim Hopkins" > wrote in message
om...
> Can anyone help? I am not able to open Explorer except in safe mode
> for some reason. I sually get:
>
> "Explorer has caused an error in SHELL32.DLL. Explorer will now
> close."
>
> Or
>
> "Explorer has caused an error in <Unknown>. Explorer will now close."
>
> I have tried system restore, spyware checks, and the other Microsoft
> Knowledge base stuff online. As I said, it works fine in safe mode.
> All I can figure is that there is some sort of conflict between
> shell32.dll and Explorer. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Tim Hopkins