On 20 Jul 99, at 12:25, Bob Clark wrote:

> It seems that everytime I add a program I get the following error:
> "explorer caused an invalid page fault in module kernel32.DLL at
> 0177:bff7a3c2" I am using Windows 98. IBM 266 E2N computer.

  An "invalid page fault" is a specific kind of bad pointer reference.  (A
"general protection fault" is a much more common variety....)

  The most likely cause is that some file has become corrupted (this could be
the result of a virus, or a marginal/failing location in RAM or on a drive),
or that some combination of files is "out of step" -- the version you have of
one file doesn't work with the version you have of another.
  The result is that the system is obtaining what it expects to be a valid
pointer, and when some code in KERNEL32.DLL tries to use it, the CPU is
alerting the OS that the value isn't valid after all.  [Explorer is issuing
the API call that the Kernel is trying to perform, but it's probably not the
source of the bad pointer.]

  If the bad pointer didn't come from Explorer, where did it come from?  The
odds-on favourite culprit in this sort of case is the video driver.  Try
reinstalling that (you might want to see if there's a new version from the
manufacturer of your video card, and download and install it fresh) and see
if that fixes the problem.


David G

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