IEXPLORE error on Input of Userid/password or Search criteria

[dialmason]

For Windows 98
IE 5.5 or IE 6.0
PC is a Pentium II 450 MHZ
Ram 192

When I enter input parameters like Userid and Password in a broker internet site or NY Times or Washington Post or enter search criteria in bestbuy.com, I get:

IEXPLORE error
This program has performed an illegal operation.

"IEXPLORE caused an invalid page fault in
module <unknown> at 0000:7c11171c.
Registers:
EAX=d589b264 CS=0177 EIP=7c11171c EFLGS=00010202
EBX=00000000 SS=017f ESP=0247ee98 EBP=0247eee0
ECX=c17cf000 DS=017f ESI=7c11171c FS=1897
EDX=00000100 ES=017f EDI=0036ee7e GS=19be
Bytes at CS:EIP:

Stack dump:
bff85046 0000fffe 0036ee7e 000000c0 00000000 bff741fb 00000000 00000000
00000001 8187ff44 00000001 d589b264 8186b9d4 0247ecc8 0247ffbc bffbfe14 "

Then all IE screens crash and close.

It may have begun when I was trying to reclaim space on my 10 gig drive, and when I saw two large files, I moved System.dat and User.dat to the recycle bin by accident. However, I restored those files using sys checker. IE can
access the internet fine and works okay until I enter input parameters.
Note that in AOL 4.0 it works fine although certain input data also causes a WAOL error.

HOW DO I FIX THIS?

HELP! HELP!

I reviewed the Microsoft internet site for all the "IEXPLORE caused an invalid page fault in module <unknown" articles, and none of them address this specific problem.

I tried reinstalling Windows 98 but that led to other problems in the last step of the install such as:
invalid VXD dynamic link call from WIN32 (01) x 00000714 to device 0009 ".

This was followed by 10 ENUM Root PWP 0000\0000 no class key failures.

So the install never completed, and Windows 98 restored system files when I rebooted.

Then, I located a full IE 5.5 SP2 package on the internet and downloaded it and still had the problem. Then, I downloaded (and upgraded) to IE 6.0 and still have the problem.

Can this problem be diagnosed/fixed without reformatting the hard drive? I do not know how to reformat this drive.

Also, now my add/remove programs gets a message when I try to remove some programs:
"Error applying transforms. Verify that transform paths are valid."

Could this all be a problem with the registry?
I have had this problem a week so I believe that all 5 backups would retain the problem.

If I restore the registry back to the earliest version before I installed IE 5.5 SP2 and then IE 6.0, would this screw up stuff even more as the Programs folder still would contain these programs?

Another person recommended uninstalling all my IE versions (5.5 and 6.0) and then reinstalling 6.0. They recommend Ieradicator. Is this a good idea?
I still wonder if this is simply a problem with the registry.

I know this is a lot.
I appreciate your help in advance.

P.S. Do you think that installing Mozilla, Mozilla Firebox or Opera would fix the problem? Which do you recommend?

Please note that I am at the library posting this and won't be able to answer any quetsions by posting again right away because that is precisely the problem with my pc right now.

[GaryRouth]

Hi dialmason

. . . and Welcome to the PC Mechanic forums.

Sorry that you've had so much trouble with your PC lately. You were right that the problem started when you sent your System.dat and User.dat files to the ReCycle bin. Those are the two main files that make up your Registry.

You mention that you restored them by using syschecker? That won't work in this case, because any versions of System.dat and User.dat restored from syschecker wouldn't have your system information (unless you pointed syschecker to the ReCycle Bin to restore from).

Try this, open your ReCycle Bin and see if those two files are still in there. If so, right-click on them, and select "restore". You will likely see a message that a System.dat and User.dat already exist, and would you like to overwrite them? You will answer that yes you would like to overwrite them. That should restore the original Registry that you deleted by accident. You can then visit Windows Update and download and install any Critical Updates that may have been tumbled about by the IE files coming and going. If you have the option to download and install the latest Service Pack for IE6, that should help your problems with the Internet. [if you don't have that option, you can use Add/Remove Programs to revert to a prior version, and then try the download]

If you already Emptied the Recycle Bin, you won't be able to use that simple method to restore the system. Your next step in this case will depend on whether or not you have a Recovery Disk, a Windows 98 installation disk, or a copy of the Windows 98 installation .cab files in a folder on your hard drive such as C:\Windows\Options\Cabs

1) If you have a Windows 98 installation disk, or the .cab files on the hard drive --> you can try an over-the-top installation of Windows. The details are in this thread: http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=70846 . . . make sure to pay attention to such details as disabling the Bios Antivirus first... & in your case, some programs may need to be reinstalled.

2) If you have a Recovery Disk, and recent backups of your important data, and haven't made any major hardware changes: just run the Recovery Disk, which will reformat and reinstall everything to the condition the computer was in the day it came home from the store, and then restore your data from your backups (might scan them for viruses before restoring them, just to be extra sure).

3) If you have a Recovery Disk, and no backups: you can try slaving your hard drive in another pc, and copying your important data from there. Make sure the "Helper PC" has up-to-date antivirus/antispyware programs, & scan the drive before copying. Then proceed as in situation #2.

Best of luck
. . . Gary

[dialmason]

Gary- Thanks for responding. I'm a little late in responding, but wanted to let you know what the resolution turned out to be. We have resolved our Internet Explorer data input problem where we could not enter Userid/Password data or search criteria on many internet sites!

When we updated the virus definitons for F-Prot and ran a virus check, F-Prot picked up 2 banker viruses. One virus was a rewrite of the Windows Media Player executable, and F-Prot deleted it. The other virus was a dll attached to MPR services. MPR services was not displaying in the Windows Task Manager but did display using Trend Micro's recommended software, Process Explorer, which acts as an enhanced task manager and is a free download.

The dll was dated June 14 which is exactly when all the IE data input problems began. Note that both the free trial of Trend Micro's PC-illin and WinPatrol allowed it on the pc, and they are always on-line. Also, F-Prot anti-virus, which is running now on a free trial and has already allowed 3 virus files on the pc, did not pick it up after numerous runs and even with updated virus definitions dated June 30 and June 25. Also, all the Trend Micro Housecall runs, which always have the latest virus definitions, did not pick it up including a run tonight. AdAware did not pick it up, and we run it each day.

Note that we removed the virus using Trend Micro's detailed registry instructions located in Trend Micro's virus defintions on their internet site. Norton, McAfee, F-Secure, LURHQ, and especially F-Prot did not even list the virus at all. It is amazing that F-Prot identified the virus and then did not have it documented anywhere on their internet site.

The bottom line is that none of the virus software works perfectly, and you need numerous resources to resolve problems especially in the areas of virus identification and virus removal.

Note that we also learned that there are some products out there that far surpass Internet Explorer in my opinion eg. Mozilla and Opera.

thanks!
Dialmason

[GaryRouth]

The last month hasn't been a wonderful month for IE or for Windows. The keylogger blended threat that targeted banking sites was particularly alarming! I have seen some recommendations on the tech sites that an alternate browser might be a good idea, even if only until better security is available for IE. And it's usually Opera and Mozilla/FireFox drawing the recommendations.

Whether it's that those two alternates are more secure as a benefit of better programming or simply because they aren't targeted as often - is open for research and debate. The fact remains that percentage-wise they are successfully attacked less. Many recent articles in computer magazines and websites have been all abuzz about the latest attacks, and what to do about security.

I'm just about numb (and dizzy as well) from the constant bombardment the last few months. Having a backup browser, even perhaps a backup OS, seems a safe course. One of my co-workers here at the lab keeps a set of hard drives - each with a different OS, and backs up his data to both optical and an external hard drive. If one OS or drive gets infected or disabled, he pops in an alternate OS and is back in business. . . and cleans and repairs the problem with less stress!

That was pretty good pest control to find that virus. Nice work!
. . . Gary