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KERNEL32.DLL: A Study in Error Messages |
Don't worry if you don't understand anything of this purely technical information, but there is one important bit here that can give you an indication of what is going wrong: the 'address' of the crash. The address is the location in your computer memory where the crash occurred, in this example 015f:04500018. If this address keeps returning, there may well be something wrong with the RAM. (In that case, invalid page faults would also be caused in modules other than kernel32.dll.) To test the memory, you could insert a command line in your Config.sys file, located on your primary drive (usually C:\). Simply open this file in Notepad and insert:
device=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.SYS /TESTMEM:ON
The next time you boot, you could get a message that HIMEM has detected unreliable memory at a certain address, and this address could be the same as the one in your error messages. Maybe this detection will not happen immediately, it could take a few days, or it may never happen, in spite of an actual memory fault.
For what it's worth, we can tell you the following about the rest of
the 'details':
- Registers: values of the register of the processor at the moment
of the crash.
- Bytes in CS:EIP: value of the current instruction.
- Stack dump: the route that caused the program to crash.
Technical support services will be interested in this data, so write them down if you get repeated error messages that look more or less identical.
REMEMBER:
Most kernel32.dll errors are NOT caused by a corruption of the kernel32.dll
module. If it's always the same program or application that causes
the invalid page fault, you should do something about that program or application
(e.g. uninstall and reinstall) and not concern yourself with kernel32.dll.
==========================
Invalid Page Fault in Kernel32.dll Errors
If you frequently receive Invalid Page Fault in Kernel32.dll Errors, from different drivers (Explorer, Guide.exe, Msgsrv32, Commgr32, Mprexe and others), it is possible that your password list file is damaged. Try re-creating your password list file:
1.In Windows Explorer select your \Windows folder
2.Press F3. This will bring up the Find: All Files window
3.In the Named: box type *.pwl
4.Click Find Now
5.When a list of found files is displayed, delete them all
6.Close the Find window and restart Windows
Note: you will lose any passwords you have stored, so make sure that
you have the passwords written down so you can re-enter them when needed
==========================
Windows' Troubleshooting
Wizards
Underused and Underestimated: the Windows help-files. Especially the
Troubleshooting Wizards, in Windows 98 more elaborated and integrated in
the help-files, can take you a long way. They can even help you if you
don't know what the trouble is.
Almost anything can cause invalid page faults, general protection faults
or fatal exceptions. If you are at a loss and under attack of errors and
blue screens that seem meaningless to you, it might help to check out the
following wizards that you can find in the Windows Help Contents:
- hardware conflicts
- trouble with starting Windows
- memory problems
- problems with DirectX (or DirectDraw)
- trouble with PC cards (PCMCIA).
=========================
Check you Hardware:
I recently found I had a bad Maxtor Hard Drive. I was suspicious of
it as I was getting all the errors a person could get.
So, I went to the Maxtor Web site and downloaded their Diagnostic utility.
The results proved my suspicions. Maxtor is very good to work with.
They sent me another Hard Drive upon hearing my Diagnostic Error Codes.
I suggest you do the same with whatever brand HDD you have.
=========================
Upgrading or Replacing
Hardware (Drivers)
Error messages could decrease in frequency after you've replaced a peace of hardware or upgraded a hardware driver. Maybe you'll never see that page fault again, who knows.
Memory should be the first thing to check. In second place seems to be the display driver, meaning that after an upgrade, there could be a substantial improvement. The problem is that those upgrades are that easy to come by. There are a lot available on the Internet, but you must make very sure that it's suitable for your system. The safest option is to contact the manufacturer of your PC (not of the driver) to know what you can do. But not all manufacturers are easy to contact, and some are reluctant to help you or just plain incompetent. Maybe your retailer can help you.
(If you don't know which display driver you have: go to the Control
Panel, Display, Settings.)
=================
Installing Windows98 Lite
Explorer.exe is one of those applications that often causes an invalid page fault in module kernel32.dll. (If this is really the only application that does so, you could try two things: 1) extract the file from the Windows cd; 2) restore the registry.)
One major difference between Windows95 and 98 is the shell, which means
the graphical interface that is build around what really matters. Windows98
makes use of explorer.exe and shows you an Internet browser window when
you view the control panel, manage your files and folders, go to 'my computer',
etc. An Australian programmer called Shane Brooks has done a good deed
by creating a 'Lite' version of Windows98 and making it available as a
free download. You can download Windows98 with a 95 shell and have a choice
between keeping or losing Internet Explorer.
http://www.98lite.net/98lite.html
We don't mean to take sides in the Browser War, but if you have a general
kernel32.dll problem, it doesn't make much difference which browser you
use. In fact, there seem to be a lot of kernel32.dll problems with Netscape
Navigator. Using the 95 shell is a good idea, though, but be prepared for
a long download.
=================
Troubleshooting Spool32 Error Messages
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q191/9/49.asp
SPOOL32 caused a General Protection Fault in module Kernel32.dll at
<address>.
-or-
SPOOL32 caused an Invalid Page Fault in module Kernel32.dll at <address>.
-or-
SPOOL32 caused a Stack Fault in module Kernel32.dll at <address>.
The Spool32.exe file is a 32-bit Windows 95/98 component that manages the spooling of print jobs. Spooling allows the computer's processor to quickly process a print job by temporarily storing it on the hard disk before sending it to the printer. This allows the processor to return control to the program from which you are printing at a much faster rate than if it processed the entire print job and then sent it directly to the printer.
Spool32 error messages can occur if something is preventing the print
job from being spooled properly.
To troubleshoot the error messages described earlier, follow each step
below, and then attempt to print again. If you still receive the error
message, proceed to the next step.
1.Disable all non-essential drivers and programs (known as a clean boot). To clean-boot your computer, follow the steps in the appropriate section below:
Windows 95:
a.Click Start, point to Find, and then click Files Or Folders.
b.Click the Include Subfolders check box to clear it.
c.In the Named box, type config.sys autoexec.bat, and then click Find
Now.
d.In the list of found files, right-click the Autoexec.bat file, click
Rename, and then type a new name for the Autoexec.bat file (such as Autoexec.xxx).
e.Repeat step D with the Config.sys file.
f.Quit the Find tool, and then restart your computer.
Windows 98:
a.Click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, point to System
Tools, and then click System Information.
b.On the Tools menu, click System Configuration Utility.
c.On the General tab, click Selective Startup, and then click the following
check boxes to clear them:
- Process Config.sys File
- Process Autoexec.bat File
- Process Winstart.bat File
- Process System.ini File
- Process Win.ini File
- Load Startup Group Items
d.Click OK, and then quit the System Information tool.
e.Restart your computer. The clean-boot process eliminates the possibility that an anti-virus program or other utility is causing the error message. It should also disable any third-party printing software such as Hewlett-Packard Port Monitor or Epson Spooler.
For information about clean booting Windows 98 using the System Configuration
Utility, please see the "Narrowing the Focus" section in the following
Microsoft Knowledge Base article:
Q192926
How to Perform Clean-Boot Troubleshooting for Windows 98
2.Change the spooling format from Enhanced Metafile (EMF) to RAW, and attempt to print directly to the printer instead of spooling the print job. To do so, follow these steps:
a.Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Printers.
b.Right-click the printer you are using, and then click Properties.
c.On the Details tab, click Spool Settings.
d.Click Print Directly To The Printer.
e.In the Spool Data Format box, click RAW.
f.Click OK, click OK again, and then close the Printers window.
3.Some printer drivers have a coding error that can cause one of these
error messages to occur. To determine if this is the case, update or change
the printer driver. For information about how to do so, please see the
following article in the Microsoft
Knowledge Base:
ARTICLE-ID:
Q128345
TITLE : Troubleshooting Printing Problems in Windows 95/98
4.There may be a terminate-and-stay-resident (TSR) or other program that prevents Spool32.exe from being run when Windows 95/98 starts. To work around this issue, use one of the following methods:
- Create a shortcut to the <windows>\system\spool32.exe file in the
StartUp folder, where <windows> is the folder in which Windows 95/98
is installed. For information about how to do so, click Start, click Help,
click the Index tab, type "shortcuts"
(without quotation marks), and then double-click the "Creating" topic.
- Using a text editor (such as Notepad), add the following line to the Load= or Run= line in the [Windows] section of the Win.ini file
<drive>:\<windows>\system\spool32.exe
where <drive> is the drive on which Windows 95/98 is installed,
and <windows> is the folder in which Windows 95/98 is installed.