Errors in USER.EXE, KRNL386.EXE, and KERNEL32.DLL

Question

Two days ago my computer (Dell Dimension 4100, Windows ME) was working fine, and then yesterday it died on me. After I turned it on, I tried starting AOL and got the error message "Waol has caused an error in KERNEL32.DLL Waol will now close. If you continue to experience problems, try restarting your computer." Restarting did not help. Thinking that perhaps I had somehow gotten some spyware that was interfering with my system, I tried to run Ad-aware 6.0, and got the message "Ad-Aware has caused an error in USER.exe. Ad-aware will now close." I tried getting into the help section of my system, and got the same message, except that "Helpctr has caused an error in KRNL386.EXE." Pretty much any program I try to run(Real player, Word, and even msconfig) results in an error in one of those three files, USER.EXE, KERNEL32.DLL and KRNL386.EXE. I'm currently writing from a family member's computer, because I can't get online with mine since AOL will not load. I haven't been able to find an explanation on this forum that I've been able to sucessfully try on my computer, because most things will not open. Does anyone know what I can do?

I go online regularly, but I have Norton Antivirus, run Ad-aware 6.0 often to make sure my system is clean of spyware, and rarely download things from the internet. I have not intentionally downloaded anything from the internet within the last few weeks. But from what I've gathered the most likely explanation is I have some kind of trojan or virus, right? If so, what can I do about it since I can't get any virus software to load?

Thanks for any help anyone can give me.

~Amy

osprey4 · Answer

I would try starting in safe mode and back up all your important stuff. You may need to resort to using floppies. Then boot with your emergency boot disk, wipe the system clean and reload Windows. The instructions are here:

http://support.dell.com/SoftwareReinstallGuide/Results.aspx?CatID=0&OSID=44&SysID=DIM_PNT_P3C_4100&_ctl72.x=37&_ctl72.y=11

amyamym · Answer

Thanks for your reply. Luckily I just transfered most of my files to a new laptop, so I have them backedup. But for some reason the link you gave does not work for me, it just directs me back to the dell support home page. Is there another way I can find these instructions?

~Amy

osprey4 · Answer

Amy:

You're right, sorry. Go to the support home page and enter your service tag, then you'll have the main support page for your system. Click the Solutions tab, then up toward the top, click Reinstall Guide, select your OS and you'll have it.

amyamym · Answer

I actually managed to resolve my problem last night without having to wipe everything clean. After pressing, CTR ALT Delete I looked at my list of running programs and noticed three that I had never seen before and were not supposed to beon there. I searched for the files and discovered they were relatively new, dated a few days before my problem started. Figuring they were some sort of spyware, I saved them to a floppy in case they were important and then deleted the files. After restarting I was then able to get into msconfig and start the system in safe mode, and then run my Ad-aware. It picked up quite a lot of apparently very nasty spyware, and after I got that cleaned off I was able to run spybot and my anti-virus software. I've got my system cleaned out now, and everything seems to be working fine. But thanks for all the advice.

~Amy

osprey4 · Answer

Good job. Safe surfing!!

Familyunit · Answer

Amy,

I had the same error problem. It appears you may have spyware on your computer or your computer is running out of "resources" for "running programs." My solution was to backup data on a disk, reinstall ME software (with the help of a dell customer service staff member), upgrade windows software, and install all software programs. Everything works fine now. Hope this helps!

Family Unit

budman007 · Answer

Amy, Can you tell me what three files you found in your task list that was causing your problems. I have the same problems... Thanks

Windows General

Errors in USER.EXE, KRNL386.EXE, and KERNEL32.DLL

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