Windows Explorer crashes under Win2k on VXIpc 872B

[PEHowland]

Have just installed a brand new VXipc-872B with Windows 2000 into an NI chassis. We have added in an optional 256MB of memory. Windows 2k boots and runs OK, but if we try to run Windows Explorer (explorer.exe) then the machine generates an error saying something like "explorer created an error. You must restart it." Then the Explorer window closes, the desktop refreshes, and we're back to the beginning. Dr Watson's log mentions an access violation and then a register dump. Note we *can* access file information by double-clicking on My Computer and then double clicking on the C-Drive. However, this seems a pretty fundamental error I've never come across in Windows before.

Help!!

[PEHowland]

Not an answer - just more details on my problem. The exact error message is "Explorer.exe has generated errors and will be closed by Windows". I searched for this on the MS Knowledge Base and found some solutions but these don't seem to apply to my system. I upgraded from SP2 (as shipped) to SP4, but this didn't help. Still at a loss for a solution. This is a brand new PC with no additional software yet installed, other than the latest driver updates from the HP site.

[David S]

Dear PEHowland,

I have seen similar errors to this one on PC's, but it is not common. It sounds as if the OS is corrupt. Before I continue, I have one question for you. Did you install Dr. Watson before or after this error started? If the problem started after you installed a certain application, I suggest you uninstall that application. Sometimes, an error such as this one can be repaired by reinstalling Internet Explorer. That answer may sound strange, but reinstalling Internet Explorer will replace some of the kernel. If this solution does not work, then we will need to reinstall Windows. For information on restoring your operating system, please review KnowledgeBase 1KBB15G4: How Do I Restore the Operating System on a VXI or PXI Embedded Controller? at h
ttp://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/websearch/862567530005F09C86256751005D994E?OpenDocument.

Regards,

David Shatila
Applications Engineer
National Instruments
www.ni.com/support

[PEHowland]

Thanks for the reply. Dr Watson is part of the Win2K installation and was not something we installed separately. The error occured on the machine "right out of the box". We have since connected the machine to the Internet and used Windows Update to update Win2K to the latest of everything, including updating Microsoft Internet Explorer to v6.0. This has now made the problem intermittent - ie. the error randomly occurs when starting Windows Explorer. We'll try restoing the OS.