Explorer.exe illegal operation?

[JDrake]

I babysit my neighbors sometimes. They have 2 computers, one works fine, but their very old one has this error.
You see at first one day when they turned it on it went to the screen where you pick the log-in name (account name or w/e) but no usernames showed up. So I pressed cancel and it went to like a blank screen (the wallpaper showed up, but no icons or anything) and then an error came up and said that explorer.exe performed an illegal operation and then I pressed ok and there was nothing left to do except cntrl alt delete and restart.. same thing happened
i messed with the settings and the boot disk (startup disk) and i got it (somehow??) to have the usernames show up again but when you click one same error comes up
any way to fix this problem without them losing all of their files???? plz explain the process too so I know what to do
THANKS
its pentium 2 btw and its running WINDOWS 98

 

[imported_LoKe]

Recovery disk? Replace system files?

 

[JDrake]

Originally posted by: LoKe
Recovery disk? Replace system files?

they have this startup disk but it doesnt seem like much help
and how do I replace the system files?
ty

 

[wpshooter]

First, do you have permission to be using this computer ?

Second, since it is a Pentium II and running WIN98, it is probably not worth fooling with. Suggest that they give it away or throw it away !!!

 

[JDrake]

Originally posted by: wpshooter
First, do you have permission to be using this computer ?

Second, since it is a Pentium II and running WIN98, it is probably not worth fooling with. Suggest that they give it away or throw it away !!!

Yup I have permission.
well they have two kids and they love to play their runescape so even the pentium2, win98 is fine for them.
Any advice on fixing?

 

[adwilk]

Seriously, your best option is to back up the important stuff, make sure you have drivers for everything and start over. If not, obviously remove any programs not necessary and maybe create another profile. reformatting is the way to go.

 

[JDrake]

Originally posted by: adwilk
Seriously, your best option is to back up the important stuff, make sure you have drivers for everything and start over. If not, obviously remove any programs not necessary and maybe create another profile. reformatting is the way to go.

How can I backup anything if I can't even get it to go anywhere? What drivers do I need to make sure I have for 'everything'.... if I reformat.. everything will be lost, correct?

 

[Slowlearner]

Having spent a couple of hours trying to "fix" a similar problem today, here are my thoughts:

1. Take the HD out and connect it as a slave to another working pc to backup anything useful. Seriously doubt there is any (thing) useful.

2. A repair install without reformat may fix problem without overwriting/erasing any of the data. But this may or may not work.

3. If you have a restore CD or a motherboard cd etc for the chipset drivers as well one for the graphics card - then the best and surest way is to completely reformat and install afresh.

4. If you need detailed instructions on how to do this, it is best if you took this pc down to a repair shop.