Troubleshooting Office Kernel32.dll Errors Under Windows 95

• Microsoft Office 97 for Windows
• Microsoft Office for Windows 95, version 7.0
• Microsoft Access 97
• Microsoft Access 7.0
• Microsoft Excel 97 for Windows
• Microsoft Excel for Windows 95, version 7.0
• Microsoft PowerPoint 97 for Windows
• Microsoft PowerPoint for Windows 95, version 7.0
• Microsoft Word 97 for Windows
• Microsoft Word for Windows 95, version 7.0
• Microsoft Publisher 97
• Microsoft Publisher for Windows 95, version 3.0
• Microsoft Windows 95

IMPORTANT: This article contains information about editing the registry. Before you edit the registry, make sure you understand how to restore it if a problem occurs. For information about how to do this, view the "Restoring the Registry" Help topic in Regedit.exe or the "Restoring a Registry Key" Help topic in Regedt32.exe.

WARNING: The information in this article has not been confirmed or tested by Microsoft. Some or all of the information in this article has been taken from unconfirmed customer reports. ANY USE BY YOU OF THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THIS ARTICLE IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. Microsoft provides this information "as is" without warranty of any kind, either express or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability and/or fitness for a particular purpose.

SUMMARY

This article contains information about troubleshooting and eliminating invalid page faults that occur in module Kernel32.dll when you work with a Microsoft Office program under Microsoft Windows 95. When a Kernel32.dll error message appears, a message similar to the following appears

   <Program name> caused an invalid page fault in module Kernel32.dll

MORE INFORMATION

When an invalid page fault occurs, an unexpected event occurs in the Microsoft Windows operating system. An invalid page fault typically indicates that a program improperly attempted to use random access memory, for example, when a program or a Windows component reads or writes to a memory location that is not allocated to it. When this occurs, the program can potentially overwrite and corrupt other program code in that area of memory.

An invalid page fault may occur when parameters are passed between programs and the Windows operating system. An invalid parameter may cause a program to execute invalid instructions, which results in an invalid page fault. This behavior usually occurs because a program incorrectly passes data that Windows or a Windows-based program cannot interpret.

It is important that you follow the steps in each of the sections in this article in the order in which they are presented. Because invalid page faults are typically caused when two or more programs interact, skipping steps may prolong identifying the problem.

Determine Whether the Problem Is Documented

Many Kernel32.dll errors are already documented in the Microsoft Knowledge Base and have solutions. For more information, query on the following words here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   "invalid page fault" kernel32.dll

For additional information on one such issue, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q159572
   TITLE     : OFF97: Right-Clicking File Causes Error and Computer Stops

Start Windows in Safe Mode

Windows 95 has a built-in troubleshooting mode called Safe mode. It bypasses startup files and uses only basic system drivers, including basic networking. When you start Windows in Safe mode, Windows uses only the mouse, keyboard, and standard video graphics adapter (VGA) device drivers. This makes Safe mode useful for isolating and resolving error conditions that are caused by both real-mode and Windows-based drivers. Windows 95 also has troubleshooting features that may help you identify the problem. To start Windows 95 in Safe mode and make the additional troubleshooting features available, use the following steps:

1. In the Control Panel, double-click the System icon, and then click the Performance tab.

2. Click File System, and then click the Troubleshooting tab.

3. Click the following check boxes to select them:

         Disable protect-mode hard disk interrupt handling
         Disable synchronous buffer commits
         Disable all 32-bit protect-mode disk drivers
         Disable write-behind caching for all drive
   

4. Click OK, click Close, and then click Yes.

5. Press F8 when you see the "Starting Windows 95" message.

6. On the Windows Startup menu, select option 3 (Safe Mode).

7. After Windows is running again, perform the same operation that caused the error.

1. Determine whether Windows 95 uses protected-mode drivers for the CD-ROM drive.

   For additional information, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

         ARTICLE-ID: Q151634
         TITLE     : Protected-Mode CD-ROM Drive Support in Windows 95
   
      If you are already using real-mode CD-ROM drive drivers, skip to step 3.
   
   

2. Install the real-mode (MS-DOS) drivers for the CD-ROM drive on the computer. The real-mode drivers are usually located on a disk that is shipped with the CD-ROM drive or with the computer. The drivers are installed in the Autoexec.bat and Config.sys files.

3. On the Start menu, click run. In the Open box, type "sysedit" (without the quotation marks) and click OK.

4. In the System Configuration Editor, click the Config.sys Window to view the contents of the Config.sys file. Locate the line that loads the CD-ROM drive device driver.

   NOTE: This line contains the following two lines:

         DEVICE=
         /d:<CD-ROM drive device identifier>
   

   Write down the drive device identifier string after "/d:". For example, the drive device identifier is similar to the following:

         MSCD001
   

5. Restart the computer. When the "Starting Windows 95" message appears, press F8.

6. On the Windows Startup menu, select option 5 (Step-by-Step Confirmation). For the following displayed questions, use the answers that are listed in the following table.

         Question                                            Answer
         ----------------------------------------------------------
   
         Load DoubleSpace driver?                            NO*
         Process the System Registry?                        NO
         Create a Startup Log File (BOOTLOG.TXT)?            NO
         Process your startup device drivers (CONFIG.SYS)?   YES
   
         *Unless you are using compression
   
      Note that you must load Himem.sys, Ifshlp.sys, and the CD-ROM drive
      drivers that you installed in step 1. If possible, avoid loading other
      drivers. Note that some CD-ROM drives require more than one driver.
   
   

7. For the following displayed questions, use the answers that are listed in the following table.

         Question                                            Answer
         ----------------------------------------------------------
   
         Load the Windows graphical user interface?          NO
         WIN?                                                NO
   
   

8. At the MS-DOS prompt, type the command using the following syntax, and press ENTER:

         <Windows drive letter>:\<Windows folder>\command\mscdex /d:<drive
         device identifier> /l:<CD-ROM drive letter> /s
   

   Note that <Windows drive letter> is the drive letter for the volume that contains Microsoft Windows, <Windows folder> is the path to the folder that contains Microsoft Windows, and <drive device identifier> is the identifier you wrote down in step 4.

   For example, type a command that is similar to the following:

         c:\windows\command\mscdex /d:mscd001 /l:d /s
   

9. At the MS-DOS prompt, type the following command, and then press ENTER:

         win /d:m
   

   If you require network support, type the following command:

         win /d:n
   

Disable the CD-ROM Drive Cache

If the error message appears while you are reading from a CD-ROM drive, try disabling the CD-ROM drive cache. This may make the drive more reliable but reduce performance. To disable the CD-ROM drive cache, use the following steps:

1. In Control Panel, double-click System.

2. Click the Performance tab and click File System.

3. Click the CD-ROM tab, click No Read-Ahead in the "Optimize access pattern for" list.

4. Verify that the Supplemental Cache Size slider is positioned in the far left position (the Small setting), and then click OK.

Check for Registry Corruption

WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

For information about how to edit the registry, view the "Changing Keys And Values" Help topic in Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) or the "Add and Delete Information in the Registry" and "Edit Registry Data" Help topics in Regedt32.exe. Note that you should back up the registry before you edit it.

When you start Windows 95 in Safe mode, Windows does not read the entire registry. Therefore, damage to the registry may not be evident when you run Windows in this mode. It may be necessary to replace the existing registry (System.dat) with a backup to determine whether the problem is caused by a damaged registry. To troubleshoot a damaged registry, use the following steps:

1. Restart the computer. When the "Starting Windows 95" message appears, press F8.

2. On the Windows Startup menu, select option 6 (Command Prompt Only).

3. To remove the file attributes from the backup of the registry, type the following command, and then press ENTER.:

         c:\windows\command\attrib -h -s -r c:\system.1st
   

4. To remove the file attributes from the current registry, type the following command, and then press ENTER:

         c:\windows\command\attrib -h -s -r c:\windows\system.dat
   

5. To rename the registry, type the following command, and then press ENTER:

         ren c:\windows\system.dat *.dax
   

6. To copy the backup file to the current registry, type the following command, and then press ENTER:

         copy c:\system.1st c:\windows\system.dat
   

7. Restart the computer. If the Windows 95 Startup Menu displays, choose Safe Mode, or Safe Mode with Network Support if you need network connectivity.

If replacing the System.dat file with the System.1st file resolves the issue, the problem may be related to registry damage. Note that you may have to reinstall programs and device drivers that you installed after you installed Windows 95 to update the new registry.

If the issue is not resolved, restore the original registry. To do this, use the following steps:

1. Restart the computer. When the "Starting Windows 95" message appears, press F8.

2. On the Windows Startup menu, select option 6 (Command Prompt Only).

3. Type the following commands:

         c:\windows\command\attrib -s -h -r c:\windows\system.dat
   

         copy c:\windows\system.dax c:\windows\system.dat
   

4. Restart the computer.

   ARTICLE-ID: Q131431
   TITLE     : How to Troubleshoot Registry Errors

Check for a Valid Temporary Folder and Excess Temporary Files

There should be at least 3 megabytes (MB) of free space on the hard disk that contains the temporary folder. To check for a temporary folder and delete excess files from that folder, follow these steps:

1. Close any running programs and restart your computer by clicking Shutdown on the Start menu and clicking Restart Your Computer (Microsoft Windows 95) or Restart (Under Windows NT). Press F8 when you see the "Starting Windows 95" message, and then choose "Safe mode command prompt only."

2. Type "set" (without the quotation marks) and press ENTER. Note the location of the TEMP variable.

3. Change to the folder you noted in step 2. For example, if TEMP is set to C:\WINDOWS\TEMP, type the following line and then press ENTER:

         cd\windows\temp
   

   If the folder you noted in step 2 does not exist, create the folder. For example, you can create a temporary folder called win95tmp on drive C by typing the following line at the command prompt:

         md c:\win95tmp
   

4. Delete any temporary files in this folder. Temporary files typically have a .tmp file name extension. To delete these files, type the following line, and then press ENTER:

         del *.tmp
   

   NOTE: Do not delete these files from within the Windows 95 graphical user interface (that is, when you are running Windows 95) because Windows 95 or a Windows program may be using one of these files.

Check the Hard Disk for Disk Errors and Fragmentation

Use the ScanDisk program to check the hard disk for lost clusters and other file allocation table (FAT) errors and to test the hard disk integrity. You can also use the ScanDisk program to repair any of these problems. To run ScanDisk, use the following steps:

1. On the Start menu, point to Programs.

2. Point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click ScanDisk.

1. On the Start menu, point to Programs.

2. Point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Disk Defragmenter.

Verify That the Compact Disc is Clean and Unscratched

If the error message appears while you are installing from a compact disc, verify that the compact disc you are using is clean. You can wipe the compact disc with a soft, lint-free cloth. Also ensure that there are no large scratches on the compact disc. If the compact disc is damaged and unreadable, error messages may appear during installation.

Check for a Corrupt Swap File

The Kernel32.dll error may also appear if your Windows swap file is corrupted. To create a new swap file, restart the computer in MS-DOS mode, delete the Win386.swp file in the Windows folder, and then restart the computer. To create a new swap file, use the following steps:

1. On the Start menu, click Shut Down.

2. In the Shut Down Windows dialog box, click "Restart the Computer in MS-DOS Mode," and then click Yes.

3. At the MS-DOS prompt, switch to the Windows folder by typing the following command

         cd <drive>:\Windows
   

   where <drive> is the drive letter that contains the Windows folder.

   Typically, <drive> is C.

   NOTE: The swap file exists in the Windows folder if Windows manages virtual memory settings on your computer. If you chose to manage virtual memory settings on the computer, the swap file exists at the root level of the hard disk. To determine whether Windows manages virtual memory settings, right-click My Computer, click Properties, click Performance, and then click Virtual Memory.

4. To delete the swap file, type the following:

         del Win386.swp
   

5. After you delete the swap file, restart the computer.

Disable Enhanced BIOS Features

Most computers have several enhanced settings that allow the computer to fully utilize the computer hardware. These high-speed settings can cause the system to become unstable; disabling these features may make the computer more stable. Contact your computer manufacturer for information about entering the basic input/output system (BIOS) and changing the BIOS settings. You can enter the BIOS on most systems immediately after turning on the power. Usually a keystroke (such as DEL) is required to enter the BIOS. Below are the common features that can interfere with Microsoft Office programs:

   Memory Shadow RAM
   Video Shadow RAM
   Internal Cache
   External Cache
   Built-in Virus Protection

WARNING: Incorrectly altering hardware BIOS settings can cause serious problems that may cause your computer to fail to start or function properly. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems that result from the incorrect setting of hardware BIOS options can be solved. Alter the hardware BIOS settings at your own risk.

Remove and Reinstall the Program

If the problem occurs after you run the Setup program, some of the dynamic link library (DLL) files may be damaged or corrupt. To troubleshoot this problem, first completely remove the program. For additional information, please see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q158658
   TITLE     : OFF97: How to Completely Remove Microsoft Office 97

   ARTICLE-ID: Q176823
   TITLE     : OFF97: Utility to Completely Remove Remaining Office 97
               Files

   ARTICLE-ID: Q133274
   TITLE     : OFF7: Setup "Remove All" Doesn't Remove All Files

   ARTICLE-ID: Q129285
   TITLE     : Office Setup Doesn't Remove All Files Using Remove All

Check for Software Updates

Outdated and incompatible software may also cause error messages to appear. Check with the manufacturer of the computer for various software updates, such as BIOS updates, OEM Windows updates, and hardware driver updates (such as CD-ROM drive drivers). If you are using third-party partitioning software (for example, EZDrive, or Ontrack Disk Manager), verify that you have the most recent versions of these products.

The third-party products discussed here are manufactured by vendors independent of Microsoft; we make no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding these products' performance or reliability.

Microsoft released three updated files that may affect whether you receive error messages when you run Setup or when you use a Microsoft Office program. Download the Windows 95 Service Pack 1, the Kernel32.dll update, and the Ole32.dll updates from the Microsoft Web Site. Also, determine whether other updates that may pertain to your system configuration are available. To check for updated files on the Microsoft Web site, use the following address:

   http://support.microsoft.com/support/downloads/

   http://support.microsoft.com

   ARTICLE-ID: Q65416
   TITLE     : Hardware and Software Third-Party Vendor Contact List, A-K

   ARTICLE-ID: Q60781
   TITLE     : Hardware and Software Third-Party Vendor Contact List, L-P

   ARTICLE-ID: Q60782
   TITLE     : Hardware and Software Third-Party Vendor Contact List, Q-Z

Scan the Computer for Viruses

If a virus is present on your computer and has damaged some files, Kernel32.dll error messages may appear when you use a program. Scan the hard disk and floppy disks with a virus detector. If the virus detector finds a virus on your computer, remove the virus before you run the Office program again. If a virus is found on your Setup disk, you must obtain a new set of disks.

NOTE: Do not run a virus detector terminate-and-stay-resident (TSR) program while you run any of the Microsoft Office programs, including the Setup program. Run a virus detector before you run the Setup program, and then disable it.

Microsoft has rigorous quality control measures to insure that viruses are not on disks that we ship. The Setup disks for the programs listed at the beginning of this article are distributed without viruses in sealed clear plastic envelopes. Each envelope displays a message about the Microsoft software license agreement. If you purchase Microsoft disks in any other type of package, do not use them.

The following viruses are known to cause kernel32.dll error messages to appear in Microsoft Office Programs:

   antiEXE
   NOINT
   Junkie
   A-Dign
   B1
   V-Sign
   RIPPER
   Stoned

   ARTICLE-ID: Q105212
   TITLE     : Office: Setup Problems May Indicate that System Has Virus

   http://www.microsoft.com/worldwide/default.htm

Reinstall Windows in a New Folder

Use this method only after you try all of the troubleshooting steps in this article. If you reinstall Windows in a new folder, you must reinstall all Windows-based programs under the new Windows 95 installation.

For additional information, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q178400
   TITLE     : OFF97: Installing Win 95 to New Folder to Tshoot Office
               Problems

Check Hardware

If you exhaust all other troubleshooting steps and you are still receiving error messages, it is possible that one or more pieces of your hardware are incompatible with Windows 95 or are damaged. To identify a problem with your computer hardware, contact your computer vendor.