Win ME Can't add/remove Windows components

Friends
anyone seen this before? On one of my Windows ME systems, under no circumstances can it fire up the Windows Components add/remove under the Control Panel's "Add/Remove Programs" applet. Clean boot and User/identity shifts make no diff. As soon as I click the "Windows Setup" tab, when it should be starting the scan function, it returns a hard "RunDll" error and after that windows is limping. must restart.

I need to get into that applet to try to repair another issue. Help?

zapp

 

Hey Zapp,

What is the exact error? " Rundll32 has caused an error in SETUPX.DLL......Rundll32 will now close ".

Steve

 

Here 'tis [and this happens as soon as the 'search' for components kicks off]

Rundll32
An error has occurred in your program. To keep working anyway, click Ignore and save your work in a new file. To quit this program, click Close, and you will lose any work occurring since your last save.​

And, Steve, this occurs even on a fresh boot with no windows open, nothing going on except popup stopper [AIEPK which I have used for eons], AVAST, and not much else other than the things WinME loads to support itself.

thanks for looking at it for me.
z

 

ooooops. I didn't go far enough. When I close the dialogue I cited above, I get the REAL skinny: it is as you stated.
"Rundll32 has caused an error in SETUPX.DLL.
Rundll32 will now close".

sorry for the truncated response.
zapp

 

OK. First I would create a Restore point just in case.

Then copy and paste the lines below exactly as they are into Notepad, starting at Regedit4, and including everything down to the last inverted commas. Save it as SETUPX.REG in My Documents and then double click the file to run it. Then reboot the computer.

Steve