not a valid win32 application

Hello,
Earlier today I tried to use IE7 and instead I got a pop-up stating that iexplore.exe is not a valid Win32 Application.

I restarted the computer (was trying to do a system restore since I had upgraded to Firefox 3 yesterday and the restore stopped responding). Anyway, I can now open the IE program but it states that it cannot display the webpage. If I click on diagnosis the problem all I get is error on the page.

I tried doing a search for the past couple of hours with no help. I found one site (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/community/columns/ietopten.mspx) that had some things for fixing the problem - one being to fix the winsockxp but when I tried running the cmd > netsh winsock reset but then I get the this is not a valid Win32 Application. It also suggested going to the C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\Etc and opening the host files but when I tried to that that I get the same this is not a valid Win32 Application.

Can anyone here help me out?

 

Problem is a little vague, but I would try using dial-a-fix. I know the advanced tools section has a re-install IE7. Can firefox display web pages?

 

I'm not having any problems with Firefox. If I were I would be in real trouble since I do not know anyone else with a pc nearby to where we live.

However, I also tried to access the registry start>run>regedit and I get the same this is not a valid Win32 application.

I also tried to copy boot disk essentials to a floppy and get the same error.

What is Dial-a-Fix and if I am getting the same not valid Win32 application for regedit, copying to a floppy or trying to fix the winsock and getting this same error is it just an IE 7 Fix.

Could you please be so kind as to tell me how to fix IE7 or use Dial-A-Fix. I did try going to the Internet Options for IE7 and the advanced tab and selecting the "restore advanced settings" as well as the "reset internet explorer settings". When I tried that one I get a message that reset user customizations failed.

Any help would be GREATLY Appreciated. In fact, I'm sort of afraid to disconnect from the internet - that I may loose this connection.

TIA

Lisa

 

By the way, I have a current and running Anti-Virus program (Avast) as well as Comodo Firewall, and I run Spybot and/or AdAware every day at the very least (sometimes both every day) as well as CCleaner and CW Shredder.

 

so regedit says the same thing? are there any other programs that have the same problem? If the problem is happening to other programs than IE7, a repair install may be needed.

edit: From what I understand, not a valid win32 application error message most of the time means a corrupt file. You may try starting a command prompt and typing in "chkdsk c: /r" and let the computer restart. This will check your filesystem for any errors.

 

Okay, I just downloaded the firefox add-on and will need to restart firefox to complete the installation. Here's hoping that I can still connect to the internet afterwards.

It was asked what other programs are giving me the "this is not a valid Win32 Application" message. I really don't know because this problem just started this today and when I was trying to resolve the IE problem found out that I was getting the same message when trying to copy the boot disk essentials to a floppy and when I tried to access regedit by going to start>run as well as Start, then Run and type CMD in the dialogue box that appears, and then click OK. Type netsh winsock reset as per the one site for trying to fix ie7. I also found that if I tried to open the host file I get the same message.

Are there any specific programs I should check to see if I am getting the same message?

 

It sounds like your operating system is having problems. A checkdisk would help identify your problem. Since start->run->cmd didn't work, you may try typing in "chkdsk c: /r" into the run window. You can also start a command prompt by going to start->all programs->accesories-> command prompt. You can then type the "chkdsk c: /r" into the command prompt.

If those two techniques don't work and you still want to run a checkdisk, you can boot using your windows cd. When you start your computer, boot the cd. When the first blue screen comes up and gives you three options, press r to repair using the recovery console. After you log onto your windows installation (requires administrator password) type in the chkdsk c: /r.

Other than chkdsk, the other option I can think of is a repair install. It will replace your windows system files with new ones. It shouldn't damage any of your programs or documents. To do this, boot of your windows cd, press enter at the first blue screen, F8 past the license screen, and then press "r" when it detects your operating system. If it does not detect your operating system, it will go from the license screen to listing your partitions. If it does this, your operating system is serously damaged. you have the option of chkdsk (if you haven't already done it) or wipe and reload windows.

 

Okay, here's an update:

I proceeded to complete the installation of the firefox add-on by restarting firefox. However, it did not restart. So I tried opening firefox and nothing happened. I was finally able to open it in safe mode by going to start>programs>mozilla firefox and selecting the safe mode option. Only I had not internet connection.

So I decided to try restoring the computer again to an earlier restore point. Only problem is that no matter which restore point I selected it would simply not go any further after clicking on the next button. So finally I tried a restore point from Sunday 8/24/08 and I was able to complete the restore procedure.
Only when the pc restarted I got a page stating checking file system on c:\ so I let it do so and then the pc started when it was complete. But the restoration was not successful.

I can now access the internet again and when I tried opening IE I can do so --- it opens to the Customize your Settings page. But the installation of the Firefox Add-ons was not successful. (at least I don't thing so because I just tried going to the microsoft website to download a template for excel 2000 and I get a page stating Microsoft Office Excel 2000 was not found or your Web browser does not support ActiveX controls

To download and use this template, you need to have Microsoft Office Excel 2000 installed on your computer. In addition, you need to install the Microsoft Office Online ActiveX to automatically download and open Office Online templates on your computer. Either Microsoft Office Excel 2000 was not found on your computer or your Web browser does not support ActiveX controls. However, this template is supposed to be for excel 2000 or later and I have excel 2003 on my pc.

I can access start>run>cmd ...... it was when I typed in netsh winsock reset or regedit that I got the "this is not a valid win32 application. I just checked and start>run>regedit now opens up the registry.

Just to be on the safe side I have already moved all my files in the my documents folder to my external hard drive and I do have back ups on there as well that are just about 4 weeks old now. I have 2 all data backups from the Windows XP backup program on the external hard drive. I also have 2 complete images of the system (from drive image xml) on an external hard drive as well - that too is just about 4 weeks old. In addition to that when I installed Drive Image I made the BartPE boot disk (that is about 8 weeks old) and last week I created a Puppy Linux disc (saw an article suggesting using that from an article on PC World - to create a bootable rescue disc). I guess that I would still need to copy some more files to the external hard drive before I would wipe or reload windows ---- Not Sure How to Go About Doing That. (wiping or reloading windows)

So, should I still run the check disc - or is that what the pc did when it restarted after trying to do a system restore?

Thanks for being so patient and helpful.

PS - I am not going offline for awhile - just to be sure.

Thanks.
Lisa

 

your computer did do a check disk after it restarted, you didn't happen to see any errors did you. If the check disk came up with too many bad sectors, it may mean you need a new hard drive.

Anyway, you may want to try the repair install option if you have a windows disk. Even if it doesn't fix your problem, it shouldn't hurt anything (provided you have a good hard drive)

 

to be perfectly honest, while it was doing that (which I figured would take some time), it was getting late and hubby was really hungry (past dinner time). So I went and made dinner and when I came back it was already done and the screen was back at the system restore letting me know that the restore was unsuccessful. I was also able to copy the boot disk essentials to a floppy disk now too.

I can do it again and wait and see what it says and let you know. I sure hope the hard drive isn't bad and needs to be replaced - not right now anyway. Hubby lost his job 6 months ago and hasn't been able to find a new one yet and I am disabled so we have been living on unemployment and that just ran out (and the school taxes are due now too) So having to go out and purchase a new hard drive is going to be a real problem.

How would I do a repair install - pending that the hard drive is still good? I do have the OEM Dell Windows XP disk and I did make a new Slipstream Windows XP Pro with SP2 disc a few months ago. Which one would I use and should I run the disk check again?

I don't suppose I can run my system off of the external hard drive could I??? - I'm guessing you are going to say no.

TIA

Lisa

 

A new hard drive wouldn't be too expensive, i think you can get an 80GB HDD an newegg.com real cheap.

But thats besides the point. Any disk that installs windows should work fine. Just remember that it should detect your operating system and ask you if you want to repair it. If it shows you partitions and asks you where to install windows, you are too far and risk erasing your information.

 

I guess that maybe I had better look into finding out what type of hard drive I need to get so that I can get one and have it on hand just in case - since once the hard drive goes I won't be able to go shopping online for one. We live in the middle of nowhere so running to a computer store, best buy or even a staples is not an option.
I do know that this pc has an 80 gb in it and still has 75% of available space on it. The external is a 500gb but since you didn't say anything I'm guessing that means that I can't run the pc off of the external. I sort of figured that anyway.


You didn't mention if I should run the check disk again and watch to see what it has to say regarding any errors or how many. I also don't know how or what steps to follow to do a repair install. Any suggestions on how to do this or where to find the information would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks Again

 

You could run chkdsk again if you want to. If there was any errors that the first chkdsk fixed, you probably would not see them again. You also probably won't see any of the bad sectors (bad sections of the HDD) that the first scan found. The only thing you will see are the errors chkdsk finds that it can not correct. I don't think running chkdsk again will help you.

As for a replacement HDD, I would recommend

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148128
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148260

depending on whether your laptop takes sata or ide HDD (ide has a lot of pins, sata has two small connectors)

As for the repair install, the process goes like this:
1) insert a windows xp setup disk and boot off of it. It doesn't matter what cd it is as long as it installs XP
2) After a while, it will come to a screen with 3 options. 2 of those options are press enter to start or press r to enter the recovery console. Press enter.
3) Wait a little, the EULA (end user license agreement) will come up. Press F8 to agree.
4) At this point it will say "detecting windows installations". It should come up saying "Microsoft Windows XP [home/pro]". Press "r" to begin repair install.
If it does not list a version of windows and takes you to a list of your hard drives asking where to install windows, there are 2 possibilities: you entered the wrong version of windows (XP home disk on a pro installation), or your windows installation is so badly damaged setup cannot recognize it.

good luck.

 

Hello,

Thanks for the information on how to do a repair install. So far this morning I am not having any problems and I did try using IE7 last night and it was working fine as well. The internet connection was slow (have digital phone, tv and internet) but that usually happens when the weather is questionable.

Anyway, I don't have a laptop pc. I have a HP Pavillion 7865 desktop PC which I upgraded to XP Pro a little over a year ago (as well as the RAM and installed a PCI Card to add usb2.0 ports to the pc). No problems with this pc until yesterday.

I will have to start looking into seeing about getting a hard drive (just in case this one is starting to go) but so far today all is well and the things that kept giving me the "this is not a valid Win32 Application" are not doing so as of this morning. Very Weird.

Lisa

 

I don't know why i thought you had a laptop pc. Sometimes I get computer repairs mixed up as they seem to blur together.

Anyway, to shop for hard drives, you first need to know what standard of hard drive it is. You could google your model number, or you can open up the side of the case and look at the cables running to it. If the cable is about an inch thick, it is IDE. If the cable is about a quarter inch thick, it is SATA. Chances are, your hard drive is IDE (sometimes referred to as ATA i believe)

go to newegg.com, put your mouse over computer hardware and go down to Hard Drives. Select internal Hard Drives. You also probably want to restrict your results to Seagate or Western Digital off to the left bar. You can also restrict the results to the interface standard and you probably want a 7200 rpm drive, as it is normal speed. If you know all this, sorry for the long paragraphs.

As for your problem mysteriously fixing itself, maybe the chkdsk solved your problem. Maybe your computer just needed a good nights rest.

 

Thanks for getting back to me. Oddly enough I thought that the pc did fix itself. However, that does not seem to be the case. I did have an internet connection first thing Friday morning. However, after going offline and running spybot I lost my internet connection and just kept getting the message "aquiring network address" and that was it. So I finally (yesterday - Saturday) contacted the internet provider and they had me try a couple of different things which didn't fix the problem. They then had me do some other stuff and it was decided that my ethernet/network card had gone bad and I needed a new one. I went out and got a new network card and installed it in my empty pci slot but the problem is still there. So I'm guessing there is something else wrong. I'm not getting the "not a valid Win32 Application" anymore but can't connect to the internet. And being a holiday weekend can't find anywhere to take it in to have the problem diagnosed until Tuesday. I can do everything but get on the internet. I did try running the chkdsk and it states that there are no problems. I'm hoping that it is just the hard drive and I can just replace it.

Here's hoping and thanks for the info.

 

When you get the hard drive, what are you going to do then? If you just clone the information over, then you will clone the problems over too.

 

Hi There!
Well, I am going to see about having someone look at the pc first and see if they can diagnosis the problem that the pc is having and what is needed to fix it. I had to go out and purchase a pc to use in the meantime (found a decent deal on a laptop for $400 at our local Radio Shack).

Anyway, I was thinking about just seeing if everything (programs etc) could be transferred over to this laptop but had the same thought - I just might transfer the problem over to the new pc. So I am going to hope that someone can figure out what the problem is first. Hoping that the desktop can be saved.

Thanks for the help!

 

what brand of laptop is it? From my experience working in a computer repair store, I would stay away from Dells. I would recommend Sony or HP. Maybe gateway. Keep in mind that VAIOs are a pain to take apart.

 

Hello Again,

It is a gateway M1629 with a dual core processor and 3g of ram and came with Vista Home Premium with SP1 preinstalled on it. The only places to even look for computers or parts around here is a Radio Shack or Wal-Mart and I figured I was better off at Radio Shack (and both of those are 30 miles away). As it turns out I'm not sure that they actually know much more or any more than the people at Wal-Mart. They told me that this laptop could be upgraded (ram and stuff) in the future but when I looked at it once at home it states that there are no empty slots for upgrades. Anyway the only brand they had was this gateway and 3 compaq laptops and one refurbished desktop - and that was just for the tower and was only $75 less than a new laptop.

I did call someone about the problems with the desktop (which is an HP Pavillion 7865) and they actually came out to the house yesterday afternoon. We live in the middle of nowhere so I certainly didn't expect that! Anyway, as it turns out somehow the firewall seems to be what started all the problems. He realized that there was no icon in the taskbar/toolbar and thought that I didn't have an anti-virus program on my pc. But apparently for some odd reason the firewall seems to have stopped the anti-virus program from running and that is where the problems began. He ran a bunch of tests and stuff just to make sure. After uninstalling the firewall, running a program called "Clean Up!" and then making sure the anti-virus program was running correctly as well as everything else and that I had my internet connection he then installed the firewall again and everything is working smoothly again. Very odd but at least it is up and running again. I'm not thrilled with the laptop - not that it isn't nice but I prefer Windows XP (maybe its just because I'm use to it) so now I can use the desktop again.

Very odd - especially since I have been using this firewall since I first got the cable internet connection. Oh well, at least it is working again!

Thanks Again for All Your Help - You have no idea how much I appreciate it.

Lisa

By the way, you wouldn't happen to know how I could find out if I should have gotten any type of cd/dvd with this laptop would you? I had gotten some disc with the HP when I bought it and when I upgraded to XP Pro I naturally got a disc which I used to make a slipstream disc with SP2. Just wondering if I should have gotten any sort of discs or how I would go about making a slipstream disc with new service packs in the future if I got no disc.

Thanks Again!

 

Lisa, bookmark this page
http://support.gateway.com/s/Mobile/2008/Avalon/1015602R/1015602Rnv.shtml
it has information about the M1629
I would email or chat online and find out what you need to do to create a backup CD/DVD in case the hard drive dies or windows refuses to load.
There is probably a hidden partition that you need to image so you can restore the computer.

This http://support.gateway.com/s/SOFTWARE/Medialess/FAQ/SUPPAGE01su44.shtml
makes it seem like you should have gotten a CD with your notebook.

 

Sorry, I couldn't help myself, I just had to jump in here! For some time now I have been having a problem with my Sims2 game. Through help from a site I often visit I have come to realize that I too try running regedit and get the response "not a win32 application" I can run however regedit.exe . I cannot locate my system32 folder. I was told most likely there is a vrus or malware responsible for my problems. I was told the fact that regedit.exe works and regedit does not is a strong indicator of this. My system32 folder is now in fact hidden. I have run chkdsk the results said it was cleaned but i'm still experiencing the regedit problem and the system32 folder is still hidden. I MAY also like to eventually follow your instruction on repairing my windows, I do have my windowsXP install discs, BUT I have since installed the 3 service packs. DOES THIS MATTER? Thanks for any help and sorry for butting in.

 

@fishman
So you have Windows XP service pack 3? The service packs do not affect the repair install process. It is the same for all Windows XP systems.

As to the fact your system32 folder is hidden, have you tried changing the hidden property for system32? If you're not able to, it may be that permissions are damaged. You can try repair installing windows, I think there is a good chance it may fix that.

 

Thank you SO MUCH for your reply! Please bear with me here. Normally if I click on properties I do it on the folder. If I can't find the folder how should I go about clicking on properties? I mean that the content of my c drive is not currently hidden and the folders are viewable. I have a system folder but not a system32 folder

 

As far as repairing the windows install goes in your post step #2 said I would have 3 options would I just press enter or R for recovery?

 

1) To see hidden files, go to any folder on the hard drive like your program files. Go to the menu bar at the top and click tools->folder options. When folder options comes up click on the view tab. Scroll down to where it says Hidden files and folders and click Show hidden files and folders (kinda defeats the purpose of hidden folders doesn't it?). Then click the "apply to all folders" button at the top. When you close the "Folder options" window, all hidden files should be visible.

2) When you boot from the Windows CD, one of the first screens that comes up is to press [enter] to enter setup or press [r] to repair windows using the recovery console. You do not want the recovery console because, while useful, it will not do what you want. You need to press enter and then press F8 at the EULA and then press [r] when it asks if you want to repair this operating system (which it should list)

 

OK, when I made the hidden folders visible alot of folders one would expect to be hidden appeared. They had a ghostly appearance with light blue texts. My system32 folder was still nowhere to be seen. On my wife's computer the system32 folder appears just as the others do inside the windows folder.
I really think I'm just gonna go ahead with the windows repair. It certainly couldn't hurt. It may not fix the issues with The Sims2. There's a good chance, as you said, that it will however fix the problems I've discovered I had with the help of the individual at MTS2.com.
I had read your post correctly but was nervous I hadn't, thinking that R for the recovery console made sense. Thanks for clarifying. I was very interested in the topic of repairing WindowsXP with my install disc. After a search I found step by step instructions on About.com. I'll be sure not to miss a step, I'll have the instructions up on another computer. Thanks for all your help, I appreciate your time. I'm glad I noticed this thread. I'll be back to post and let you know of the results. -Thanks, Bill

 

Thanks for the information on the Gateway M1629. I did find the same information when doing a search (thanks for the info anyway - I greatly appreciate it).

I did find out by going to the Radio Shack website that there should have been a disc included with the laptop.

I contacted Radio Shack about it the fact that there was none in the box and they are going to get one for me. I did see on the one link about the discs that most of that information is really on pc's purchased up to January 2005.

There is a page somewhere on Gateway's site regarding discs (took lots of searching - the site isn't the easiest to find what you are looking for). It states that Windows Vista does not ship an entire image when ordering a Full Image. Instead Windows Vista users are shipped an operating system disc and applications & drivers discs. When used in conjunction these discs can reinstall Windows and factory installed programs and drivers. - but you have to request/order these discs. The disc that is included (at least as per the Radio Shack site) is an OS Recovery DVD.

I will just need to figure out how I would go about using that dvd or if I would need the other discs if I wanted to create a slipstreamed dvd in the future.

Thanks!

 

To make a long story short I ended up doing a full clean install of windows XP. Believe it or not the repair install did not fix my problem. The new full install of windows did, well some of them anyway. Not the problem I was first trying to fix with my Sims2 game. I haven't given up and I think I may have found some new solutions for it.