errors in kernel32.dll & explorer crashes (long & de

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kent elyue

errors in kernel32.dll & explorer crashes (long & detailed)

Post by kent elyue »

I wrote to Paul Nettle at Fluid Studios a couple weeks back about the apparent problem of fsraid causing explorer crashes (errors in kernel32.dll) on my win98se computer. He was very kind enough to reply and provided several ideas that I've since investigated at great lengths. The end result is that I find hkSFV and FSRaid to be somewhat incompatible with each other when used along with some as-yet-unidentified 3rd program. What follows is the detailed account of my investigations. I thought you might find this interesting, but more importantly, I'm hoping a cause and/or solution can be found.

I have found that it is in fact not fsraid that crashes explorer *directly*. But, I have found that this specific crash can be caused -->at will<-- by simply hovering the mouse over the .par file when in Windows Explorer. It always produces an error in "kernel32.dll" and explorer must close down. By hovering I mean just holding the mouse over the .par file and fsraid need not be running.

Further, the very same crash (error in kernel32.dll) occurs when I have tried using different replacements for Windows Explorer such as EasyExplorer and 2xExplorer. It is ONLY when hovering over .par files that the crash occurs and ONLY when .pars are associated with fsraid.

I have used the program SmartPar instead without experiencing crashes, but I really much prefer the flexibility fsraid offers compared to smartpar.

If I associated par files with smartpar and instead created a link in "sendto" for fsraid I could "send" the pars to fsraid and use it without experiencing a crash. This led me to believe that it might be some process or shell feature that was causing a conflict and hence the crash. So I endeavoured to uninstall anything and everything that might possibly be responsible - including "shell enhancements" option through Tweakui, PropertiesPlus, Adenix Smart Monitor, and "Explore from here for files" extensions. None of those made any difference.

In my correspondence with Paul Nettle at FLuid Studios he said that there should be no "pop-up tool-tip" when hovering over the .par files - at least not as a result of having FSRaid installed. However, whenever I hovered over a .par file (or an .sfv file), up popped up a tooltip with "Files: XX\nPar Volume 00" inside it. I began to suspect this may be an important clue.

Furthermore, I have Connectix Virtual PC installed on this same computer, and have a fresh installation of Win98SE on the virtual machine. So I installed FSRaid on the virtual PC and no matter how hard I tried I simply could not get it to crash Windows Explorer. So this most likely ruled out hardware or CPU problems. The interesting thing I discovered here was this: NO pop-up tool-tips on .sfv and .par files. Hmmmm. I began to feel pretty sure there was a connection.

But I didn't yet know what program or shell extension was giving the extra info on the real win98 machine. And until I figured that out, I resigned myself to the possibility that I'd just have pars associated with smartpar and use the "sendto" fsraid option instead. Its only one extra right-click. And it seemed completely stable that way.

I left it for a bit and did some thinking. If both .par and .sfv files have pop-up tool-tips, but only those files seem to have the tool-tips, maybe its another file verification program that is causing the problem. I took a stab at it and uninstalled hkSFV. As soon as it was uninstalled, the pop-up tool-tips were gone. Hmmmm. Ok then. Make FSraid the default par handler and associate it with par files again. Guess what? NO CRASH ! None. No matter how hard I tried.

Ok, one more test... Reinstall hkSFV.Wouldn't it be perfect if it crashed now? Yes, it would be. Well, sure enough the "pop-up tool-tips" and the crashes came back after hkSFV was re-installed. Uninstall it again and the crashes go too. I'd say we have the culprit.

So, I'll do yet one more test. Boot up my Virtual PC Win98SE computer. Install hkSFV and FSRaid on it together. Let's see if we can create the crashes on it. Alas, great sadness. No "pop-up tool-tips" and NO crashes. OK, so what is it that is producing the "pop-up tool-tips" on the real Win98 machine? And why does it seem to be the common denomiator?

Anybody have any ideas? I'm completely perplexed.

The problem is that both hkSFV and FSRaid are one-of-kind programs. I really can't imagine working without either of them. But at present it seems I have to make a choice: FSRaid or hkSFV.

Unless someone can reproduce this error as well and figure out just what causes it...
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Post by Master Jedi »

You may have a problem with your Windows installation. Windows 95 and especially 98/ME are nototrious for crapping out after a while. If your budget cant afford a better OS (Windows NT/2000/XP), try booting into command prompt mode and using the utility "scanreg" to restore an old registry backup. (Restore in reverse order from newest to oldest til you find one that works.) If that doesn't work, I would recommend backing up your data and reinstalling.
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Post by fuuucckkers »

He already has reinstalled..
Furthermore, I have Connectix Virtual PC installed on this same computer, and have a fresh installation of Win98SE on the virtual machine
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Post by Master Jedi »

He hasn't crashed his virtual computer yet.
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Post by Big-O Mark »

Thanks for the extremely detailed bug report!

I have no idea why this is happening, but I do have an idea on how to fix it. The version of hkSFV we currently have in development includes an option to turn off the shell extension. Hopefully turning off the shell extension will eliminate the problems you are having. More information on the shell extension can be found here:

http://discuss.big-o-software.com/viewtopic.php?t=1526

Due to problems like this, we hope to be able to release a new bugfix version of hkSFV sooner rather than later.
-Mark
Big-O Software
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