For quite sometime under Windows 98 and now Windows ME, I have had a problem with Internet explorer where at times I get a message that Explorer has caused a invalid page fault in KERNEL32.DLL and will shutdown. For about 8 months I have been unable to internet bank because of this problem as it happens every time I try to load up my bank’s secure site. Interestingly, when I installed Windows ME, a fault (which did not prevent installation) in RegSvr32 caused problems with KERNEL32.DLL. What on earth is this and how can it be fixed?

Unfortunately, errors such as invalid page faults are quite hard to diagnose and solve. However, there are some possible solutions we can try to help solve your problem. Firstly, the problem could be caused by a damaged password list(s). To fix this problem, you will have to delete all the PWL files on your computer. To find instructions on how to do this, have a look at support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q187/9/65.ASP. NB: You will not have to download the MSPWLUPD.EXE file (which is referred to in the Knowledge Base article) as Windows ME does not require this update. Be warned that when you delete the PWL files you will lose all your passwords which you have stored. Make sure that you have your passwords written down somewhere so you can re-enter them. If this doesn’t work, the problem may be due to the KERNAL32.DLL file itself. I say this because you mentioned that during the installation of Windows ME, RegSvr32 had a problem with KERNEL32.DLL file. You may have to extract a new copy of KERNAL32.DLL from your Windows CD as the current copy on your computer may be damaged or corrupt. Be very careful when doing this because, if this is not carried out correctly, it could render Windows inoperable. I suggest that you make sure you have backups of all your valuable data before attempting this procedure. Once you have backed up, you can extract a new KERNAL32.DLL using the ‘System Configuration Utility’ feature in Windows ME. To find instructions on how to do this, have a look at the Microsoft Knowledge Base article support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q265/3/71.ASP. However, before you start make sure that you know where the current KERNAL32.DLL file is located on your computer so that you know where to put the newly extracted KERNAL32.DLL. If you get the message ‘The specified file is protected and may not be copied or deleted’ when trying to overwrite the old KERNAL32.DLL file with the newly extracted version, please contact me again as I will need to guide you through the procedure to replace the old file through DOS.