win98 explorer.exe will not load after setup

[shatteredglass]

i recently had to reinstall win98 on my gateway desktop.  since i have reinstalled, explorer.exe causes windows to not start up properly.  'Explorer.Exe has caused a general page fault and windows will be terminated.'  any ideas as to what i can do besides reinstall and reformat AGAIN.

[GX1_Man]

Check your RAM with memtest86 (free at memtest86,com) and make sure your CD is not defective. You may want to copy the CD files to the hard  drive for the install. Were there any hesitation during this last install? Did you have to take out the CD and put it back in again because it couldn't read a file?

[shatteredglass]

no i didn't have any difficulties installing windows...my RAM is good...i've already transferred everything from the disk to the hard drive...still no luck...any other suggestions?...TY for the quick response.

[GX1_Man]

Scandisk shows all is well? Did you run MemTest or you just think it's OK? It is important to rule out as many variables as possible. Some previous posters have just put OK, because it used to be OK and they still thought it was. Turned out it wasn't after many days of postings.

[shatteredglass]

i am  not able to download memtest86 on the pc that i'm having problems with...i ran scandisk and it showed no surface errors...but i have loose clusters i think is what it said...but i checked my RAM thru DOS...what else can i do?

[GX1_Man]

Download memtest to a floppy or a CD on another computer then run it on yours.

[shatteredglass]

tried that...everything still looks normal....any other suggestions?

[GX1_Man]

Anything here that helps?

http://computerhope.com/issues/chwin98.htm

or here:

http://computerhope.com/w98qa.htm

[shatteredglass]

I have found the problem...a driver that i installed for a new network adapter actually had a malicious code that basically ate thru my files like a "worm."..i do want to say thank you for all of your help.  

FYI if you get a Belkin network adapter, router, or PCMCIA card make sure you download the driver from the internet.  the driver that comes with the contains a "virus" like code that can damage your hd.

[GX1_Man]

Scary, but good to know. Feel free to drop in any time.

[patio]

I find it hard to believe that a Belkin driver straight from the manufacturer would contain a worm...

patio.  

[2k_dummy]

It does happen. A while back some CD's got away from Creative that had a virus. They managed to round them up with a minimum of damage, but a few did get installed on peoples machines.