Explorer Illegal operation at MACXW4.DRVd

[max 8]

Hello. I keep getting this Illegal operation message:
"Explorer caused a general fault in module MACXW4.DRV".
When I close the message it keeps coming back.
Can someone please help me?
Thanks.

 

[Mosaic1]

Do you have an ATI video adapter? If so, update your video drivers. Of this is not possible, reduce you hardware acceleration.
TO do that go to:
Control Panel>system>Performanne Tab
Click the Graphics tab. Move the slider to the left to reduce hardware acceleration Change it a bit at a time and then run windows. See if the errors disappear. Change the setting until you find one that works.

 

[max 8]

Thanks for the quick response Mosaic.
Yes, I have ATI Rage II video integrated into my MB.
So MACXW$.DRV pertains to the video graphics?

 

[Mosaic1]

You're welcome. Yes. MACXW4.DRV is an ATI accelerator driver.

The first thing to try is to boot to Safe Mode and go into Device Manager. Expand the Adapters branch. Remove your Video Card. If there are multiple instances of the card, remove them all.

Restart Windows and let it reinstall your Video Adapter. You may need your video install disk for this or do you(more likely) have an application restore disk? Or you may need nothing. You didn't give any details about your system and the manufacturer.

That will take care of the problem if it was a matter of it being a corrupted driver. If it is out of date, you need to go to the manufacturer's web site and download New Drivers and update yours.

If neither helps, try the hardware acceleration reduction.

 

[max 8]

thanks Mosaic.
It's a Gateway 200 mhz system w/ 192mb RAM.
the video card is integrated into the MB.
I checked my device manager under sound and video but
do not see any driver for it.
I had just reformatted my HD, could it be that I did not load the driver for the video?
I remember loading the display driver, is that the video driver?
Sorry for the questions, not really too experienced w/ computers.
thanks again.

 

[Mosaic1]

Let's try reinstalling your Video.

I still don't know what Operating system you are using. Win 98 98Se or Win95?
How did you reinstall? With a regular Windows install disk and other disks for your video etc? Or did you use a restore disk provided by Gateway?
This is all important information. Before I can advise you, I need to know this.
First Step. Remove the software for your Video Card.
Boot to Safe Mode. Go into Device Manager. Scroll to Display Adapters. Click on the + in front of it. Your Video will be listed there. Hightlight it and click on the Remove Button at the bottom of the page. If there is more than one instance of the adapter, remove the others too.
Go to Start>Run and choose to restart. Windows will recognize the video adapter and try to reinstall it.
This is where I need to know whether you have a CD to install these drivers. If you do, you'll need to have it ready for windows to use it as a source.


To boot to Safe Mode, reboot and for Win95, tap F8 until you see the boot menu. Choose Safe Mode.
For Windows98, boot and press CTRL until you see the boot menu.

 

[max 8]

Sorry for the lack of info Mosaic.
I'm running win 98SE. I have a system cd came w/ the computer that has the video driver. I did not use a restore disk.
I did fdisk then format c:, then loaded win 95b and then loaded drivers using my system cd. Then I upgraded to Win 98SE.
I started getting the illegal operation to module MACXW4.DRV
w/ explorer and my msmsg.
I'm able to use the computer sometimes after rebooting.
If I'm able to, can I remove/install the video driver using windows?
thanks again.

 

[max 8]

One more thing.
while online, I tried to upgrade the driver using the upgrade feature of the video driver and it came back telling me I had the latest version of the driver .

 

[Mosaic1]

You say you upgreaded to Windows 98SE. That was an upgrade over 95 not a clean install? I wonder if you have the correct drivers for your video card. You need to have the Windows98SE version of the drivers. Each Operating system requires its own set of drivers. If you used the 95 Drivers, this could be it.

 

[max 8]

I don't think that upgrading from 95 to 98se is the problem.
I was using the same set up for over a year until I had to reformat due to the wonderful world of MSN. but that's a totally different story.
I never got that kind of illegal operation message until today.

 

[Mosaic1]

Ok Then it's possible that the drivers are corrupt. Go back and read the directions to go into Safe Mode and remove the Adapter Software. Let Windows Reinstall and see if that takes care of it. Have your Driver Cd ready.

Other than thatm the quisetion is, what is different about today? Did you install something new? Uninstall something?
At any rate, think about that but do go into Safe Mode and try the procedure.

 

[max 8]

Thanks Mosaic for the very quick response.
I've been able to use my computer for about 30mins now w/o that illegal oper message.
So I should still reload the driver in safe mode?

 

[Mosaic1]

It's up to you. What were you doing when you got that error message? Were you running a program which you are not now?

 

[max 8]

I was just trying to move a shortcut icon on my desktop.

 

[Mosaic1]

I would reinstall the video. If you get the error again, do it. The drivers can become corrupt. IF that doesn't work, reduce the hardware acceleration.