[Solved] illegal operaton

I keep getting the following message:
Explorer
This program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down. If the problem persists, contact the program vendor.
Under details:
EXPLORER caused an invalid page fault in
module KERNEL32.DLL at 0177:bffbff0f.
Registers:
EAX=00000000 CS=0177 EIP=bffbff0f EFLGS=00010202
EBX=00000007 SS=017f ESP=0196e648 EBP=0196e654
ECX=00000007 DS=017f ESI=ca1db899 FS=3767
EDX=bffc9b24 ES=017f EDI=0196e80e GS=0000
Bytes at CS:EIP:
f3 a6 8a 46 ff 33 c9 3a 47 ff 77 04 74 04 49 49
Stack dump:
0196e827 ca1db898 00000000 0196e688 bff97056 0196e80e ca1db899 00000007 0196e814 019603e9 0196e80d 0196e80e 53544641 00000000 bffc9b24 52434741

Can someone help me? Thanks.

 

When is this error occuring -- at bootup and/or when you try to run programs?

Try this: go to start and run msconfig (you will need to restart so you should be offline)

>> Click on the "Startup" tab and clear the check for "Taskmonitor"

>> click OK and restart.

Does the error still occur?

 

I did what you said and now it seems to be working fine. Thanks for your help. I always get wonderful help when I have any problems and post the question here. Thanks again. One question though, how did that(Taskmonitor) get checked in the first place?

 

You're welcome, this one rang an old bell...

Taskmonitor is a windows program that runs automatically from startup unless it is unchecked. It's purpose is to monitor the usage of programs and create a "priority" list which allows defrag to optimize the arrangement of files for faster loading.

The data is stored in a hidden file called "Applog". Corruption can cause the program to error like that. Many people uncheck taskmonitor to have one less thing running in the background. The difference in program loading is really not that much. If you wish to use taskmonitor, try this:

>> go to Folder Options>View and make sure "show all files" is checked

>> do a Find Files for Applog and either delete it (it will be recreated), or open it and delete its contents.

>> go back to msconfig and recheck taskmonitor. The errors should not repeat.

If you had unchecked taskmonitor previously, it should have remained unchecked unless "normal startup" was checked on the General page of msconfig.