Error Message: Error Loading Explorer.exe You Must Reinstall Windows (299296)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition
  • Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition
  • Microsoft Windows 98
This article was previously published under Q299296

SYMPTOMS

When you attempt to start your computer, you may receive the following error message:
Error loading Explorer.exe.

You must reinstall Windows
When you click OK, you may receive the following error message:
A required .DLL file, C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MSVCRT.DLL, was not found.
You may then be unable to start Windows.

CAUSE

This issue can occur if the Msvcrt.dll Windows system file is missing or damaged.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this issue, replace the Msvcrt.dll file with a new copy from the Windows CD. To do this, use the appropriate steps.

Windows Millennium Edition

  1. Restart the computer using a Windows Millennium (Me) Startup disk.
  2. At the Windows Me Startup menu, type 2, and then press ENTER.
  3. Record the drive letter that is assigned to the CD or DVD-ROM drive.
  4. Type ext, and then press ENTER to start the Microsoft Extract Command Line Helper starts.
  5. At the Please enter the path to the Windows CAB files (a:): prompt, type drive:\win9x (where drive is the drive letter that you recorded in step 3), and then press ENTER.

    Note: Depending on your installation of Windows, the Windows .cab files may also be stored in the \Windows\Options\Install folder.
  6. At the Please enter the name(s) of the file(s) you want to extract: prompt, type msvcrt.dll, and then press ENTER.
  7. At the Please enter the path to extract to ('Enter' for current directory): prompt, type c:\windows\system, and then press ENTER.
  8. At the Is this okay? (y/n) prompt, type y, and then press ENTER to extract the file to the specified directory.
  9. Remove the Windows Me Startup disk, and then restart the computer.

Windows 98

  1. Restart the computer with the Windows 98 Startup disk.
  2. At the Microsoft Windows 98 Startup menu, type 1, and then press ENTER.
  3. Record the drive letter assigned to the CD or DVD-ROM drive.
  4. Type ext, and then press ENTER to start the Microsoft Extract Command Line Helper.
  5. At the Please enter the path to the Windows CAB files (a:): prompt, type drive:\win98 (where drive is the drive letter that you recorded in step 3), and then press ENTER.

    Note: Depending on your installation of Windows, the Windows .cab files may also be stored in the \Windows\Options\Cabs folder.
  6. At the Please enter the name(s) of the file(s) you want to extract: prompt, type msvcrt.dll, and then press ENTER.
  7. At the Please enter the path to extract to ('Enter' for current directory): prompt, type c:\windows\system, and then press ENTER.
  8. At the Is this okay? (y/n) prompt, type y, and then press ENTER to extract the file to the specified directory.
  9. Remove the Windows 98 Startup disk, and then restart the computer.

MORE INFORMATION

For additional information about extracting Windows files, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

129605 How to Extract Original Compressed Windows Files

Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:12/20/2004
Keywords:kberrmsg kbprb KB299296
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