User.exe error in IE

TWO answers, the first from Microsoft.

Step 1: Clean Internet Temporary files

a. Open Internet Explorer. Click Tools and click Internet Options.
b. In the General tab, click Delete Files, check the "Delete all offline
content" option, click OK.
c. In the General tab, click Delete Cookies, click OK.
d. In the General tab, click Clear History, click OK.
e. In the General tab, click the Settings => View Objects, delete all the
listed objects.
f. Click OK. Click OK. Reboot your computer.

Step 2: Repair Internet Explorer

1. Open Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel.
2. Select Internet Explorer 5 or 6 and click Add/Remove.
3. Choose the repair option.
4. Complete the process.

Step 3: Uninstall Internet enhanced programs such as GetRight, Gozilla, etc.

Temporarily disable any anti-virus tool or firewall and check to see if the
problem is fixed or improved.

Regards,
Samuel Lu
Microsoft Online Support Engineer

SECOND THING TO TRY IF ABOVE DOESN'T WORK

You should be able to extract a fresh user.exe from the Win98 cabinet files using System File Checker (START>RUN then type sfc.exe)
If it doesn't automatically find the changed file and replace it, you can extract the file as follows.

On the Windows 98 CD, there are two user.exe files. One is in the mini.cab, the other in the Win98_42.cab (First Edition of Win98) or the Win98_46.cab (Second Edition).

If you don't specify the proper location to extract this file from, it will be pulled from the mini.cab file. This will render the machine unbootable. So, if you need to replace this file, you should specify the exact location by putting in X:\Win98\Win98_42.cab (or 46 depending) in the "where from" part.

Good luck,
OM

Sounds like the spool service is dead.
This APPARENTLY happens when you replace the incorrect version of user.exe.
"If you don't specify the proper location to extract this file from, it will be pulled from the mini.cab file. This will render the machine unbootable. So, if you need to replace this file, you should specify the exact location by putting in X:\Win98\Win98_42.cab (or 46 depending) in the "where from" part."

You can replace the spool service the same way, using SFC.EXE from the RUN prompt. You should be able to boot in to safe mode right? Press and hold or tap F8 repeatedly at boot.

At this point, I would recommend reinstalling the OS, without reformatting, by just running setup from the Windows disk. Setup will search for any missing or incompatible SYS files. You won't be able to use the CD Drive in Safe Mode, if you can't get a normal boot, run the Win98 setup disk to get to a DOS prompt with CD Driver loaded.

Have you tried restoring the default BIOS?

NOTE: The Dr. Watson report doesn't mean MS engineers will help, it just send them an error message. If it is a massive problem, they'll issue a fix.

ok heres the update computer's back to running normal. I had to reinstall windows 98 SE. Still get the error. I don't have any ie enchanements except yahoo! companion and a Microsoft Search tool that snuck in that I can't get rid of. Trust me I've tried lol.

I still get the error for IE tho. Not sure on where its coming from but now its more often after I took out my Download accelerator.

Do you still have IE6 installed? If so, there ar a couple of updates on the MS site. They MAY help.
Personally, I'd find an old game or something with ie5 on it and install that instead.

Glad to hear your running again,
OM

A good place to research problems like this is at Googles newsgroup section.
http://www.deja.com

You'll see what I mean when you search for answers. DEJA also accepts boolean phrasing (if you know Boolean phrasing) to help refine the returned hits.

I would also STRONGLTY recoomend running ADAWARE for inadverntently installed spyware. It's free, fast and works well, you may be surprised at th crap it finds!
http://www.lavasoft.nu

Good luck, let me know how it goes. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful. :-(

OM