Help! ????? - not a valid win32 application

myself | myself

[adorno]

Can't use my main computer; '?????' - not a valid win32 application

I wonder if anybody has had a problem like I'm having and can help.

No matter what program I try to open, I get an error telling me that "'?????' is not a valid win32 application"

I can't click on anything on the desktop, not even the virus scanners or the firewall or the registry editors or even the internet browsers. Without being able to click the browsers, I won't be able to download any fixes. I can't even start my internet connections, wireless or otherwise.

As soon as I click to start any of those applications, the aforementioned message comes up.

I'm using one of my other computers to send this message.

[adorno]

Any help would be appreciated.

[Old Sarge]

Tell me more about the affected box - is it XP, Win2K, or Vista?

[adorno]

XP Pro

[Hegemony Cricket]

Have you tried a therapeutic restart? (power down, power up)

[Old Sarge]

Are you getting an error message number associated with the message? Is it accompanied by a blue screen at any time?

What type/version of anti-virus have you loaded, and have you recently run the live-update for it? Same with anti-spyware...

[adorno]

yes.

i can’t even do a safe bootup.

[Lucky9teen]

I would suggest a repair-reinstall of WinXP.

[Lucky9teen]

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/896461

[Lucky9teen]

Actually never mind last post...try this:

http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000726.htm

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Hmm....You probably ought to give us some gory details,...speeds and feeds , newness of the computer....how do you connect to the WWW....do you have a router box...dialup ...etc...?

[ml/nj]

GoogleGroups "not a valid Win32 application"

ML/NJ

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

What do you remember that you were doing before you saw this message for the first time?

[adorno]

http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000726.htm

I looked at that and it won't help since it's not about a new program. It's about all of my programs or browser or firewall or even the internet connections. I won't be able to download anything on that computer since I can't even get the wireless or wired connection to run.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

This might be worth a try:

*****************************From MSNotes***********************

Empty the Temp folder

To empty the Temp folder and the Temporary Internet Files folder, use the Disk Cleanup tool. To do this, follow the steps for the operating system that you are using.

Windows XP

1.	Click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Disk Cleanup.
2.	Click C: or click the drive where Windows XP is installed, and then click OK.
3.	Click to select the Temporary files check box.
4.	Click OK, and then click Yes to confirm the deletion.

[adorno]

It’s a pentium 4, 2.53ghz, xp pro.

And it started as soon as I booted up that machine this morning. I use a wireless connection on that machine using Horizon dsl.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

And the Browser?

[TomGuy]

Have you tried to do a System Restore?

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Link where I found the instructions at post #14:

Empty the Temp folder

[reagan_fanatic]

I work on PC’s, and I’ve cleaned a lot of malware and viruses that produce messages similar to that one.

Make sure your virus definitions are up to date, and if you can, do a deep scan of your entire hard drive.

I recommend AVG anti-virus for protection.

[ShadowAce]