Q.  I'm running Win 98 SE and when I right click on icons on my desktop, Windows reports that "This program has preformed an illegal operation and will be shut down." Clicking on details shows that EXPLORER caused an invalid page fault in module SHELL32.DLL at 016f:7fcca2ef. This also happens when I try to right click C drive or any of the other folders in My Computer. I have reinstalled Win 98 SE and updated the mouse drivers but this didn't fix the error.

Invalid page fault errors are often caused by either incompatible software or invalid registry entries that cause the system to fail.

Since the problem only occurs when you right click an item, it is most likely to be caused by some incompatible software that is only activated when you right click. Utilities and shell extensions (software that allows you to perform special functions when you right-click an icon), would be the type of software which cause this problem.

If you have recently installed utilities or shell extensions (such as Norton Desktop, Burn It or Key Disk) you should uninstall them to see if the problem ceases. This is because many of these utilities were designed specifically for Windows '95 and are incompatible with Windows '98. If you still experience problems you may have no option but to back up all of your data, completely wipe your hard disk and reinstall Windows '98 from scratch.

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