Microsoft KB Archive/303395

Knowledge Base

Error Message: "C:\...\IEXPLORE.EXE Is Not a Valid Win32 Application"

Article ID: 303395

Article Last Modified on 1/31/2007

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APPLIES TO

• Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.01 Service Pack 1
• Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.01 Service Pack 2
• Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 128-Bit Edition
• Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.01 Service Pack 1
• Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.01 Service Pack 2
• Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 128-Bit Edition
• Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 128-Bit Edition
• Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.01 Service Pack 1
• Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.01 Service Pack 2
• Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 128-Bit Edition
• Microsoft Windows 98 Standard Edition
• Microsoft Windows 95

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This article was previously published under Q303395

SYMPTOMS

When you double-click the Internet Explorer icon on the desktop, or click the Internet Explorer icon on the Quick Launch bar to start Microsoft Internet Explorer, you may receive the following error message:

x:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\IEXPLORE.EXE is not a valid win32 application

where x is the letter of the drive where Internet Explorer is installed.

CAUSE

This behavior can occur when the Iexplore.exe file is damaged or corrupted.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this issue, use either of the following methods.

Method 1

Extract the original Iexplore.exe file from the Internet Explorer cabinet file to replace the damaged Iexplore.exe file on your hard disk. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Locate the appropriate Internet Explorer cabinet file that contains the Iexplore.exe file.
   
   The Internet Explorer 4.0 and Internet 4.01 cabinet files can be found on the Internet Explorer CD-ROM, in the "Internet Explorer 4.01 SP2 Setup" folder (Internet Explorer 4.01 SP2) on your hard disk, or in the location that you specified if you downloaded the files from the Microsoft Web site.
   
   For Windows 95 and Windows 98, Internet Explorer files are contained in the Ie4_1.cab through Ie4_5.cab cabinet files, which are themselves compressed in the Ie4_s1.cab through Ie4_s5.cab cabinet files.
   
   For Microsoft Windows NT, Internet Explorer files are contained in the Ie4nt_1.cab through Ie4nt_5.cab cabinet files, which are themselves compressed in the Ie4nt_s1.cab through Ie4nt_s5.cab cabinet files. Note that:
   
   
   • In Internet Explorer 4.x for Windows 95, Iexplore.exe is located in Ie4_s2.cab.
   • In Internet Explorer 4.x for Windows 98, Iexplore.exe is located in Ie4_s1.cab.
   • In Internet Explorer 4.x for Windows NT, Iexplore.exe is located in Ie4nt_s1.cab.
2. To extract the Iexplore.exe file, type the following at a command prompt, and then press ENTER:

   extract path\cabinet iexplore.exe /L destination

   where:
   
   

   • path is the path to the folder of the appropriate cabinet file
   • cabinet is the cabinet file (Ie4_s2.cab, Ie4_s1.cab, or Ie4nt_s1.cab) that you want to extract
   • destination is path to the folder on your hard disk in which Internet Explorer is installed. For example, C:\Progra~1\Intern~1 (C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer).
3. Type y, and then press ENTER when you are prompted to overwrite Iexplore.exe.
4. Start Internet Explorer.

NOTE: If you are running Windows 95, you cannot extract cabinet files from Internet Explorer 4.0 or later or Windows 98 using the version of Extract.exe in Windows 95. You must use the version of Extract.exe included with Internet Explorer 4.0 or later, or Windows 98. For additional information, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

171241 Cannot Manually Extract Files from Cabinet Files

For additional information about how to extract Internet Explorer 4.x cabinet files, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

129605 How to Extract Original Compressed Windows Files

NOTE: If following these steps does not resolve the issue, try Method 2.

Method 2

Quit all running programs, and then reinstall Internet Explorer. To do this, follow these steps:

1. If you are running Windows 95 or Windows 98, follow these steps:
   1. Press Ctrl+ALT+DELETE to open the Close Programs dialog box.
   2. Click the first item in the list, and then click End Task.
   3. Repeat step b for each process or program in the list, and then close the Close Program dialog box.

   If you are running Microsoft Windows NT, follow these steps:
   
   

   1. Press CTRL+SHIFT+ESC to start Task Manager.
   2. On the Applications tab, click the first item in the list, and then click End Task.
   3. Repeat step b for each program in the list, and then quit Task Manager.
2. Start Windows Explorer, and then locate the Ie4setup.exe file.
3. Double-click Ie4setup.exe to start Internet Explorer Setup.
4. Follow the instructions in the Active Setup Wizard to complete the installation.
5. When Setup is complete, start Internet Explorer.

For additional information about how to install Internet Explorer 4.0, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

170993 How to Install Internet Explorer 4.0

Keywords: kberrmsg kbprb KB303395

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