Shell32.dll is a Windows library file that comprises Windows Shell API functions required to open Web pages and files on the system. This file is also used to perform several other Windows tasks and helps in maintaining the stability of your system.
Common Shell32 Errors and Fixes
Two of the most common Shell32.dll error messages and their fixes are discussed below.
The following error message appears when you try to launch Internet Explorer.
"This program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down."
When you select the Details button the following error message is displayed:
"IEXPLORE caused an invalid page fault in SHELL32.DLL"
Now, when you select the Close button, the following error message will be displayed on the screen.
"There was an internal error and one of the windows you were using will be closed."
This error usually occurs due to the existence of an incomplete Search Bar value in the registry. To resolve the issue, perform the following steps:
- Run the Regedit command to open the Registry Editor window.
- Navigate to the following registry key.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main
- To make a backup of this key, after selecting the Main subkey, open the File menu, and select the Export command.
- Browse to the location where you want to export this key, ensure that the correct path is listed in the Selected to text box, provide a name for the export file in the File name box, and select the Save button.
- After doing this, delete the Search Bar value from the Main key.
The following error messages may be displayed when you try to create a new folder on the desktop, or in Windows Explorer, and then try to open this folder.
"EXPLORER caused an invalid page fault in module SHELL32.DLL at <memory address>"
"Microsoft Internet Explorer There was an internal error and one of the windows you were using will be closed. It is recommended that you save your work, close all of your programs, and then restart the computer."
These errors occur due to problems in the following registry keys:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StreamMRU
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StreamMRU
To resolve the issue, navigate to these keys and delete all values included in them. Before deleting, REMEMBER to export these keys first. This is important because in case your fixes go wrong, you can easily restore the entries using the exported data.
You can see that shell32.dll errors usually occur due to problems within the Windows registry. Therefore, to prevent these errors and many other similar system errors, it is important for you to maintain a healthy, error-free registry. You can achieve this goal by using a reliable and efficient registry cleaner tool such as RegServe.
Some of the advantages of these registry cleaner tools are:
- Enable you to automatically scan and repair registry errors.
- Help in fixing several computer errors, related to DLL files, EXE files, drivers, and more.
- Make it easy to make full and selective registry backups.
- Help you defragment the registry, that helps in making the registry contiguous and thereby enable you to improve the performance of your PC.
- Uses advanced and complex algorithms to perform a thorough scan of the registry to help you get rid of malicious entries added by malware programs such as spyware, adware, virus and Trojans.