Explorer.exe.mdmp And Explorer.exe.hdmp Files

Hi All, I am having a problem with my daughter's XP SP2 machine. Immediately after I choose an account to get on with I get Dr. Watson errors and Windows "Data Execution Prevention" boxes for Windows Explorer. The hard drive is full explorer.exe.mdmp and explorer.exe.hdmp files. The best I can do with the machine is to get it up into "safe mode with command prompt". I was able to run AVG 7.5 scan, but had no infections. Was also able to run Adaware and Spybot until I got clean runs of both. Anyone have any ideas of what to try next? Thanks, Benito

Both mdmp and hdmp file extensions are MS Error Report dump file extensions.
In and of themselves, they are not hazardous.

But together with your inability to boot the machine normally, their appearance suggests a system problem.

You did well to run your AntiVirus and Antispyware utilities…. but you probably have an Operating System file corruption or missing OS files.
___________

Please do these two steps in sequence as posted

1. Run CHECKDISK
Start - Run - (type)chkdsk /f /r - Enter <– notice the required space before "/f" and "/r"
You will receive a warning that CHECKDISK cannot be run due to inability to lock files or files in use.
You will be invited to allow CHECKDISK to run next time you reboot your machine.
Allow this to be scheduled by typing "Y" and pressing Enter.
Reboot your machine.

CHECKDISK will open during the boot-up cycle, before opening Windows
It will run a series of 5 scans.
CHECKDISK does not create a log, but if you follow along with the Scan, it alerts when it finds a "bad-cluster" and announces that it is moving the file contents to a safe known-good location on the Hard Drive disk surface.
CHECKDISK scans take between 30 - 40 minutes depending upon the size of your Hard Drive.
Note: CHECKDISK should be run multiple times if it does detect any "bad-sectors".
Please Run CHECKDISK a second and even third time until no errors/bad-sectors are identified.

2. Run Windows File Protection System File Checker <— SFC can only be run in Normal boot mode, so if the above Check disk doesn't begin to resolve the problem, other procedures will be necessary. Let us know
Start - Run - (type)sfc /scannow - Enter

A block DOS type box will open briefly and then disappear before you can read its contents. That's OK.
Then the Windows File Protection progress bar will display to track progress as SFC scans.
If SFC identifies any missing or corrupted operating system files, it will alert you to insert your XP installation CD.
SFC will then copy a known good version of the missing/corrupted file from the CD and into the correct location in files.
SFC scans take about 20 to 30 minutes.
One full scan should be sufficient.
If SFC terminates within 2 or 3 minutes, then it did not complete its scan.
Please alert us to the fact, if this happens.

Please let us know if you do not have XP installation CD, as we will have to describe additional steps for a workaround.
___________

Reboot your machine after SFC completes. Run the machine as you would ordinarily for a while to get a sense of any lingering problems.

Post back with your success or obstacles with the above procedures and a statement of how the machine is running.

We'll take additional steps if necessary.

Best Regards

Hi and thanks for the reply. CHKDSK ran cleanly the first time through. After I restarted the machine I got to the machine's wallpaper, but nothing else (no Dr. Watson's either). I was able to run sfc by bringing up the task manager and using File> New Task (Run…). I am not sure if this was valid but the scan ran for at least twenty minutes, and completed without a word (no report, no it ran ok .. no nothing). The machine is still acting as before after the reboot. I believe that I have an XP install disk around here somewhere, but it doesn't belong to this specific machine. This is a Dell box and I probably alos have a restore CD. Has it come to that? What do you think? Thanks a million, Benito

Has it come to that?

It's somewhere between "hope not" and "maybe".

A repair installation is not the end of the world, and can "usually" be completed without any loss of data and settings.
However………. It will always be better to BACKUP your DATA, Files, Addresses, Favorites, Media, or anything important.
Also create a folder with the various driver installation files, if you don't have the Dell Driver reinstallation CD.
You can Download your specific Drivers (exactly like the original configuration and not any updates) from the Dell website.
At Dell.com create a user account and then enter the "Service Tag" number to get directed to exactly what the machine looked like when purchased. Download any Driver files you may need. (If you're using another machine to complete the above, you can burn the Drivers to CD.

You did just fine running SFC via TaskManager - New Task

Can you bring up Internet Explorer the same way?
If so, go to pcpitstop.com and Run the Full Tests.
Post the full TechExpress link address back here into this thread for review.
__________

Before a Repair installation, I'd be inclined to Run CheckDisk one or more additional times and SFC once more.

Then I'd Run FixBoot from Recovery Console.

Here's my standard blurb on Fixboot and Fixmbr:

MBR Master Boot Record fixmbr and fixboot

These errors could have started from a number of things. If you were trying to remove spyware from your computer, you could have triggered something within your system that started these messages. Anytime you work in detail to try and get a computer problem solved, you take the risk of hindering something else. And although these error messages may seem like the end of the world, they're really not!
If these errors are the only ones you're getting, it's probably pretty safe to say that your hard drive is still intact and able to work properly. In this case, it just seems like the Master Boot Record (MBR) is damaged, so we just need to work on repairing that.
Before we go any further, let me give you a little information on the MBR. When you start up your computer each time, the BIOS searches for the MBR in your hard drive and the MBR then tells the BIOS which partition of your hard drive holds the operating system. Therefore, if the MBR is damaged, it's unable to respond back to the BIOS, resulting in a lost operating system. If you have this problem, you may see other error messages like "Invalid partition table" or "Missing operating system" along with the other two from your question.
Now, let's move on to repairing the MBR so you can get things back to normal. For this, we will be working with the Recovery Console in Windows XP.
First, locate your Windows XP Setup disk (it came along with your computer when you first got it). Then restart your computer with that disk in your CD ROM drive. This will keep your computer from booting into the hard drive like it normally would.
Next, you'll see a prompt to press the "R" key, which will bring up the Recovery Console. When that starts, you'll receive another prompt asking you to enter in a number that corresponds with the Windows XP installation problem that you're repairing. This number will more than likely be 1 (one). This is usually the only choice as well. Make sure you do enter a number, because if you leave it blank and just hit Enter, Recovery Console will quit and your computer will just restart normally, with no errors fixed.
So, once you enter in the number 1, hit Enter and you will then be asked to type in your administrator password. Hopefully you have it memorized or written down somewhere, because you must have this password to continue.
Now, the next section will be the Recovery Console command prompt. Once there, type in "fixmbr" (without the quotes) and then verify that you want to continue. When you do that, your damaged MBR will be replaced with a complete new one and you should be able to restart your computer normally from now on. If you're still having trouble, you may also need to fix the boot sector. If this is the case, just follow the directions above exactly, but type in "fixboot" when you get to the Recovery Console command prompt.

OK, so what if the above fails or doesn't fix the problem.

Here's one of my favorite presentations of a "high-percentage" fix for situations like what you find yourself in right now:
http://www.short-media.com/articles/repair_windows_xp
________

If you are able to continue using TaskManager - New Task to open various applications on the machine, you should consider the merits of Backing up Data prior to proceeding with any fix.

Best Regards