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Oracle VirtualBox Error Windows 98 / SE EXPLORER caused an Exception 6d007eH and SHELL32.DLL Error

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If you are trying to install Windows 98 / SE on Oracle Virtual Box but are getting stuck with a message telling you, “This program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down.” then we have a possible fix for you!

The error is, “Explorer has caused an Exception 6d007eH and Shell32.DLL”. Without getting overly complicated and trying to get to the fix quickly, the problem is mainly 32-bit protected mode disk drivers.

The “fix”, or more accurately, the workaround is:

  1. Reboot the VM once this error occurs during installation
  2. Press F8 before Windows 98 / SE setup continues
  3. Skip or wait for Scandisk to finish if it loads
  4. Enter “Safe Mode” <This can sometimes take awhile for safe mode to boot>
  5. Once in Safe Mode, right click “My Computer”
  6. Select “Properties”
  7. Select “Performance”
  8. Select “File System”
  9. Select “Troubleshooting”
  10. Put a check next to “Disable all 32-bit protected-mode disk drivers”
  11. Click “Apply”
  12. Close the dialog box and restart the VM

Allow Windows 98 / SE to continue setup as it normally would and this time it should complete the install.

Screenshots of the Process are below:

Enter Safe Mode
Once in Safe Mode, right click “My Computer”
Select “Properties”
Select “Performance”
Select “File System”
Select “Troubleshooting”
Put a check next to “Disable all 32-bit protected-mode disk drivers”
Reboot and complete setup.

How To Straighten Bent Pins on a CPU

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Computer processor (CPU)

So you’ve somehow managed to bend the pins on your CPU, don’t freak out! There are few things you can do to try to fix this.

Yes, in my early days of tinkering and building my own PCs I did end up bending a pin or two. Hopefully, once you’ve done it you’ll learn to never do it again.

  • The first thing you want to do is get a credit card, not to buy a new CPU of course, but to help you straighten out the pins on the chip. A gift card, drivers license or similar sized card may work as well.
  • Make sure the card slides between the pins easily but still comes in contact with the pins. You don’t want it to be too thin or it won’t straighten out the pins.
  • Slide the card through the rows of pins that are affected from both top to bottom and side to side. This will ensure that the pins are straightened from every side.
  • Once your sure everything looks good, carefully attempt place the CPU into the socket. Don’t force it into place or you will likely bend more pins! If you have any trouble, take out the CPU and re-align your pins.
  • If the pins are are in really bad shape you can use an empty mechanical pencil tip to place over the pin and stand it upright.

That’s all you should need to do!

*It’s important to note that after several attempts the pins can break and no one wants that, so make sure you do your best to align them in the first few attempts.

How To Play Diablo II LOD on Windows 8

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Many of us are enjoying the recent release of Diablo III but some of us still love to play Diablo II Lord of Destruction, and with Windows 8, that can be a little problematic.

Diablo II Lord of Destruction is an outstanding game that became an instant classic when it was released on June 29th in North America. Even over a decade later, Diablo fans still play Diablo II LOD on Battle.net and in single player mode. However, the operating systems we use have changed quite dramatically over the years and with each new version usually comes a new set of problems for gamers who enjoy playing classic titles.

DII LOD Cover Art Diablo II Lord Of Destruction
Diablo II Lord of Destruction Cover Art (Blizzard Entertainment®)

If you have attempted to play Diablo II LOD on Windows 8 you will notice many issues, including some serious lag. Here are a few steps you can take to make sure your Diablo II LOD experience in Windows 8 is just as good, if not better, than it was back in 2001.

This quick “how to” assumes that you have already installed and patched the latest version of Diablo II LOD on your system. If you need patch information you can obtain it through Blizzard’s official patch site.

Before launching the game, right click on the game’s shortcut and select “Properties”, then select the “Compatibility” tab.

Once on the Compatibility tab, select the following options:

  • Check “Run this program in compatibility mode for” and set the value to “Windows XP SP 2/3”
  • Check “Reduced Color Mode” and set to “16-bit (65536) Color”
  • Check “Disable display scaling on high DPI settings”
  • Optional “Run this program as administrator”

Once you dial in these settings click Apply and then OK.

The next step is crucial if you want to reduce or eliminate all of the glitching and lagging that is known to plague Diablo II LOD on Windows 8.

Obtain an 3DFX Glide Wrapper, this is a little application that will allow you to use the Glide interface with Diablo II LOD. I have found that GLIDE3-to-OpenGL Wrapper by Sven Labusch seems to work the best out of any I have tried so far.

Download the files from Sven’s site and read the “ReadMe.txt” file. This will contain the most current instructions for installing and setting up the wrapper. Be sure to re-run the video test after the wrapper is installed and set it to use Glide.

** Note: You Will Also Need to apply compatibility settings to run the Diablo II Video Test (D2VidTst.exe) * *

 

That’s it! Hopefully you will be successful in your attempts to get Diablo running smooth. Just follow the directions closely and have fun!