Error Message When You Click About Internet Explorer

ID: Q196806

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Internet Explorer versions 4.0, 4.01, 4.01 Service Pack 1 for Windows NT 4.0

SYMPTOMS

When you click About Internet Explorer on the Help menu in Internet Explorer, you may receive one of the following error messages:

Internet Explorer cannot open the Internet site RES://shdocvw.dll/about.dlg
Invalid Argument
Internet Explorer cannot open the Internet site res://C:\WINNT\System32\mshtml.dll/find.dlg Invalid argument

Note that this issue may not occur for all of the different users who may log on to your computer.

CAUSE

This issue can occur if you installed Internet Explorer version 4.0, 4.01, or 4.01 Service Pack 1 for Windows NT 4.0, but you did not install the Windows Desktop Update component.

RESOLUTION

To work around this issue, use either of the following methods:

Method 1

Log on to your computer with a new profile, start Internet Explorer, and then click About Internet Explorer on the Help menu. To create a new profile, use the following steps:

1. Log on as the Administrator of the local computer.

2. In the Winit\Profiles folder, rename or delete the user's profile

   folder.

3. Restart your computer, and then log on as the user.

Method 2

WARNING: Do not install the Windows Desktop Update component if you are running Windows NT Server 4.0, Terminal Server edition.

Log on to your computer as the user who receives the error message, and then install the Windows Desktop Update component. For information about how to add or remove the Windows Desktop Update component, see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q165695
   TITLE     : How to Add or Remove Windows Desktop Update

Additional query words: 4.00

Keywords          : kbenv kberrmsg msient 
Issue type        : kbprb

Last Reviewed: April 4, 1999