How To Fix The IKernel.exe Error

IKernel.exe is an application component of the “Install Shield” program. This file is used to control all the processes that Install Shield needs to process when installing an application. It’s basically like the “work-horse” for all the Install Shield application, and is vital for installing various programs on your PC. Unfortunately, this file is continually causing errors on your system.

You may receive the following error when using the InstallShield tool to install programs:

“The install shield engine ‘IKernel.exe’ could not be launched

What Causes The IKernel.exe Error?

You might encounter this problem when one or more of the files listed below are not in the Windows\System32 folder:

• Stdole32.tlb
• Stdole2.tlb
• Stdole.tlb

There are also some other causes of this error, including registry errors and other problems. This tutorial will show you how to fix them:

How To Fix The IKernel.exe Error

Step 1 – Load IKernel.exe From The Windows XP CD

You can fix the Ikernel.exe error by copying the file that is missing from the Windows XP installation CD. This will mean that the Windows\System32 folder will then recognise the file being there and will solve the Ikernel.exe error. To do this follow these steps:

• Click Start, then select Run and type in the ‘cmd‘ command (without quotations) then press Enter.
• In the Command Prompt window type the CD\ command, then press enter to change to the Root Directory.
• Once you have done that, insert the Windows XP installation CD into the disk drive and run the following commands to expand and copy the file that is missing to the Windows\System32 folder:
• Expand F:\i386\filename.tl_ C:\Windows\system32\filename.tlb
• In the command above the ‘F:’ represents the CD drive letter and ‘C:’ represents the Windows Root Drive letter.
• The \filename represents the file that is missing that you want to expand ‘Stdole32.tlb, Stdole2.tlb, Stdole.tlb’

Step 2 – Clean Out The Registry

– Download this registry cleaner

After you’ve placed the IKernel.exe file from your XP CD into the System32 folder, you then need to be sure that Windows is able to read the new file & know where it’s located. The registry stores all the settings & options that your computer needs to run, and is also where referenced to the likes of IKernel.exe are kept to help your PC read the files they need to run. To ensure that Windows is able to read the file it needs, you should repair the registry by using a ‘registry cleaner’ to ensure your PC knows where IKernel.exe is stored.