My computer crashes intermittently, without warning. This may occur say 20
times a day. I am then presented with a blank screen. At that stage, I have
to reboot it.

I have Microsoft SP2 loaded together with updates.

I have run Adaware, Spybot, Norton Antivirus, Windows XP troubleshooter etc
– during all scans, the computer crashes at some point, without completing
the scan. I have rerun the scans and stopped them whenever it found “infected
items”. I then let the software fix them. I would restart the scan (from
scratch) and do the same for any other items identified – before the computer
reaches a point when it crashes again. In fixing the items, sometimes the
computer would crash again. I have not been able to detect all “infections”
as in running some of the above programmes, the computer crashes almost at
the start.

It sometimes crashes when I download Norton Antivirus Definitions. The
computer will also crash whenever I run:
- Microsoft monthly scan tool to scan it
- Any other external internet link or software to scan it.

I use the “Ctrl + C” and “Ctrl + V” functions a lot within Windows to copy
and paste. The computer has sometimes crashed when using these functions.

Recently, the computer creates new files, especially in Microsoft Word, with
the following prefix to the filename:
~
~$

Usually they are copies of existing files, with the above prefix and with
the original filename cut off at the beginning (of the filename).

Recurrence of the problem is quite frequent now.

I would be extremely grateful if someone could help me with the above.

I can post a Hijack This log if this helps.

Many thanks

Hugh

try booting from a cd recovery tool to run disk scans. it is possible that
the os is so badly corrupted that the best path is 'format c:'. there is
also the possibility that you have hardware problems, again, boot from a cd
tool like norton utilities and run memory and disk tests.


"Hugh" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:CB0341F6-A8C8-41DE-B090-(E-Mail Removed)...
> My computer crashes intermittently, without warning. This may occur say 20
> times a day. I am then presented with a blank screen. At that stage, I
> have
> to reboot it.
>
> I have Microsoft SP2 loaded together with updates.
>
> I have run Adaware, Spybot, Norton Antivirus, Windows XP troubleshooter
> etc
> - during all scans, the computer crashes at some point, without completing
> the scan. I have rerun the scans and stopped them whenever it found
> "infected
> items". I then let the software fix them. I would restart the scan (from
> scratch) and do the same for any other items identified - before the
> computer
> reaches a point when it crashes again. In fixing the items, sometimes the
> computer would crash again. I have not been able to detect all
> "infections"
> as in running some of the above programmes, the computer crashes almost at
> the start.
>
> It sometimes crashes when I download Norton Antivirus Definitions. The
> computer will also crash whenever I run:
> - Microsoft monthly scan tool to scan it
> - Any other external internet link or software to scan it.
>
> I use the "Ctrl + C" and "Ctrl + V" functions a lot within Windows to copy
> and paste. The computer has sometimes crashed when using these functions.
>
> Recently, the computer creates new files, especially in Microsoft Word,
> with
> the following prefix to the filename:
> ~
> ~$
>
> Usually they are copies of existing files, with the above prefix and with
> the original filename cut off at the beginning (of the filename).
>
> Recurrence of the problem is quite frequent now.
>
> I would be extremely grateful if someone could help me with the above.
>
> I can post a Hijack This log if this helps.
>
> Many thanks
>
> Hugh
>

It may be a hardware problem, but I suggest to help narrow it booting in
safe mode and running the Adaware and Spybot scans, partly to see if they
complete as well as what they turn up. Also, are there any error messages
in Event Viewer logs?
--

"Hugh" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:CB0341F6-A8C8-41DE-B090-(E-Mail Removed)...
> My computer crashes intermittently, without warning. This may occur say 20
> times a day. I am then presented with a blank screen. At that stage, I
> have
> to reboot it.
>
> I have Microsoft SP2 loaded together with updates.
>
> I have run Adaware, Spybot, Norton Antivirus, Windows XP troubleshooter
> etc
> - during all scans, the computer crashes at some point, without completing
> the scan. I have rerun the scans and stopped them whenever it found
> "infected
> items". I then let the software fix them. I would restart the scan (from
> scratch) and do the same for any other items identified - before the
> computer
> reaches a point when it crashes again. In fixing the items, sometimes the
> computer would crash again. I have not been able to detect all
> "infections"
> as in running some of the above programmes, the computer crashes almost at
> the start.
>
> It sometimes crashes when I download Norton Antivirus Definitions. The
> computer will also crash whenever I run:
> - Microsoft monthly scan tool to scan it
> - Any other external internet link or software to scan it.
>
> I use the "Ctrl + C" and "Ctrl + V" functions a lot within Windows to copy
> and paste. The computer has sometimes crashed when using these functions.
>
> Recently, the computer creates new files, especially in Microsoft Word,
> with
> the following prefix to the filename:
> ~
> ~$
>
> Usually they are copies of existing files, with the above prefix and with
> the original filename cut off at the beginning (of the filename).
>
> Recurrence of the problem is quite frequent now.
>
> I would be extremely grateful if someone could help me with the above.
>
> I can post a Hijack This log if this helps.
>
> Many thanks
>
> Hugh
>

Thank you very much for your response GTS. Unfortunately the computer crashes
in safe mode as well whenever I run Adaware, Spybot, Norton Antivirus,
Spyblaster etc. Usually it runs for a few seconds (perhaps a minute at times)
before crashing.

The event viewer usually lists "illegal operation" and does not list an
"error" most of the time when a computer crashes. The illegal operation is in
Microsoft Word usually. It relates to closing a document. Many a time, when I
close a document, a dialogue box appears stating a "runtime error" - and the
Word programme closes down.

Any further advice you can add would be gratefully received.

Many thanks again

Hugh


"GTS" wrote:

> It may be a hardware problem, but I suggest to help narrow it booting in
> safe mode and running the Adaware and Spybot scans, partly to see if they
> complete as well as what they turn up. Also, are there any error messages
> in Event Viewer logs?
> --
>
> "Hugh" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:CB0341F6-A8C8-41DE-B090-(E-Mail Removed)...
> > My computer crashes intermittently, without warning. This may occur say 20
> > times a day. I am then presented with a blank screen. At that stage, I
> > have
> > to reboot it.
> >
> > I have Microsoft SP2 loaded together with updates.
> >
> > I have run Adaware, Spybot, Norton Antivirus, Windows XP troubleshooter
> > etc
> > - during all scans, the computer crashes at some point, without completing
> > the scan. I have rerun the scans and stopped them whenever it found
> > "infected
> > items". I then let the software fix them. I would restart the scan (from
> > scratch) and do the same for any other items identified - before the
> > computer
> > reaches a point when it crashes again. In fixing the items, sometimes the
> > computer would crash again. I have not been able to detect all
> > "infections"
> > as in running some of the above programmes, the computer crashes almost at
> > the start.
> >
> > It sometimes crashes when I download Norton Antivirus Definitions. The
> > computer will also crash whenever I run:
> > - Microsoft monthly scan tool to scan it
> > - Any other external internet link or software to scan it.
> >
> > I use the "Ctrl + C" and "Ctrl + V" functions a lot within Windows to copy
> > and paste. The computer has sometimes crashed when using these functions.
> >
> > Recently, the computer creates new files, especially in Microsoft Word,
> > with
> > the following prefix to the filename:
> > ~
> > ~$
> >
> > Usually they are copies of existing files, with the above prefix and with
> > the original filename cut off at the beginning (of the filename).
> >
> > Recurrence of the problem is quite frequent now.
> >
> > I would be extremely grateful if someone could help me with the above.
> >
> > I can post a Hijack This log if this helps.
> >
> > Many thanks
> >
> > Hugh
> >
>
>
>

Dave
Thank you very much for your response. Reformatting would obviously be a
"last resort". I may have to do that if all else fails. It will be less
painful if there is an alternative solution. I will try your suggestion. By
the way, what is a cd recovery tool?

Would be grateful for your further help and comments.

Many thanks again.

Hugh

"Dave" wrote:

> try booting from a cd recovery tool to run disk scans. it is possible that
> the os is so badly corrupted that the best path is 'format c:'. there is
> also the possibility that you have hardware problems, again, boot from a cd
> tool like norton utilities and run memory and disk tests.
>
>
> "Hugh" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:CB0341F6-A8C8-41DE-B090-(E-Mail Removed)...
> > My computer crashes intermittently, without warning. This may occur say 20
> > times a day. I am then presented with a blank screen. At that stage, I
> > have
> > to reboot it.
> >
> > I have Microsoft SP2 loaded together with updates.
> >
> > I have run Adaware, Spybot, Norton Antivirus, Windows XP troubleshooter
> > etc
> > - during all scans, the computer crashes at some point, without completing
> > the scan. I have rerun the scans and stopped them whenever it found
> > "infected
> > items". I then let the software fix them. I would restart the scan (from
> > scratch) and do the same for any other items identified - before the
> > computer
> > reaches a point when it crashes again. In fixing the items, sometimes the
> > computer would crash again. I have not been able to detect all
> > "infections"
> > as in running some of the above programmes, the computer crashes almost at
> > the start.
> >
> > It sometimes crashes when I download Norton Antivirus Definitions. The
> > computer will also crash whenever I run:
> > - Microsoft monthly scan tool to scan it
> > - Any other external internet link or software to scan it.
> >
> > I use the "Ctrl + C" and "Ctrl + V" functions a lot within Windows to copy
> > and paste. The computer has sometimes crashed when using these functions.
> >
> > Recently, the computer creates new files, especially in Microsoft Word,
> > with
> > the following prefix to the filename:
> > ~
> > ~$
> >
> > Usually they are copies of existing files, with the above prefix and with
> > the original filename cut off at the beginning (of the filename).
> >
> > Recurrence of the problem is quite frequent now.
> >
> > I would be extremely grateful if someone could help me with the above.
> >
> > I can post a Hijack This log if this helps.
> >
> > Many thanks
> >
> > Hugh
> >
>
>
>