Help please! Stop Error

[nybarton]

I'm running WinXP, SP2. I recently downloaded and installed McAfee Security
Suite which is offered free by my ISP (Comcast). For years prior, I used
Norton AV and never had a problem with it. Since my NAV subscription was
running out, I went with McAfee. I removed NAV completely using the Norton
Removal Tool, downloaded and installed the McAfee Security Suite. There are
no incompatible programs running that would interfere with McAfee Virus
Scan. The McAfee protection status is fine, but the scan feature has the
following problem which the McAfee techs have been unable to resolve. They
said Microsoft has a solution for this problem and told me to contact
Microsoft.



The problem:

When running a complete scan of my system using McAfee Virus Scan, the scan
proceeds uninterrupted until it reaches a point somewhere around the 110,000
file mark. That's when Windows abruptly shuts down and I get the following
screen:



"A problem has been detected and Windows has been shut down to prevent
damage to your computer.

PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA

Tech Information

***STOP: Ox00000050 (OxFFFFDFF8, Ox00000000, Ox80550211, Ox00000000)"



Before posting here, I went to the Microsoft Knowledge Base and pulled up
the following article:



KB Article 903251 - The HaxDoor virus may cause a "STOP 0x00000050" or
"STOP 0x0000008e" error message



May I add one more piece of info. When bypassing the program scan and
running the McAfee Free Online Scan (which checks all files for viruses
only, but not for spyware or malware which the program does check), there is
no interruption and the scan completes with no virus detection.



I need help! I'm not very computer savvy...I'm afraid to fool with the
Registry. Can someone tell me what they think may be the problem here and if
there's a workaround to the problem. Do you think it's this HaxDoor virus
and is there some way I can tell if it's in my system?



Many, many thanks.

 

[Guest]

I'm running WinXP, SP2. I recently downloaded and installed McAfee Security
Suite which is offered free by my ISP (Comcast). For years prior, I used
Norton AV and never had a problem with it. Since my NAV subscription was
running out, I went with McAfee. I removed NAV completely using the Norton
Removal Tool, downloaded and installed the McAfee Security Suite. There are
no incompatible programs running that would interfere with McAfee Virus
Scan. The McAfee protection status is fine, but the scan feature has the
following problem which the McAfee techs have been unable to resolve. They
said Microsoft has a solution for this problem and told me to contact
Microsoft.



The problem:

When running a complete scan of my system using McAfee Virus Scan, the scan
proceeds uninterrupted until it reaches a point somewhere around the 110,000
file mark. That's when Windows abruptly shuts down and I get the following
screen:



"A problem has been detected and Windows has been shut down to prevent
damage to your computer.

PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA

Tech Information

***STOP: Ox00000050 (OxFFFFDFF8, Ox00000000, Ox80550211, Ox00000000)"



Before posting here, I went to the Microsoft Knowledge Base and pulled up
the following article:



KB Article 903251 - The HaxDoor virus may cause a "STOP 0x00000050" or
"STOP 0x0000008e" error message



May I add one more piece of info. When bypassing the program scan and
running the McAfee Free Online Scan (which checks all files for viruses
only, but not for spyware or malware which the program does check), there is
no interruption and the scan completes with no virus detection.



I need help! I'm not very computer savvy...I'm afraid to fool with the
Registry. Can someone tell me what they think may be the problem here and if
there's a workaround to the problem. Do you think it's this HaxDoor virus
and is there some way I can tell if it's in my system?



Many, many thanks.

I just have to solve the exact problem but Vice versa with Norton not Mcafee
and it was a nasty malware installed by a trusted software, so try to
download either AutoRuns from Microsot and see what is running in the
background or download the HijhackThis and send the report to one of many
forums.
HTH.
nass

 

[nybarton]

Actually, I just ran AdwareAlert which detected over 600 "infections",
including a slew of registry infections that require cleaning. Just
wondering how good this program is before I spend $20 to register it. This
program was once recommended to me by my ISP provider, so I'm sort of
inclined to go with it if others have had good results.

 

[Patrick Keenan]

Actually, I just ran AdwareAlert which detected over 600 "infections",
including a slew of registry infections that require cleaning. Just
wondering how good this program is before I spend $20 to register it.
This program was once recommended to me by my ISP provider, so I'm sort of
inclined to go with it if others have had good results.

Don't bother.

The vast majority of what it's reporting is probably cookies, and you can
simply delete those for free. Also clean the temp folders and browser
caches.

ccleaner, www.ccleaner.com can automate this pretty well.

HTH
-pk

 

[nybarton]

Well, it seems I have a major problems somewhere and it appears to be
spyware or malware. I downloaded and ran the free version of Ad-Aware 2007
and within a minute of it's scan, I got the same Stop error and Windows shut
down. I started back up again and ran a free scan of Registry
Optimizer.......WHEW! It didn't even get started before the Stop error hit
again. I rebooted and uninstalled BOTH programs immediately. So, here I am
again.

It appears I have no active viruses because ALL virus scans complete with
nothing detected. I just can't clean up adware, malware or
spyware.....something is interfering with those scans and/or something is
seriously corrupted in the registry.

Help!

 

[glee]

See if the info in this article applies to your system:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=894278
--
Glen Ventura, MS MVP Shell/User, A+
http://dts-l.org/

Well, it seems I have a major problems somewhere and it appears to be spyware or
malware. I downloaded and ran the free version of Ad-Aware 2007 and within a
minute of it's scan, I got the same Stop error and Windows shut down. I started
back up again and ran a free scan of Registry Optimizer.......WHEW! It didn't
even get started before the Stop error hit again. I rebooted and uninstalled BOTH
programs immediately. So, here I am again.

It appears I have no active viruses because ALL virus scans complete with nothing
detected. I just can't clean up adware, malware or spyware.....something is
interfering with those scans and/or something is seriously corrupted in the
registry.

Help!

 

[nybarton]

Apparently, it DOES apply to my system. I followed the instructions under
"More Information" to see if my system is infected with such malicious
spyware/drivers and it did not reveal any such infected spyware. So, here I
am again back to square one.

 

[Jim]

Apparently, it DOES apply to my system. I followed the instructions under
"More Information" to see if my system is infected with such malicious
spyware/drivers and it did not reveal any such infected spyware. So, here
I am again back to square one.

Neither Ad-Aware nor Spybot causes my systems to crash. There must be
malware somewhere. By the way that error about a page fault in the non
paged pool can only come from a driver because non paged pool is where they
exist.

Observing that you have only run McAfee and an MS AV program, it would seem
premature to assume that you have no spyware. Proving that you have no
spyware is equivalent to proving a negative. This act is impossible.
What you have done is that neither program can detect malware based on its
internal list of malware to locate. This leaves unanswered the question of
"how many can you find"?

To supplement what you have already done, obtain David Lipman's MULTI_AV
package which runs 4 AV programs.

Jim

 

[glee]

snip
By the way that error about a page fault in the non paged pool can only come from
a driver because non paged pool is where they exist.
snip

Not *only* from a driver.....see here:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/windows2000serv/reskit/w2000Msgs/6093.mspx?mfr=true

"Faulty hardware, a buggy system service, antivirus software, and a corrupted NTFS
volume can all generate this type of error."

 

[nybarton]

Jim......assuming it is in fact a driver which you say it must be given the
Page Fault message, then why didn't the malicious driver(s) show up after
"unearthing" every possible bit of information of ALL drivers in
"%windir%\system32\drivers"? I directed that ALL hidden files and folders
be shown, that ALL file extensions be shown, and that ALL protected
operating system files be shown, and that the contents of ALL system files
be shown. I then checked the attributes to search for hidden attributes (HA)
as well as product info, company and date. Nothing came up. Are you saying
that malware can still be present? The Multi_AV site is down and the only
place where it can be is from a European site and the instructions are
either in Swiss or German, neither of which I can understand.

There just has to be a GOOD spyware detection and repair program that can
handle this. When I ran the free version of Ad-Aware, the system crashed
immediately with the aforementioned Page Fault stop error. All virus scans
complete without incident, it's just when the scans get to the malware that
the system crashes.

 

[Guest]

Don't bother.

The vast majority of what it's reporting is probably cookies, and you can
simply delete those for free. Also clean the temp folders and browser
caches.

ccleaner, www.ccleaner.com can automate this pretty well.

HTH
-pk

1... First, try to clean up your caches, Internet files and delete cookies
by doing this:
Click Start >> Control Panel >> Double click Network and Internet
Connections >> Double click Internet Options.
On the IE properties windows you will see these Taps:
General | Security | Privacy | Content | Connections | Programs |
Advanced
Under General Tab clear your History, Internet Files and Cookies.
Then click on Advanced tab and scroll down to under the Browsing Option:
[&] Browsing
[ ] Enable Third-Party browser extensions (Req Rest) uncheck this box.
Then click on Programs Tab and click Manage Add-Ons and Disable all non
Verified Add-Ons (You should Renable them later one-by-one and see the
culprit and update it or remove it.
How to manage Add-Ons:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/883256
Run a scan from here on-line:
http://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/virusinfo/scan.aspx
Download Avast Cleaner from here:
http://www.avast.com/eng/avast-virus-cleaner.html
Lots of tools to download and disinfect your machine:
http://www.bitdefender.co.uk/site/Downloads/browseFreeRemovalTool/
http://free.grisoft.com/doc/5390/lng/us/tpl/v5

Download the Hijackthis and send the report to one of
many
forums for analysis and troubleshooting:
When all else fails, HijackThis v1.99.1
(http://aumha.org/downloads/hijackthis.zip) is the preferred tool to use.
It will help you to both identify and remove any hijackware/spyware. Post
your log to http://aumha.net/viewforum.php?f=30,
http://castlecops.com/forum67.html,
http://forums.subratam.org/index.php?showforum=7, or other appropriate
forums for expert analysis, not here.

Then download these tools to see the running processes in real-time and you
can search them to make sure they are Legit.
"Process Explorer for Windows v10.21"
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/utilities/processexplorer.mspx

"AutoRuns for Windows v8.61 By Mark Russinovich and Bryce Cogswell"
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/ProcessesAndThreads/Autoruns.mspx
HTH.
nass
===
www.nasstec.co.uk

 

[nybarton]

Nass.....Wow, that's an awful lot of information for a novice like me. This
sounds like it's a job for an expert (which I'm not). It just bothers me to
have to spend $200+ to have someone come in to clean up my system when my
computer is already over 4 years old. Seems like I should just live with the
problem until I'm ready to purchase a new computer since it isn't causing
any trouble except during the full McAfee scan. When I bypass the full scan
feature of the installed McAfee program and run the free McAfee Online Scan
for viruses only, it completes without any problem. Therefore, it seems to
me that the problem is NOT a virus infection, but a spyware/malware
infection that kills the system once the full scan reaches that point in the
scan. I'm sure that ridding my system of all spyware/malware would greatly
improve my computer's efficiency, and if it were a fairly new machine, I
wouldn't hesitate to have the problem fixed. In the meantime, my computer is
protected by McAfee, so I'll just bypass the weekly scan and run the Online
Scan from time to time.

I was really hoping there was a good spyware/malware detection program that
could find and fix the problem without much input from me. I certainly do
appreciate all the good information you have supplied, but I just don't feel
competent enough to work through all the steps. By the way, the McAfee techs
already had me clean up all the caches, internet files, cookies, etc. and
that didn't solve the problem.

So once again, here I am, stuck in gear.

1... First, try to clean up your caches, Internet files and delete cookies
by doing this:
Click Start >> Control Panel >> Double click Network and Internet
Connections >> Double click Internet Options.
On the IE properties windows you will see these Taps:
General | Security | Privacy | Content | Connections | Programs |
Advanced
Under General Tab clear your History, Internet Files and Cookies.
Then click on Advanced tab and scroll down to under the Browsing Option:
[&] Browsing
[ ] Enable Third-Party browser extensions (Req Rest) uncheck this box.
Then click on Programs Tab and click Manage Add-Ons and Disable all non
Verified Add-Ons (You should Renable them later one-by-one and see the
culprit and update it or remove it.
How to manage Add-Ons:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/883256
Run a scan from here on-line:
http://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/virusinfo/scan.aspx
Download Avast Cleaner from here:
http://www.avast.com/eng/avast-virus-cleaner.html
Lots of tools to download and disinfect your machine:
http://www.bitdefender.co.uk/site/Downloads/browseFreeRemovalTool/
http://free.grisoft.com/doc/5390/lng/us/tpl/v5

Download the Hijackthis and send the report to one of
many
forums for analysis and troubleshooting:
When all else fails, HijackThis v1.99.1
(http://aumha.org/downloads/hijackthis.zip) is the preferred tool to use.
It will help you to both identify and remove any hijackware/spyware. Post
your log to http://aumha.net/viewforum.php?f=30,
http://castlecops.com/forum67.html,
http://forums.subratam.org/index.php?showforum=7, or other appropriate
forums for expert analysis, not here.

Then download these tools to see the running processes in real-time and
you
can search them to make sure they are Legit.
"Process Explorer for Windows v10.21"
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/utilities/processexplorer.mspx

"AutoRuns for Windows v8.61 By Mark Russinovich and Bryce Cogswell"
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/ProcessesAndThreads/Autoruns.mspx
HTH.
nass
===
www.nasstec.co.uk

 

[Guest]

Hi nybarton,
You are not stuck in Gear, you don't like to reverse and change directions
(lazy Shall I say or Dizzy from life day-t0-day trouble?).
Download the HijackThis File and send the Log to a forum it is free but you
need to register with a forum (free) and send the Log and I'm sure they will
get you out of this.
You don't need to live with an infected Machine and McAfee not protecting
you (it been compromised).
Just try a step and if you need help of something you cannot perform or
misunderstood write back here and all will help you.
HTH.
nass
----
www.nasstec.co.uk

Nass.....Wow, that's an awful lot of information for a novice like me. This
sounds like it's a job for an expert (which I'm not). It just bothers me to
have to spend $200+ to have someone come in to clean up my system when my
computer is already over 4 years old. Seems like I should just live with the
problem until I'm ready to purchase a new computer since it isn't causing
any trouble except during the full McAfee scan. When I bypass the full scan
feature of the installed McAfee program and run the free McAfee Online Scan
for viruses only, it completes without any problem. Therefore, it seems to
me that the problem is NOT a virus infection, but a spyware/malware
infection that kills the system once the full scan reaches that point in the
scan. I'm sure that ridding my system of all spyware/malware would greatly
improve my computer's efficiency, and if it were a fairly new machine, I
wouldn't hesitate to have the problem fixed. In the meantime, my computer is
protected by McAfee, so I'll just bypass the weekly scan and run the Online
Scan from time to time.

I was really hoping there was a good spyware/malware detection program that
could find and fix the problem without much input from me. I certainly do
appreciate all the good information you have supplied, but I just don't feel
competent enough to work through all the steps. By the way, the McAfee techs
already had me clean up all the caches, internet files, cookies, etc. and
that didn't solve the problem.

So once again, here I am, stuck in gear.

1... First, try to clean up your caches, Internet files and delete cookies
by doing this:
Click Start >> Control Panel >> Double click Network and Internet
Connections >> Double click Internet Options.
On the IE properties windows you will see these Taps:
General | Security | Privacy | Content | Connections | Programs |
Advanced
Under General Tab clear your History, Internet Files and Cookies.
Then click on Advanced tab and scroll down to under the Browsing Option:
[&] Browsing
[ ] Enable Third-Party browser extensions (Req Rest) uncheck this box.
Then click on Programs Tab and click Manage Add-Ons and Disable all non
Verified Add-Ons (You should Renable them later one-by-one and see the
culprit and update it or remove it.
How to manage Add-Ons:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/883256
Run a scan from here on-line:
http://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/virusinfo/scan.aspx
Download Avast Cleaner from here:
http://www.avast.com/eng/avast-virus-cleaner.html
Lots of tools to download and disinfect your machine:
http://www.bitdefender.co.uk/site/Downloads/browseFreeRemovalTool/
http://free.grisoft.com/doc/5390/lng/us/tpl/v5

Download the Hijackthis and send the report to one of
many
forums for analysis and troubleshooting:
When all else fails, HijackThis v1.99.1
(http://aumha.org/downloads/hijackthis.zip) is the preferred tool to use.
It will help you to both identify and remove any hijackware/spyware. Post
your log to http://aumha.net/viewforum.php?f=30,
http://castlecops.com/forum67.html,
http://forums.subratam.org/index.php?showforum=7, or other appropriate
forums for expert analysis, not here.

Then download these tools to see the running processes in real-time and
you
can search them to make sure they are Legit.
"Process Explorer for Windows v10.21"
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/utilities/processexplorer.mspx

"AutoRuns for Windows v8.61 By Mark Russinovich and Bryce Cogswell"
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/ProcessesAndThreads/Autoruns.mspx
HTH.
nass
===
www.nasstec.co.uk

 

[Daave]

I'm running WinXP, SP2. I recently downloaded and installed McAfee
Security Suite which is offered free by my ISP (Comcast). For years
prior, I used Norton AV and never had a problem with it. Since my
NAV subscription was running out, I went with McAfee. I removed NAV
completely using the Norton Removal Tool, downloaded and installed
the McAfee Security Suite. There are no incompatible programs running
that would interfere with McAfee Virus Scan. The McAfee protection
status is fine, but the scan feature has the following problem which
the McAfee techs have been unable to resolve. They said Microsoft has
a solution for this problem and told me to contact Microsoft.



The problem:

When running a complete scan of my system using McAfee Virus Scan,
the scan proceeds uninterrupted until it reaches a point somewhere
around the 110,000 file mark. That's when Windows abruptly shuts down
and I get the following screen:



"A problem has been detected and Windows has been shut down to prevent
damage to your computer.

PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA

Tech Information

***STOP: Ox00000050 (OxFFFFDFF8, Ox00000000, Ox80550211, Ox00000000)"



Before posting here, I went to the Microsoft Knowledge Base and
pulled up the following article:



KB Article 903251 - The HaxDoor virus may cause a "STOP 0x00000050"
or "STOP 0x0000008e" error message



May I add one more piece of info. When bypassing the program scan and
running the McAfee Free Online Scan (which checks all files for
viruses only, but not for spyware or malware which the program does
check), there is no interruption and the scan completes with no virus
detection.



I need help! I'm not very computer savvy...I'm afraid to fool with
the Registry. Can someone tell me what they think may be the problem
here and if there's a workaround to the problem. Do you think it's
this HaxDoor virus and is there some way I can tell if it's in my
system?

This is some thread!

It's taken many turns, but I've found that most often the simplest
explanation is the correct one.

You need to lose McAfee.

Their techs told you Microsoft has the solution, and they're correct.
Here is the solution:

(frm http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=183169&sd=RMVP )

"Disable any anti-virus software that is running on your computer. If
the STOP errors no longer occur, contact the anti-virus software
manufacturer about a possible upgrade."

As you have learned, McAfee and Norton/Symantec are often much more
trouble than they're worth. There are far better antivirus programs,
many of them free. Have a look at:

Paid versions which are highly recommended include NOD32:

http://www.eset.com/products/windows.php

.... and Kaspersky:

http://usa.kaspersky.com/products_services/HomeProducts.php

Actually, you can download a free (for a year) version of Kaspersky
(it's AOL's branded version, but it has the same engine):

http://www.activevirusshield.com/

The following antivirus programs are all free and have *many* fans:

AVG (this is what I use)
http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/2/

avast!
http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html

AntiVir
http://www.free-av.com/

I noticed elsewhere that you had used AdwareAlert, which I personally
wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole. It was once considered a rogue
program. See:

http://www.spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-spyware.htm#adw-alert_note

Of course, the name is deceptively similar to Ad-Aware, which is
actually a good program!

For spyware, it's rare that one program catches everything. I recommend
a combination of the following, which are all free:

Ad-Aware
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/products/ad_aware_free.php

Spybot Search & Destroy
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html

SpywareBlaster
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html

These may be helpful down the road *just in case* the above three miss
something:

A-Squared
http://www.emsisoft.com/en/software/free/

CWShredder
http://us.trendmicro.com/us/products/personal/CWShredder/

I've also heard good things about SUPERAntiSpyware (although I haven't
used it):

http://www.superantispyware.com/

I know this post contains lots of info. I'll distill it down to the bare
minimum:

1. Disable (and eventually uninstall) McAfee.
2. Use AVG (or another) antivirus.
3. Run at least these two anti-spyware apps:
a. Ad-Aware
b. Spybot Search & Destroy

Hope this helps!

 

[Jim]

Jim......assuming it is in fact a driver which you say it must be given
the Page Fault message, then why didn't the malicious driver(s) show up
after "unearthing" every possible bit of information of ALL drivers in
"%windir%\system32\drivers"? I directed that ALL hidden files and folders
be shown, that ALL file extensions be shown, and that ALL protected
operating system files be shown, and that the contents of ALL system files
be shown. I then checked the attributes to search for hidden attributes
(HA) as well as product info, company and date. Nothing came up. Are you
saying that malware can still be present? The Multi_AV site is down and
the only place where it can be is from a European site and the
instructions are either in Swiss or German, neither of which I can
understand.

All this is very interesting, but what you did was merely identify all of
the drivers and who claims
to have furnished them. Malware can easily infect files which leaving the
info that you found
alone.

There just has to be a GOOD spyware detection and repair program that can
handle this.

There is no spyware detection and repair program which detects all forms of
spyware. Instead,
what needs to be done is to run several because some detect a given subset
of malware while others
detect a different subset.

When I ran the free version of Ad-Aware, the system crashed immediately
with the aforementioned Page Fault stop error. All virus scans complete
without incident, it's just when the scans get to the malware that the
system crashes.

As another poster mentioned, there are programs besides drivers which must
execute out of non paged pool. It can be quite difficult to
determine exactly which one(s) are causing the problem.
Jim

 

[nybarton]

Nass......

thank you for being so helpful. One question: After downloading HijackThis,
do I need to disable McAfee before running the scan? Thanks.

 

[Guest]

NO, but you need to run the Scan with HijackThis either install on the
Desktop or on the system Root not from the Temp to get better result.
HTH.
Let us know your findings and Good luck.
nass

 

[nybarton]

Nass......thanks so much. I'll try to do the HijackThis scan as soon as
possible, probably sometime over the weekend. I'll post the scan log to one
of the forums there and see what feedback I get and then I'll visit back
here and let you know what happened.

Your assistance in this matter is very much appreciated. Not only have you
been most helpful, but you've also been most understanding and courteous
concerning my novice abilities when it comes to computers.

 

[nybarton]

Nass and Daave......we may be getting closer to the answer to my problem (I
hope).

Ok, here's the latest. I did the HijackThis thing, made a copy of the log
and posted my problem and the log in the Coyote Security Forum yesterday
under the name "legality". Haven't received any replies as yet.

However, just a few minutes ago, I tried something else. I downloaded and
installed Spybot-SD since it comes so highly recommended. Although the
program said it wasn't necessary, it did suggest that before I start the
scan, I allow it to make a backup copy of my registry just in case a
restoration became necessary. Well, I did, and the backup screen came on
and said there were 7 steps. Well guess what? When it reached Step 3 out of
7 it seemed to stop progressing and THEN......you guessed it, Windows shut
down and it went right into the PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA screen. The
other day, as previously reported, I also tried Ad-Aware and Registry
Optimizer and both of them caused the Page Fault error screen.

Does this sound as if my problem exists in the Registry????

 

[Shenan Stanley]

Nass and Daave......we may be getting closer to the answer to my
problem (I hope).

Ok, here's the latest. I did the HijackThis thing, made a copy of
the log and posted my problem and the log in the Coyote Security
Forum yesterday under the name "legality". Haven't received any
replies as yet.
However, just a few minutes ago, I tried something else. I
downloaded and installed Spybot-SD since it comes so highly
recommended. Although the program said it wasn't necessary, it did
suggest that before I start the scan, I allow it to make a backup
copy of my registry just in case a restoration became necessary. Well, I
did, and the backup screen came on and said there were 7
steps. Well guess what? When it reached Step 3 out of 7 it seemed
to stop progressing and THEN......you guessed it, Windows shut down
and it went right into the PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA screen. The
other day, as previously reported, I also tried Ad-Aware and
Registry Optimizer and both of them caused the Page Fault error
screen.
Does this sound as if my problem exists in the Registry????

Have you tried SuperAntiSpyware? http://superantispyware.com/
The free version - full scan.