random crashes

[marion]

I've got an e-machines, pentium 4 running Windows XP home
and it crashes randomly. Some days it won't crash at all
and other days it will crash 4 times within an hour. The
programs I'm running seem to have no effect on whether or
not it crashes. When I go into the Event Log, under
System there is always the same message for the time of
the crash:

"Microsoft (R) Windows (R) 5.01. 2600 Service Pack 1
Uniprocessor Free."

I don't know what it means or what I can do to fix it. If
anyone has ANY clues, please email me at (e-mail address removed).

Thanks

 

[Undisclosed]

Sounds like a virus. Use a virus checker to see. if you
dont have one there is a free online one @
housecall.trendmicro.com

 

[marion]

Already have Nortons AV installed and updated every 3
days...no virus found. Have also scanned with online
scanner...nothing found. Very frustrating.

 

[Malke]

Already have Nortons AV installed and updated every 3
days...no virus found. Have also scanned with online
scanner...nothing found. Very frustrating.

(snip)

Random crashes are usually indicative of hardware failure. Here are some
generic troubleshooting steps to take:

First open the computer and run it open, observing all fans (overheating
will cause freezing). Then do a RAM test - I like Memtest86 - and if
necessary, continue on to test the hard drive and motherboard. If you
can't do this yourself, take the machine to a good local computer shop
(not a CompUSA or Best Buy store).

Malke