They're sorry for the inconvenience

[Guest]

I am running a Dell 4600 Dimension with Pentium 4 2.8GHz, 512MB ram, Intel
865G chipset. Lately, I have been getting error messages that state that
Program<X> has to close, and that Windows is sorry for the inconvenience, and
would I want to send a report to Microsoft? These occur at random, even at
times when I have more than 100MB of memory left. Is there any one item that
I should be looking at in order to track down this problem? Thanks for any
help.
Ron

 

[philo]

I am running a Dell 4600 Dimension with Pentium 4 2.8GHz, 512MB ram, Intel
865G chipset. Lately, I have been getting error messages that state that
Program<X> has to close, and that Windows is sorry for the inconvenience, and
would I want to send a report to Microsoft? These occur at random, even at
times when I have more than 100MB of memory left. Is there any one item that
I should be looking at in order to track down this problem? Thanks for any
help.
Ron

you may want to run a memory test...
though 512megs of RAM is sufficient...it may be defective

 

[Anando [MS-MVP]]

Hello,

Which program actually crashes ? You will have to make sure that the program is compatible under
windows xp. This might be a problem with the specific program and not neccessarily Windows XP and/or
the hardware that you have.

--

Anando
Microsoft MVP- Windows Shell/User
http://www.microsoft.com/mvp
http://www.mvps.org

In memory of Alex Nichol
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/meetexperts/nichol.mspx

Folder customizations
http://newdelhi.sancharnet.in/minku

Protect your PC!
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

 

[Alan Smith]

I am running a Dell 4600 Dimension with Pentium 4 2.8GHz, 512MB ram, Intel
865G chipset. Lately, I have been getting error messages that state that
Program<X> has to close, and that Windows is sorry for the inconvenience,
and
would I want to send a report to Microsoft? These occur at random, even at
times when I have more than 100MB of memory left. Is there any one item
that
I should be looking at in order to track down this problem? Thanks for any
help.
Ron

You'll need to get more details than that. One program? Have you just
installed that unnamed program? Is it happening to all of the programs or
just one? Try and see if it is after a certain amount of time from switching
the computer on or from starting the program? (I know you say random but try
and consider it in relation to those events to see if there is a pattern).
Any recent changes to your system like just upgraded to SP2 and it's
started? Have you got an updated antivirus program and scanned? Have you got
updated antispyware software and scanned?

 

[Guest]

Thanks, philo
I'm not sure whether my BIOS runs a memory test on bootup, but I will try to
find some way to check it (any suggestions?). Hehe.

 

[Guest]

Yes, Anando, I thought as you did, however, several programs have experienced
this problem, and there seems to be no common element. They are showing as
compatible. Thanks for the suggestion.
Ron

 

[Guest]

Alan,
In reference to your points,
This problem affects several programs, some of which are relatively new to
my system, and some of which have been installed for quite some time. I will
try and time the event with respect to system startup and program startup.
My system came with Windows XP Home Edition SP2. I have the McAfee suite
installed and running, updated almost daily. Thanks for the suggestions. I'll
check out that timing thing.
Ron

 

[Frank]

www.memtest86.org

Thanks, philo
I'm not sure whether my BIOS runs a memory test on bootup, but I will try
to
find some way to check it (any suggestions?). Hehe.

 

[Frank]

Are you using battery back ups (UPS)? If no, you may have some
file corruption from dirty power _surges/brownouts_.

 

[Guest]

Sorry Frank, I have only city power, and as luck would have it, everything's
running perfectly since a couple of days ago. Now when I need things to fail,
naturally they won't, but when they do, I'm going to collect data on the
timing of things. In the meantime, do you know of a good memory testing
software? Thanks, again.
Ron