Program "has encountered a problem and needs to close" 1

[RLKnox]

IE6, Windows Explorer and Word have repeatedly given me the message, "X has encountered a problem and needs to close." This is occurring more frequently lately. Have kept updated anti-virus dat's, run Ad-aware, PestPatrol and SpyBot.

Help!

WindowsXP Pro, AMD 1700, 512MB, 80GB HD

 

[mattjurado]

Welcome to windows. Need more info than that to troubleshoot, such as has this always happened? If not, when did it start? When do the errors pop up? What other programs are running in the background?

Matt J.

P.S. Please always take the time to backup any and all data before performing any actions suggested for ANY problem, regardless of how minor a change it might seem. Also test the backup to make sure it is intact.

 

[RLKnox]

Thanks for your reply, Matt. This problem began about 2 weeks ago and occurs at least once a session which usually lasts a couple of hours. It occurs when I am online, searching the web. This past couple of weeks I have been gathering info to build another system. I am using the Pricing Guide sites as well as the vendors and have several windows open as well as Excel and Word to record component information, pricing, specs, sources, etc.

I haven't installed anything new except for an HP Scanner which has been trouble-free during installation and operation. I think the problem started after, however.

I built this machine about 2 years ago and haven't had much trouble. I'm not a tweaker or clocker and the software I use is pretty standard.

A peculiar thing happened about a week ago. I rec'd a suspicious e-mail informing me that a letter I sent had been undeliverable. I knew it was phoney and it had an attachment by the name of "test". I saved it to my Desktop and ran AVG which reported that it contained the "My Doom" virus. AVG destroyed it but when I went back to OE, I clicked on the attachment icon to confirm the name of the file and my mouse disappeared and I had to reboot. Don't think there is a connection, tho.

R. L.

 

[bcastner]

faq608-4650
Steps #2 - #3