Help - System Crashes Repeatedly

[wwaag]

Recently, XP PRO has been repeatedly crashing--instant reboot. Don't think its hardware since I'm running a dual-boot system and the other OS (also XP PRO) works OK--no reboots.

Seems to most likely occur when accessing the internet although not always. Any suggestions on how to troubleshoot other than re-installing the OS would be greatly appreciated. Tried System Restore to earliest point available and still no luck. Thanks.

wwaag

[Faustus]

Obviously something in one copy of XPis messed up. Usually drivers and such. Does this copy of XP have something installed that the other doesnt?

[wwaag]

Yeah, lots of stuff more than the other-about 17GB vs 9 GB. I use the smaller OS just for video editing. Problems began after (or around the time) I installed Firefox 1.5. I then removed Firefox altogether--however, the problem remains. I probably need to do a clean install anyway, but with all of the "stuff" I've got in this OS, I really don't want to reload everything. Thanks.

wwaag

[redwudz]

Do you have antivirus/antitrojan programs on that partition? You might try http://housecall.trendmicro.com/ for a online scan. Some malware can put copies in your restore file, so a restore may not help.

I use a antivirus program, Spybot, and Spyware Blaster and I still get them occasionally. I boot in 'safe mode' and do my scans from there. This keeps the programs from loading drivers.

This may not be your problem, but I would do some scans if you can't locate the cause from anything else.

Then again, a clean install solves most any problem.

[Dv8ted2]

What is the exact context of the error message you are getting?

That would allow us to help you further.

[Headbanger's Ball]

Also check to make sure the cpu fan is running nicely and the powersupply fan is working correctly.

[wwaag]

Problem Solved (I Hope!)

First, thanks for the responses. Turns out that it was associated with Firefox. Not Firefox, per se, but a plug-in that is used by AI Roboform (password software). They've just released a new version of the plug-in and indicate that the previous version had a "serious" error resulting in random crashes which is exactly what my system was doing. Since I've removed that plug-in, I've had no more problems. Will next try to re-install Firefox with the new plug-in. Hope that it works.

wwaag

[fritzi93]

I'd do this if I were you:

Start -> Run -> sfc /scannow -> OK

Note the space after "sfc". This is the system file checker, it will replace any corrupted Windows files.

Good luck.

[wwaag]

fritzi93

Took your suggestion. Had to insert the XP installation disk. After completing the scan, I tried to reboot. XP would not load, or should I say, after 10 minutes, I gave up. It appearred to be in super slow-motion. XP screen would show but the blue dots barely moved acorss the screen. Then tried to boot in Safe Mode -- same thing. Fortunately, I had done a system backup yesterday afternoon after getting the OS to work OK. Did a system restore and everything is OK again. Don't know the problem with running sfc /scannow but it sure didn't work. Or does is take that long after the initial scan. Any ideas?

wwaag

[fritzi93]

Something about your description of the problem made me suspect serious system instability. Running the sfc /scannow command should NOT cause problems. (You had problems already, not to put too fine a point on it). On the other hand, it doesn't ALWAYS fix serious problems either. I think you're looking at a complete format/re-install.

But you could try a repair install. Look here:

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

Now, maybe someone else can do better. If no one else responds here, try asking about it at:

http://www.softwaretipsandtricks.com/forum

[fritzi93]

Did a little more digging and I'm starting to suspect Redwudz is right. You may have some malware on your machine, and the fact that the system file checker didn't work just makes it more likely. If you could make certain your system is clean (try the online scan that Redwudz gave the link to), then you could try system file checker again. If that doesn't work, try the repair install. After that...the nuclear option.

Please post back and tell us how you resolved this problem. Good luck.

[wwaag]

Like I said, everything seems to work OK now, so I think for the time being, I'll leave well enough alone. The system was OK before I did the Firefox install and it seems to be OK again since its been deleted . It's been over a year since a clean install, so I suspect I'll start the process agan. Probably install to a new partition, so I can gradually add software and avoid the 2-day marathon. Again, thanks for your reply.

Incidentally, I've done repeated scans for malware using Zone Alarm's security suite so that doesn't appear to have been the problem. Like I said, the developer for the AI Roboform plug-in indicated that the version I was using was causing random crashses. Since I've removed it, the crashes have dsiappeared so it seems likely that , indeed, it was the problem. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

wwaag