PCA Forums

I'm at a loss for ideas. I have a Windows XP machine, running AMD 2800+ that happens to crash randomly while surfing the net. I can't pinpoint the reason for instability.

Anybody have any tips? Thanks - Huy

Have you scanned for spyware?

i was hoping that was it... but a quick scan turns up nothing.

What did you scan with?
Any toolbars loaded?
What kind of apps are running in the background?
Using broadband? Tried another NIC?

A "Quick" scans tell you nothing nowadays. Refer to my detailed spyware removal instructions here:
http://theflyingpenguin.com/spyware-removal.shtml

Trouble is that my page is out of date now. As of 3 months ago there's Malware out there that is almost impossible to detect and virtually impossible to remove.

If you're lucky, you've got some relatively tame stuff that my instructions will remove. If not, then your only choice is to backup your documents folder, favorites and anything else important, wipe the boot partition and re-install Windows.

The fact that it crashes while surfing may indicate that all it is is a malware hiding in a BHO. BHO Malware will cause stability issues only when IE or or any Windows Explorer window (My Computer, Control Panel, etc) is open.

If you do have to perform a clean re-install of Windows ultimately, do yourself a favor and invest in a 2nd or external HDD and a copy of Acronis TrueImage and make an image of your drive after you have it all setup the way you want it again, then re-image it every few months. This happens again you can restore it to an image before the infection occurred.



Hope this helps...

i look a look at my memory dumps, looks like i'm having a dreaded IRQ not less or equal error... guess i will be removing drivers until i figure something out.

Try updating your NIC and motherboard chipset drivers. What does the IRQ not less or equal error say as far as the system file which caused the crash?