Programs Freezes? Hardware?

[Korean_Redneck]

This is making me sooo mad. Internet Explorer Keeps on Crashing. I downloaded Firefox because I thought it was I.E. that sucks. Firefox crashes too.  I just noticed that Doom 3, FarCry, AOL Instant Messenger crashes or freezes.  I built my computer and I don't know whats causing it. Is it software or hardware?  I thought maybe that my comptuer was over heating , so i added a extra fan. That didnt work. Maybe it was the Extra Stick of 512 Megs of ram i installed a while ago(I have 1 gig of ram). Maybe it the Virus SCan software I installed? Maybe its just Windows? I don't know but its very frusterating.  The only thing that doesn't freeze is my Music Production programs.  As I write this, I.E and Firefox crashed 5 times.  My friend was telling me that its a bad stick of Ram.. but I dont' believe it. I did a virus test and a Adware test. .and it was all good. help!

thanks,
JOhn

[GX1_Man]

More than likely it is all the adware/sopyware/cr*pware that you have picked up on the Internet? Do you have up to date software to protect you from this? If not. google for AdAware, Spybot, AVG AntiVirus, etc.

[Fed]

Run these 2 scans first then when you are clean download & test your RAM with the last link if you still have a problem.

Free online virus scan
http://www.pandasoftware.com/products/activescan.htm
Free online spyware scan
http://www.pandasoftware.com/products/spyxposer/com/spyxposer_principal.htm


http://www.memtest.org/

[Korean_Redneck]

Hey, Im confused on this memtest.com.. theres so many to choose from.. which do i choose?   I entered BIOS and both stick of ram are running at 200 MHz. so thats good.  I have to spyware, adware or virus.. my programs are up to date.  

1. Farcry.. Just quits after like 2 minutes
2. Doom 3- freezes.. then gives me a "Illegal Operation"
3. Internet explorer- give me illegal operation, in pages with alot of graphics
4. Firefox- just freezes.

Just my music production software never freezes..

thanks,
john

[Fed]

Have a floppy ready.
Download the  Pre-Compiled package for Floppy (DOS - Win)
Create the bootable floppy.
Set your bios to 1st boot a drive.
Boot with the floppy in a drive and let it rip for a few hours.

[Korean_Redneck]

Ahhok.

Well, I don't have a floppy,, so if i put it on a CD-ROM and make CD-rom a Bootable Item.. that will work?

[Fed]

Use the Windows memory test, it's fully explained before you start.
http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp

[Nelson]

It may be from a bad driver. Check your device manager for any warnings and if you see anything either not signed by microsoft or suspicious try to find the latest update.

It is possible that a running program or service can be causing the crash, I know in Windows98 (not sure about others) the crash report gives you what caused the exception and that should give you a good idea of what to stop.

HTH,
Nelson