Windows XP Problems - Troubleshoot & Fix

[Shawn Garsed]

Hi everybody,

I've got a problem with WXP. Sometimes, when I'm browsing through a website or looking through my Program Files or even when I'm playing a game, WXP will give me a message saying: A mistake has occurred, this file/program has to be closed down (this was translated, so I don't know exactly what it says in the English version). Do any of you happen to know what causes this problem.

Thanks in advance,

Shawn Garsed

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

It's a very common problem. Windows crashes many programs. However it may be the program itself. Just make sure you have XP and all your programs updated. Try a clean install of XP every few years. Nothing more can be done. Windows 7 might finally improve the series.

 

[turbo]

Shawn, do you have SP2 installed? If not, that's a good place to start.

 

[turbo]

One more thing - you might want to find some utility that finds and updates drivers. You can also try Ad-aware to see if there might be some mal-ware hijacking processes. I've been running XP for years, with very few lock-ups. Get Avast Home Edition too.

 

[anisotropic]

I can't say I've ever had these sorts of problems with XP, and I've been using it for years. If properly maintained, there really shouldn't be any reason for an XP setup to have problems like this, especially these days, with matured drivers and SP3.

Do you have good computer upkeep and management practices?

Also: if you want us to help you more effectively, provide as much detail as possible. You aren't giving us much to go on at all.

 

[Iron_Brute]

When did you notice the problem? Did it happen after installing or uninstalling any programs? Does it happen at regular intervals or is it random? Have you run any scans to see if maybe you could have been infected with any spyware or malware?