Computer crashing

[SteveO29]

Hi,

I was wondering if someone could help me with a problem I've been having for quite some time now.

When I first bought my computer, it ran fine. Then after about two years it started crashing at random times. Sometimes it would go for weeks without crashing.. other times it would crash 2 to 3 times a week. When it would crash.. I never used to bother sending error reports to Microsoft.. until now.

One of the error reports said that the problem was possibly caused by an error in myr computer's memory and that Microsoft is unable to determine if this problem was caused by a hardware or software issue, although this type of problem is usually caused by hardware.

Okay.. fine. But the next three error reports said that they have not determined the specific cause of the problem, but they know the problem was caused by antivirus software. The steps they told me to take were to..

1) Update the antivirus software.. which I do all the time. I'm running the current version of Avast.

2) Check for multiple antivirus programs running on the computer.. which I did. Along with Avast I'm using AVG Anti-Spyware (free version) and Spybot Search & Destroy. Both of which shouldn't interfere with Avast.

When I bought my computer, it had Norton antivirus installed. After two years.. I uninstalled Norton and installed Avast. I can't remember exactly when my problems started.. but I would guess it was around that time.

Does anyone have any idea what the problem might be? Could it be Avast that's causing my computer to crash? Any help would be ~greatly~ appreciated!

BTW.. My computer is a Pentium IV 2.8 GHz with 504 MB of RAM with a 160 GB hard drive and I'm running Windows XP Home Edition SP 2

[Lisandro]

I suggest...

1) Remove NAV through Add/Remove programs from Control Panel (if possible). Boot.
2) Use Norton Removal Tool for Windows 2000/XP/Vista. Boot.
3) Install avast! (or repair the installation) and boot.

[SteveO29]

Hi Tech,

Thank you for the fast reply!

I removed all Norton AV programs from my computer through Add/Remove in the control panel before I installed Avast.

However the Norton Removal Tool uninstalls all Norton 2008/2007/2006/2005/2004/2003 products. If I recall, I had Norton AV 2000.. would this tool still work for me?

Also.. as far as I can tell I don't have any remnants of Norton AV running on my system anymore.

Could something else be causing my system to crash?

[Lisandro]

However the Norton Removal Tool uninstalls all Norton 2008/2007/2006/2005/2004/2003 products. If I recall, I had Norton AV 2000.. would this tool still work for me?

At least, it worth a try.

Could something else be causing my system to crash?

Is there any useful information into Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Events, specially 'Errors'?

Can you go to folder \windows\minidump and send the newest (recent) .mdmp files for analysis. Better if you can compress (zip) them and add some information about the BSOD and the link for this thread. 

Send an email to any of these addresses:
vlk (at) avast.com
rypacek (at) asw.cz

Or upload to the any of these anonymous ftp servers:
ftp://ftp.asw.cz/incoming
ftp://www2.asw.cz/incoming

[Thunder Bird]

However the Norton Removal Tool uninstalls all Norton 2008/2007/2006/2005/2004/2003 products. If I recall, I had Norton AV 2000.. would this tool still work for me?

I Googled "Norton 2000 removal" and came up with the following.

http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/sunset-c2002kb.nsf/docid/2001045512474266

[SteveO29]

Is there any useful information into Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Events, specially 'Errors'?

There ~is~ information, But I'm not sure if it's useful since I really have no idea what it means. These are the last 5 errors in the event viewer.. can you make anything of them?




Event Type:   Error
Event Source:   System Error
Event Category:   (102)
Event ID:   1003
Date:      3/19/2008
Time:      4:11:44 PM

Description:
Error code 1000000a, parameter1 8a9b9d40, parameter2 0000001c, parameter3 00000000, parameter4 804e1ad6
-----------------------------------------
Event Type:   Error
Event Source:   System Error
Event Category:   (102)
Event ID:   1003
Date:      3/20/2008
Time:      5:16:52 PM

Description:
Error code 10000050, parameter1 bb3060b7, parameter2 00000001, parameter3 f839e257, parameter4 00000002
-----------------------------------------
Event Type:   Error
Event Source:   System Error
Event Category:   (102)
Event ID:   1003
Date:      4/1/2008
Time:      12:36:57 PM

Description:
Error code 1000000a, parameter1 00006df1, parameter2 00000002, parameter3 00000001, parameter4 804fc1ab
-----------------------------------------
Event Type:   Error
Event Source:   System Error
Event Category:   (102)
Event ID:   1003
Date:      4/3/2008
Time:      2:55:22 PM

Description:
Error code 1000000a, parameter1 750e542c, parameter2 0000001c, parameter3 00000001, parameter4 804dc84c
-----------------------------------------
Event Type:   Error
Event Source:   System Error
Event Category:   (102)
Event ID:   1003
Date:      4/3/2008
Time:      7:07:32 PM

Description:
Error code 00000019, parameter1 00000020, parameter2 81599a68, parameter3 81599af0, parameter4 0a110001

Can you go to folder \windows\minidump and send the newest (recent) .mdmp files for analysis. Better if you can compress (zip) them and add some information about the BSOD and the link for this thread. 

Yes, I can. I sent the last 5 minidumps in a zip file to vlk (at) avast.com. Hopefully that will give me some results.

Thank you again for all your help!! It's greatly appreciated!

[SteveO29]

I Googled "Norton 2000 removal" and came up with the following.

http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/sunset-c2002kb.nsf/docid/2001045512474266

Hi Thunderbird

Thank you for the reply! I checked the link you posted and that's exactly how I removed Norton from my system. So I don't think any lingering Norton product is the problem.

[Lisandro]

Some questions remain...

Could something else be causing my system to crash?

Is there any useful information into Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Events, specially 'Errors'?

Can you go to folder \windows\minidump and send the newest (recent) .mdmp files for analysis. Better if you can compress (zip) them and add some information about the BSOD and the link for this thread. 

Send an email to any of these addresses:
vlk (at) avast.com
rypacek (at) asw.cz

Or upload to the any of these anonymous ftp servers:
ftp://ftp.asw.cz/incoming
ftp://www2.asw.cz/incoming

[SteveO29]

Some questions remain...

Is there any useful information into Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Events, specially 'Errors'?

Can you go to folder \windows\minidump and send the newest (recent) .mdmp files for analysis. Better if you can compress (zip) them and add some information about the BSOD and the link for this thread. 

Send an email to any of these addresses:
vlk (at) avast.com
rypacek (at) asw.cz

Or upload to the any of these anonymous ftp servers:
ftp://ftp.asw.cz/incoming
ftp://www2.asw.cz/incoming

I did this. I zipped the last 5 minidump files and e-mailed them to vlk (at) avast.com.

As I was e-mailing.. my computer crashed again. It's happening more frequently now 

Will I get a reply in e-mail? Or should I check back here for an answer?

Thanks again!

[Lisandro]

Will I get a reply in e-mail? Or should I check back here for an answer?

Depends on him... he's very busy nowadays... they're trying to solve 'new' problems with the new avast 4.8 version released some days ago.