Keeps Crashing

[Mayhs]

My brothers computer keeps crashing..and i think it my be a virus or hardware problem...
if its a virus problem, could you guys please gimme sum god free virus software...because the norton on his computer disappeared for sum reason...and if it keeps happening after the crash, then mabe u could tell me what it could be..

Thnx
Mayhs

 

[kirbyrj]

My brothers computer keeps crashing..and i think it my be a virus or hardware problem...
if its a virus problem, could you guys please gimme sum god free virus software...because the norton on his computer disappeared for sum reason...and if it keeps happening after the crash, then mabe u could tell me what it could be..

Thnx
Mayhs

Try www.grisoft.com and AVG Free. Not too bad for a free virus program.

 

[ashmedai]

Please describe the BSOD you're getting.

If you're not getting a BSOD, make sure that "automatic restart" is disabled under System Properties > Advanced > Startup and Recovery.

If you do that, and you're still not getting a BSOD, describe what exactly is happening when it crashes. The exact nature of how it crashes and when will frequently point right at what the cause is.

 

[Mayhs]

may sound reeeeeeeeealy dumb atm but wheres system properties? i dno why i cant find it

 

[ashmedai]

NP we're all new at some point.

Right click My Computer and select Properties.

You can also get in by opening the System item under Control Panel (classic view, one of the first things I turned off in XP was that weird interface they changed it to in XP), and the one I use most often is just Windows Key + Pause/Break Key.

I'm assuming from the fact that you didn't know where it was, that automatic reboot was most likely on. They apparently set that up as a default in XP so it'd look like it was making fewer BSODs than it really was. Next time it crashes it should give you a "blue screen of death" and if you can write down in detail what the error message is, it may point directly to the cause of your problem.

Is the computer patched up through SP2? Also remember you should also do something about the antivirus issue regardless of what this turns out to be.