Hi. I have a strange problem: my internet browsers sometimes crash when I'm trying to download files. I have Opera and Firefox (latest versions). The probability to crash is about 20..30%. Sometimes it does the same when I try to download again exactly in the same conditions, sometimes not. Sometimes the download works fine in the other browser, sometimes not. Opera just closes when I click on Save. Firefox shows a crash report. This problem appeared a few weeks ago. I don't think it's from a virus (my Eset Nod32 Antivirus says nothing). OS is Windows XP SP3 x86 with latest updates. I thought that the problem was from OS and I reinstall it a few days ago. No change. I checked and fixed the errors (small) with partitions, nu change. I didn't think that the problem was from RAM and I checked it when I bought it (a year ago) but I checked again, no problems found. What could be the cause..? Thank you for any idea. Regards
When you download are you doing other computer activities? If so I might begin to suspect hardware like mouse or touch pad and or their connections.
I closed any other programs and even disabled the antivirus but no change... I even tried now with a different mouse but no luck.
might be a hardware issue. videocard, heat.. did you try safe mode with networking? or msconfig selective startup? does dxdiag give any issues? does devicemanager give any issues? alternatively, it might still be malware.. try malwarebytes, use different virusscanner.
I don't think it's from videocard (or CPU). Their fans are clean (no dust). CPU temp is lower than 50 C even in 100% usage. And I don't have any problems in games or any other programs that use CPU often. I just now tried with a program called BurnInTest. It uses RAM, CPU, video card, HDD, CDROM, sound card to the max for about 20 min. No errors. No, I didn't but I will. DxDiag and Device manager are 100% ok. Probably not but still I will test. Later edit: "safe mode with networking" = I don't have internet connection. "msconfig selective startup" = if I deactivate/uncheck all checkboxes, no internet connection. Which one should I deactivate?
well, that eliminates some things, anyway.. the malwarebytes thing is about quote potentially unwanted modifications unquote unlikely to be the problem. msconfig, select only the services needed to connect to the internet if you can. that just about exhausts my ideas for this problem, sorry.
what happens when you try and download with Internet Explorer instead of Opera or Firefox ? sometimes when you use burnintest software it may have no issues but RAM problems or failure may not be detected. Try maybe and pull your ram and place 1 stick at a time back in and test to see if one stick has an issue. test meaning restart PC and try and download again after each stick is placed in the motherboard.
maybe some sort of failure in installation disc you used. reinstall again using untouched iso image(best way using pen drive)... and download drivers from manufacturer site.
i dunno, user hidden, a_catalin was very thorough, i think. ram was tested before.. and if 2 decent browsers crash, it is unlikely to be merely a browser issue.. i don`t expect anything better from ie.. i would sooner try dillo, if i suspected a browser-only issue..has no java support, so it will not do much, but if it works it would at least eliminate java issues.. just my 2 cents..
Now I have IE6. I don't like IE but if you're still convinced that it will help I will try to install IE8. I have 4 slots with 4 x 1 GB DDR2-800 Kingmax. I tried different combinations, same problem. I used a USB flash drive in both cases (previous and current OS). With previous OS these problems appeared many months after installation. I have/had drivers included in both (from manufacturers). In fact the previous and the current OS are using the same drivers. But the previous worked fine many months. I used the same source in both cases (an ISO). The only difference between them is that the current one have newer MS updates included. I don't have Java installed.
Try using another ISO without updates... It's the only thing I'm thinking of. But before that try to install generic network card drivers and older version of chipset drivers.
It's possible... But now I have found something else: until now I just deactivated Eset Nod32 5 and there was no difference. I uninstalled completly (with restart). I tried downloads that in 100% of the cases were crashing Opera (like the one from the movie), now they are fine. It seems that the antivirus was the problem. But I will test more to be sure. Anyway it's strange, I installed it more than 2 months ago and just lately is causing such problems...
update; thinking it over, if eset is the trouble, legions of people must have the same trouble, i can`t help thinking.. i think you found it! surprising, though, eset got a good reputation.. some firewall issue perhaps. perhaps an eset update did this to you.. glad you solved this braincracker...
Thank you. I tested more and there are no problems. At some point I was downloading simultaneously 12 files from mediafire... Yes, it's strange that only I seems to have these problems with Eset Nod32. Maybe it depends on other factors too (like the fact that I'm still using Windows XP + others). Plus, like I said, it didn't crash with all downloads, only 20..30% in average; maybe there are other users who think that the problems are caused by other factors etc. Who knows...