WDGC

I ran the Vista tool and the Seagate tool, and neither reported any errors. The reason for running these checks was to see if there were any incipient HDD problems, and the results indicate there aren't.

Thank you for your replies.

I've been told by acquaintances that Memtest86 does a good job of checking memory. Is this the case, or are there better alternatives?

The laptop is an HP Pavilion dv6000 with a Seagate Momentus 5400.3 SATA hard drive and the OS is Vista Home Premium. Does the native Vista disk checking utility do an adequate job, or should Seagate's 'SeaTools for Windows' be used? Check your hard disk for errors http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/e...c41f811033.mspx SeaTools for Windows http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/support/downloads/seatools/

The solution to this matter can be found here: AumHa Forums

Four days ago I began using a Logitech cordless keyboard and cordless laser mouse, packaged as 'Cordless Desktop LX310 Laser'. Since then each time I boot the system (XP Pro SP2) I find this error message in Event Viewer: Event Type: Error Event Source: Service Control Manager Event Category: None Event ID: 7023 Date: 22/12/2007 Time: 1:25:00 PM User: N/A Computer: WDGC Description: The HID Input Service service terminated with the following error: The system cannot find the file specified. What is the cause and meaning of this error and how can I rectify it?

Thank you for your replies nitroshift, mara- and gosh.

Am I able to run online A-V and Antispyware scans when XP Pro is in safe mode - that is, can I still connect to the internet when in safe mode?

From the link I posted:

Need not be applied for a Pentium IV. For further information about KB 936357, see here: http://aumha.net/viewtopic.php?p=159050#159050

The most recent MS Updates gave KB 936357 as an update I should apply. However, my processor is a Pentium IV - should I still apply the update? KB 936357 A microcode reliability update is available that improves the reliability of systems that use Intel processors http://support.microsoft.com/kb/936357#

Thank you for this information, I'll look into it.

Apparently the answer to each of my questions is: Yes. http://windowsvistablog.com/blogs/windowsv...assistance.aspx http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles_...Assistance.html

Since last posting I have learned the OS is still SP1 and has been running without a Firewall or A-V software since an OS reinstallation about a month ago. Enough said. An OS clean install, appropriate updating, ... is now the order of the day. Thank you to all respondents.

Malware of some variety would seem most likely. As I said when starting this thread: