Kept getting error messages on opening MS Publisher 2003: "memory could not be read", or "could not open program", so decided to upgrade to XP SP2. Still no luck with Publisher, so tried to repair/reinstall MS Off 2003. Not able to do so, so uninstalled whole of MS Off 2003. Whilst uninstalling, my PC crashed. Seems I might have a device driver conflicting with SP2 although I have upgraded my modem driver (Smart Link). Anyway, after this, I could neither uninstall nor reinstall MS Off 2003 - message said "Installation Operation Failed". Tried Windows Install Cleanup facility, but according to the Event Viewer, this failed. I was however able to remove MS Off 2003, but was still unable to install it again. Then I installed MS Office XP, which loaded fine, but as I need Publisher (which my version of MS Off XP does not have), I still need 2003. Whenever I try to install an update of MS Off XP or MS Off 2003 again, my PC now crashes half way through, with blue screen messages: MEMORY_MANAGEMENT, or PAGE_FAULT_IN_NON_PAGED_AREA! This seems to indicate that I still have a driver conflict, but even removing the modem driver completely does not help. My PC has crashed during a hard disk defrag as well! Tried System Restore, but this seems to have got messed up as well as it just says, nothing to restore! My options are: 1. remove modem from PC, 2. Go back to SP1 (if poss), 3. reformat HD and reload all my programmes (last resort as this would take days!). Any help greatly appreciated!

It sounds like a simple case of dirty optics. Try cleaning the drive and the disk.... Tomorrow the Stars!

Sorry to be dumb, but what drive and disk do you mean?! I have in the meantime removed the modem, upgraded my sound and graphics drivers, successfully managed to install MS Office 2003 by simply installing to a different directory to the original one. I also checked with Packard Bell support who say I should have all the latest drivers for XP. However, I still get BSODs with varying messages: MEMORY_MANAGEMENT, PAGE FAULT IN NON PAGED AREA, or IRQ NOT LESS OR EQUAL TO... This seems to happen when the PC has been running for a little while or is doing a virus or spyware scan. I have obtained minidumps which say "ntoskrnl.exe could not be read" or driver fault" but I cannot determine which driver could be causing these crashes. Could it also be bad RAM, but if so, why did these BSODs not happen before I upgraded to XP SP2? Thanks again for any help.