xxxxxx.exe has encountered a problem and needs to close

I get this message for Firefox, Skype, and MSN Messenger Live.

I can drag the error message to the side and the program works fine. I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling the programs to no avail. Any help that you can offer will be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

-Chris

Is this a new problem? Were things working OK previously? Any new hardware or software?

If this is a new problem try a System Restore to a point prior to the problem:

start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > System Restore

Ahh sorry...I failed to mention that I tried restoring to several earlier restore points.

I installed a web camera (this is my mother's computer) as my brother is going to Japan for several months and we were looking for a way to communicate. Everything was working fine for a couple days, even with the web camera installed, then Firefox stopped working, then Windows Messenger Live, and finally, Skype.

Look in your Event viewer: rt. click My Computer then click Manage then Event Viewer.
Or: Administrative Tools/Event Viewer or Start/Run/ eventvwr
Open the system as well as the application tabs & look for red X errors. Click error line for details.
Post back the source & event id & Description especially of errors that seem to coincide with this issue.
Also check the Information lines that might coincide with this issue.

How to view and manage event logs in Event Viewer in Windows XP

Firefox:
The browser service has failed to retrieve the backup list too many times on transport\Device\NetBT_Tcpip_{877E4096-03D7-4197-D0607AA3CCFE}. The backup browser is stopping.

Skype and MSN Mes. don't seem to give errors. Perhaps they're all linked?

Oh nevermind...there are errors under Applications for those two programs.

MSN msgr:
Faulting application msnmsgr.exe. version 8.0.812.0. faulting module . version 0.0.0.0. fault address 0x00000000.

Skype:
Faulting application skype.exe. version 2.5.0.141. faulting module . version 0.0.0.0. fault address 0x00000000.

Just a quick reply:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314872/

Anything relevant?

It doesn't appear to be...My Network Places seems to load fine.

Just to verify: this is only a problem with: Firefox, Skype, and MSN Messenger Live. ?

If you ignore or move the error everything works OK?

System Restore and uninstalling/reinstalling these programs made no difference?

There are no more details on those Application errors?


Did you install any software with the Web Cam? If so have you tried uninstalling it?


On another tack you could try the following:

As a first response you might want to post a HijackThis log for review by our Pros in that section:

Please follow the instructions HERE & then post your log in a new thread in the Spyware, Adware, Viruses and HijackThis Logs section.

(Not in this section please).

Please specify what issues you appear to be experiencing along with your log.

Oh fantastic! Why did I not think of that!

Uninstalling the software fixed MSN and uninstalling the drivers fixed Firefox and Skype. The only problem is that I want this camera to work...hopefully the computer will handle a reinstall of the drivers haha.

Thank you SO much for all your help. Your quick insightful responses were a lifesaver!