My PC has started some strange behavior.

1) When I double-click an image or mp3 the first time it takes 12-15 seconds to open, but anytime after that it's instant as normal.

2) Emails with no attachments fly out at normal speed - anything with an attachment times out and appears to never leave...then it magically appears in Sent Items.

3) At random times (single-clicking on a file, image, anything) the PC crashes to a black screen. I have to force shut-down. When I restart I get the message that "Windows Explorer has recovered from a serious error." After sending the error report I've seen a screen that tells me I got a "stop error" because of a hardware driver issue (recently installed). The only thing I've installed lately is my Motorola Razr as a modem. I uninstalled everything connected with the phone and also updated the graphics driver and the SM Bus Controller driver, but still got the black screen once today.

4) I use Bit Defender and Safe Eyes but disabling them both has no effect - still dies sporadically.

I'm most interested in the sudden black screen of death. Does that give anyone a clue as to what's going on? Could it be XP related - would a repair install help??

I somehow don't trust the MS report about the hardware driver issue - what do you think??

I would appreciate any ideas - this is driving me (and my wife) insane! Thanks.

Well it slightly sounds like Malware So just to rule that out you might want to try to do the Pre Work link in my signature.Then have a security tech Check it.

Interesting...I use Windows Defender which I thought would catch most anything. Oh, well...maybe I'll try your route. Thanks

Windows Defender is basic protection, but by no means is it reliable to protect you against all infections. Take a look at the Afterwork too.