Really Weird or what?

[livesound66]

I have a Dell running XP(Home)with 1Gb of RAM. Just recently the system/computer/XP crashes intermitently.
The warning signs are that when I click on a shortcut all I get is the 'Properties' dialog box. This can be "restored" by going into 'Restore', which is "dead", and then closing 'Restore', and, hey-presto, everything goes back to normal! This may happen 2,3,4 times or more, and then all of a sudden the screen just goes black and I have to to do a warm reboot to get things going again.
I have done several scans, but nothing shows as being amiss. I have also run "Spybot" which found two items which it dealt with. (Can't remember what they were, sorry)
Any ideas anyone? Oh the other thing is is that the 'hotkeys' on my wireless keyboard fail to respond unless I do a Sysyem Scan? Also I have not run Service Pack 2, due to potential, or perceived trouble with drivers not working etc after installing this. Cheers from the UK
Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[GrimR]

Turn off System Restore.
Run anti virus.

http://www.lavasoftusa.com/products/ad_aware_free.php

Check system for strange things HiJackThis

 

[bracadar]

Try trouble shooting your keyboard. There are keyboard shortcuts that do what you are describing. Put some fresh batteries in and reinstall your keyboard in device manager. Install the most current drivers as well and see if that dosen't help.