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Are you running Norton AV software or other Symantec utilities?
If you are, I could relate a 10-year recurring nightmare but I will spare you. :-) In the most recent case, with XP, the only solution I found that totally returned my comp. to my control was to format the drive and install a slipstreamed version of XP (that is, installs XP with service pack 2 already in it.) All my problems went away. Grisoft AVG, it's free, it updates, it stays out of my way.