A problem has been detected …

I cannot see any problems suggested in other threads. My PC runs on Windows XP Professional (Service Pack 2). For some time I had an intermittent problem when starting the PC as it would not recognise the keyboard. I contacted the maker and was advised to update the BIOS and given the short cut to find the update. I updated the BIOS and now the keyboard is responding each time the PC is booted up – that’s the good news.
It may have no relation to this but now I have three other problems. Apart from the BOIS update there has been one Windows automatic update. No problems in
1. I am using the PC in a normal manner when suddenly I hear a ‘click’ and I am looking at a black screen and the PC is re-booting – I have never had this problem before. I have changed the settings so that instead of the ‘click’ I now get the message ‘A problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer.’
2. I tried to post this message through the same PC using Internet Explorer (7) and the screen froze and I had the message ‘Internet Explorer has encountered a problem and needs to close’. There is an error log but it means nothing to me. The same happened when I tried using Firefox.
3. I have been using Skype and now, although the program opens in the normal way, it will not connect through my broadband. Normally in the task bar there is a grey icon which has two semi-circular arrows in it and they chase each other around until connection is made and then the icon turns green with a ‘tick’ in it. Now they just chase each other around.

I thought overheating may be a problem so cleaned the inside with the vacuum cleaner, after this I ‘restored’ to a date prior to these problems - no difference the PC still gives me the message ‘A problem has been …’ and the other problems mentioned earlier still exist with the addition that the anti virus (Symantec) has an exclamation mark on the shield and, in the lower left task bar I did have my frequently used programs as icons – they have now disappeared.
I tried emailing the manufacturer again and followed the advice I was given in updating the drivers for the motherboard, audio, LAN and tried to update the Graphics which came back with something like 'no compatible drivers'.

Can you knowledgeable people give me advice on where I go from here?

 

When you updated the BIOS - Flashed the BIOS did you get an OK message?

Did you flash the bios and then get a message to restart the comp?

It sounds like you might have used the wrong info and corupted the bios. When you get the blue screen telling you that windows has shut down to prevent damage it is usually a driver problem. Have you done any other updates?

 

BirdBath thanks for that.
I can't remember an OK message but there was a message to restart the comp. The only updates are those in my original message.

If it helps the rest of the message the blue screen shows is:
'An attempt was made to write to read-only memory.
If this is the first time you've seen this stop error screen, restart your computer. If this screen appears again follow these steps:

Check to make sure any hardware or software is properly installed. If this is a new installation, ask your hardware or software manufacturer for any windows updates you might need.

If problems continue, disable or remove any newly installed hardware or software. Disable BIOS memory options such as catching or shadowing. If you need to use safe mode to remove or disable components, restart your computer, press F8 to select Advanced Startup Options, and then select Safe Mode.

Technical information:

*** STOP: 0x000000BE (0x0000001C, 0xBDF7202D, OxED83C8F4, 0x0000000A)

Beginning dump of physical memory
Physical memory dump complete.
Contact your system adminstrator or technical support group for further assistance.'

Any suggestions?

 

Thanks TimW
I did browse the MS site indicated by the link and it suggested, to me, that it is a driver problem and could be probably fixed using WinDbg but after that there was mention of linking to computers together etc and I got lost.