wait!...before doing anything drastic....you said "lots of "this program has performed and illegal action and has been shut down" messages" ...I have had those problems, and have NOT had to re-format or reinstall Windows...and since you ARE here and still able to connect, etc....to report this, Windows is still functioning...

is it the same programs each time? The problem 'could' lie in certain programs....it could be memory management (too many programs open at once)...It 'could' be those 'annoying popups'!! Do you mean advertising popups while surfing? If so, there is a better way to handle those. There are 'firewall' programs which protect you while surfing and do that job FOR you...I can recommend a couple if you'd like. (Sometimes those popups (including Java consoles and Javascripts) demand certain things of your system, and if they are not handled right, can cause errors).....rebooting clears a lot of this, though it IS a hassle. (If you surf a LOT and do a lot of stuff, Windoze simply gets overburdened and out of one kind of memory)

Also, Internet Explorer is tied into Windows so closely that IT will sometimes force settings that conflict with basic processes. (I use Agent, a commercial newsreader...and IE actually changes setting in my Agent.ini file!..causing me to have to edit it manually!)...so I use Netscape-and recently, Opera...a newish browser, which does NOT mess with me.

So...I do urge you to explore a bit before doing the most drastic 'cures'...which usually require a lot of re-installing and such...(BTW...you DO do backups of important data & files??...*grin*)

finally, Norton does more than scan for viruses...it has diagnostic programs that can find all sorts of problems...have you run that?...(do you get a box of Norton utilities when you boot up? especially one with a 'traffic light' icon? If you do, and if the light is red, click on it and follow directions)..

hope you can work it out without major surgery!