Every time you ask a question like this and dont give out any info ie. what browser and version ie IE7,any particular sites, it prolongs the process because then people have to ask more questions just to get the basic info before they can help

Click Start click Control panel, click Administrative Tools click Event Viwer. In the new window click System on the left side. Now on the right side will be a listing of events, you are looking for red error messages that will help decide the issue hopefully. Double click on the first red error message to bring up a new window describing the error. Click on any of the other error messages too if they are different.

You may not understand what it says but there will be an error number, you can Google that for a better explanation.

How many red error messages you there, lots or just a few?

I assume you have done an anti malware scan and found the computer is clean?

genes- If I had known the info was important I would have included it-

Acer, IE, version- I don't know how to tell

owbist- I did what you said-
Source/atapi, catagory/none, event/9,( this happened 9 times)
source/service control mgr, catagory/none, event/7011

Under 'application' the number said'the metadate file can't be downloaded for the application Spiralfrog

Under 'security',
source/application hang, catagory/101, event/0 (several times)

source/spiralfrog, catagory/0, event/0 (4 times)

Hope this helps- I don't know what 'the metadate file can't be downloaded...' means, sorry- even when I read what the event was it makes no sense to me.

I had not been trying to get onto spiralfrog- it wasn't even a site that I went to.

Yes, I run a scan each time I start the computer- AVG, (once a day), also Malware- they always come up 'no threat found', and I update them about once a week.

Thanks for the help/knowledge

The link below addresses your problem. If you go ahead understand that you are entering the registry and any error can be far more than a nuisance so print the instructions and follow exactly.

What Gene suggests is absolutely correct, the more info you include the easier anyone can provide an answer for you. I asked (wrongly perhaps) about malware scans but never asked which programs you use, you replied you ran them. But you never mentioned which program/s or when it/they were last run. All that stuff is very important.

To find a program version with most of them you can open the program, click the Help button at the top then click About and the info is usually listed there.

Here is a link that might be useful: Knowledge base fix

I use malware and avg.
Thanks for the site!

I am trying to use the site- I must use a 'backslash' key but cannot find how to do this. I googled 'how to find 'backlash key', but didn't get any helpful info.
Thanks

The backslash key is the one with \ on it. It's usually just above the enter key.

"Malware" does not sound like a program name. What is the name of the program you use? Superantispyware and or Malwarebytes are something like what you need. In fact reading thisa thread after replying to your thread on noise problems I would not be surprise if these things are not related and you have some bad guys lurking on your computer.