Thank you both for the replies, and sorry it's been a few days since i checked back. The message that comes up when windows starts is for WININIT (says the typical 'this program will be shut down.....'), when i look at the details it says WININIT.exe like i stated originally. The message says it's an invalid page fault, and throws out diferent numbers. I searched my comp for the wininit.exe program. when i tried to access it, a dos-looking screen came up and said that it couldn't be run while windows was running (like you said). anyways, i'll check the link you gave. also, i started up my computer the other day and my 'D' drive(2nd hard drive) was missing from my comp. i did just put it back in and it had all my stuff on it, but i'm guessing i did have a virus.