Windows Firewall & crashing

I've been crashing SW2006 sp2.1 and 3.1 on a regular basis, doing the
simplest of tasks, on a Xi Opteron148, 2Gb ram, Fx1100. Thought it might
have been my video driver, updated to the latest, not much
difference...then I thought to check Windows Firewall, which I had
turned off last year sometime...well it was ON...grrr!

Now I suppose I need to do a complete wipe of SW frome my system? Or
should I try a "Repair Installation" first?

One of many things I wish SW would do better is check first for any
conflicting software running before installation, I turned off 3 other
services that could hose the install, I just didn't think to check that
WinFirewall was *still* turned off...

Thanks

 

Why do you think the firewall was causing you to crash?

 

I can't think of any other reason why it should be crashing so
frequently, sometimes in desperation a 're-install' is the only way
out...

Our IT guy was telling me of a video game he was installing at home
recently...it checked to see that all the comflicting things were turned
off before it installed, seems like SWX could do the same...