NTVDM.EXE has encountered a problem and needs to close?

Question

I keep getting this error. I suspect it is caused by a virus but I have scanned with AVG and it has not found any.

This file runs the NT virtual DOS machine, also called WOW (Windows on Windows) and it is used when 16 bit programs including DOS windows are run in XP.

I can get rid of it by running setup and re-installing XP.

I can get rid of it with system restore but it comes back when I open the computer next day after making it work ok. It can reboot within the same day with no problems.

It renders all DOS programs useless.

Does anyone know what the problem is and how to fix it.

Answer 1

Nowadays you'll rarely meet any DOS program or any program that has no 32-bit alternatives, so it doesn't matter much if you get rid of them. And Windows NT (i.e. Windows 2000, XP, and Vista) no more have real DOS Windows. The black box in Windows NT is command prompt, a shell, which can run 32-bit programs (and most command-line programs nowadays run in 32-bit, you'll rarely meet a true 16-bit program nowadays). Unless you have a special need to run legacy 16-bit programs (and not just command line programs) you don't need WOW or NTVDM.

Answer 2

not sure if this is useful but with a search for the problem ive found this:

"The NT Virtual DOS Machine is used in NT-based operating systems to execute DOS programs from the old 9x family. There may be some DOS-like steps in some installations (such as registering dll's) and these steps are probably not completing if you are getting that error.

I'd suggest you start by clearing all the logs in your Event Viewer and then reproducing the error to see what the logs say about it."