Microsoft Help and Support has stopped working Console Window Host has stopped working Microsoft Windows Search Protocol Host has stopped working ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I have been receiving all of these above error messages many times. In addition Wordpad doesn't work.

Please perform a full scan on your disks to delete possible existance of viruses, spywares and malwares programs. Once done, perform a repair install of your OS. This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties or guarantees , and confers no rights. Microsoft Student Partner Microsoft Certified Professional Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator: Security Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer: Security Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: Windows Server 2008 Active Directory, Configuration Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: Windows Server 2008 Network Infrastructure, Configuration Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: Windows Server 2008 Applications Infrastructure, Configuration

I did a system restore. This fixed the wordpad problem, as well as some others with other programs. I don't know yet about the error messages.

It is possible that you had viruses that caused that. Restoring your system state is a solution also. to protect yourself against viruses: Use an antivirus like MSE Your internal firewall should be enabled Use guest account and if you need admin privileges, use run as an administrator option Never open untrusted links/emails Install latest security updates ... This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties or guarantees , and confers no rights. Microsoft Student Partner Microsoft Certified Professional Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator: Security Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer: Security Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: Windows Server 2008 Active Directory, Configuration Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: Windows Server 2008 Network Infrastructure, Configuration Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: Windows Server 2008 Applications Infrastructure, Configuration

On Sun, 24 Apr 2011 17:44:00 +0000, Mr X wrote: It is possible that you had viruses that caused that. Possible? Yes. But it's highly unlikely that a system restore removed the virus. Restoring your system state is a solution also. to protect yourself against viruses: * Use an antivirus like MSE Or NOD32, Avira, or Avast. * Your internal firewall should be enabled * Use guest account and if you need admin privileges, use *run as an administrator* option * Never open untrusted links/emails * Install latest security updates All good advice that I agree with. Let me just add to "Never open untrusted links/emails" that the issue with e-mail messages is primarily with attachments to messages. Attachments can be very risky. You often see advice not to open attachments from people you don't know. I think that that's one of the most dangerous pieces of advice you see around, because it implies that it's safe to do the opposite--open attachments from friends and relatives. But many viruses spread by sending themselves to everyone in the infected party's address book, so attachments received from friends are perhaps the *most* risky to open. Even if the attachment legitimately comes from a friend, it can contain a virus. I'm not suggesting that a friend is likely to send you a virus on purpose, but if the friend is infected without realizing it, any attachment he sends you is likely to also be infected. Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP

System restore fixed the problem. However there is a bit of a nuisance in that whenever I get an update from Avast (the anti-virus program I use) it calls for a restart. Before I restart, but after the update, things are still OK. However, after the restart, the problem returns and I have to do another system restore. I even got a fresh copy of Avast along the way.

System restore fixed the problem. However there is a bit of a nuisance in that whenever I get an update from Avast (the anti-virus program I use) it calls for a restart. Before I restart, but after the update, things are still OK. However, after the restart, the problem returns and I have to do another system restore. I even got a fresh copy of Avast along the way. Further note: Restart by itself (not after Avast update) does not lead to problem.

The problem should be the defination update of the AVAST antivirus. I suggest you contact the support of the program for more assistances.Please remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.