One system crash a day

I am getting at least one system crash every day now. It's usually Windows Explorer that crashes. It seems to have started when I tried de-indexing the search function in order to speed up my computer. I then put it back to indexing, but I got an error message and it's never been the same since. The crashes happen mostly when I want to do a search.

I am thinking of reinstalling the system, but I'm wondering if there are some simpler things I could do. System restore for example. But it seems that I cannot go back more than a week with Vista.

Is there a way for System restore to go back more than a week?
If so, how far back is safe? 1 month?

 

Depends how much hard drive space you have left. When your hard drive has little space left, Windows starts deleting the older restore points, and besides that there is a set limit for how much space restore points can take on your hard drive.

 

Space is no prob. I have 190 gig unused on my HD.
System restore won't allow me more than 7 days back. I remember that with XP, I could go back more than a month if I wanted to.

 

I checked the settings and there doesn't appear to any settings for 'system protection' / system restore; just on and off... in the help file it says it will use up to 15% of your hard drive's space. I checked mine and I have no restore points... though I have 23GB free space.

 

Are you getting any specific errors logged in your event viewer/event logs? If so, that might provide more light on why explorer is crashing like clockwork.

 

I sure am. But I have no clue what they mean.
Can you interpret them if I post them?
Which one is meaningful?

 

Maybe, maybe not - sometimes the logged event is too ambiguous. The only way to tell, though, is for you to put them up here so we can all see them and maybe get a better sense of just what, exactly, is going on.