Member Avatar for afatty47

I'm running Windows XP SP3 and am having problems with different Windows or Office programs displaying the "Not Responding" message. Excel, Word, Outlook email, and must recently, My Computer and a 3rd party application from Cerner Corporation (Pharmacy app). Task Manager will not kill the apps and eventually taskbar and all Desktop icons disappear.

Usually, I can get into Task Manager to close all other programs except those that are not responding and restart. Other times, either I cannot get to Task Manager or get BSOD during shutdown and have to power off the PC to reboot.

Most recently today, I got an UNS.exe -Application error message.. Instruction at "0x7c809823" referenced memory at "0x01299648". The memory could not be "written".

Is this a hard disc error meaning that my hard disc needs to be replaced or there other remedies?
Thanks

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Short, practical triage and tests to complement the replies from , , and .

Multiple different applications hanging and the taskbar/desktop disappearing usually means a system-level fault (memory, driver/shell crash, disk corruption or malware), not a single Office file. Prioritize non-destructive checks first and keep a recent backup of important data before running repairs that touch the disk.

Quick verification steps to narrow causes (non-exhaustive):

  • Verify UNS.exe: identify its full path (Task Manager or Process Explorer) and check Properties -> Digital Signatures. A copy under "C:\Program Files\Intel(R) Management Engine Components" signed by Intel is typically legitimate; an unsigned copy in C:\Windows or an unexpected folder is suspicious. Temporarily disable the related service in services.msc to see if stability improves.
  • Check Event Viewer (Application and System) for the exact error times and faulting module names (application error events, unexpected shutdowns). That info points to whether a particular driver or system DLL is failing.
  • Isolate software: perform a clean boot (msconfig: disable non-Microsoft services/startup) and see if the hangs recur; this isolates third-party conflicts.

Useful diagnostics (backup before disk changes):

  • Run Memtest86+ from boot and let it complete multiple full passes (overnight).
  • Run a full disk surface check and repair; schedule at reboot if required, and expect this to take hours:
    chkdsk C: /f /r
sfc /scannow
  • Run a thorough offline malware scan (Malwarebytes or equivalent) in Safe Mode.

When to consider hardware replacement: persistent memtest errors indicate bad RAM; repeated bad sectors, growing reallocated sector counts, or chkdsk reporting unrecoverable sectors indicate a failing drive—backup immediately and replace the drive. If all hardware tests pass but problems stop after a clean boot or malware cleanup, focus on drivers, Windows file repair or a repair/reinstall of XP (coordinate with Cerner/IT before making major changes on a production system).

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Member Avatar for sagemore48

I'm running Windows XP SP3 and am having problems with different Windows or Office programs displaying the "Not Responding" message. Excel, Word, Outlook email, and must recently, My Computer and a 3rd party application from Cerner Corporation (Pharmacy app). Task Manager will not kill the apps and eventually taskbar and all Desktop icons disappear.

Usually, I can get into Task Manager to close all other programs except those that are not responding and restart. Other times, either I cannot get to Task Manager or get BSOD during shutdown and have to power off the PC to reboot.

Most recently today, I got an UNS.exe -Application error message.. Instruction at "0x7c809823" referenced memory at "0x01299648". The memory could not be "written".

Is this a hard disc error meaning that my hard disc needs to be replaced or there other remedies?
Thanks

hi,there, have u restored the system before?
and about the [UNS.exe],there are 2 possibilities:
it is issued by Verisign,located in the C:\Program Files\Intel(R) Management Engine Components ,then it's Okay.
two,if it is located in c:\windows or in the c:\windows\system32,it would be harmful.
for the two,or u should apply a security scan onto yr sysetem using a powerful antivirus-software,such as the Spydig,AVG,Avast,and so on.
good luck,be helpful
sage

Edited by sagemore48 because: n/a
Member Avatar for crunchie

I'm running Windows XP SP3 and am having problems with different Windows or Office programs displaying the "Not Responding" message. Excel, Word, Outlook email, and must recently, My Computer and a 3rd party application from Cerner Corporation (Pharmacy app). Task Manager will not kill the apps and eventually taskbar and all Desktop icons disappear.

Usually, I can get into Task Manager to close all other programs except those that are not responding and restart. Other times, either I cannot get to Task Manager or get BSOD during shutdown and have to power off the PC to reboot.

Most recently today, I got an UNS.exe -Application error message.. Instruction at "0x7c809823" referenced memory at "0x01299648". The memory could not be "written".

Is this a hard disc error meaning that my hard disc needs to be replaced or there other remedies?
Thanks

You may have an infection, so please read this.
Please post the logs in the virus forum.

Edited by crunchie because: n/a
Member Avatar for khakilang

Could be a bad RAM module. Have it check. If you have spare RAM you might want to swap. On your hard disk. You may do a scan disk or maybe defrag your hard disk. Virus could be the culprit as well. Try all those and see the outcome and post it here.

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