I've been getting this weird error message,"Memory cannot be Read.",  when I close programs that require a lot of memery . Sometimes when I close Poser or PSP9, I get that message.

Sometimes it happens when I reboot or shut down my computer.
I thought it had something to do with my firewall, but no.
I've been searching the net for a fix, but no luck.
Does anyone here know what causes this odd problem?

My operating system is Windows xp 32 bit.

Sounds a lot like a hardware error to me, like you have a memory module that is failing.  Especially if you are getting this on boot up.

Thanks.
That's what I was afraid off.

Hey at least memory is very cheap, compared to some other parts.  Might be a good time to upgrade anyway.

That's true, luckily. I was about to upgrade my computer anyway during christmas holidays.

If you hadn't decided, think real hard about a quad core machine even you can get a "faster" processor for similar price.  Poser 8 rendering on a quad core will pound the crap out of any dual core that's in the same processor category.  Of course this depends really on how much rendering you actually do, but even if it only lets you render the same stuff with higher quality options, you might be really happy with the results.  I have a quad core myself (a bit old these days, a qx 6700) and I'm still very happy with it.

Oh really? That's some excelent info, thanks. I do a plethora of renders per day. I use poser for making  comics, so I do many renders of a single pz3 file.  I have a dual core. I guess I'm going to rethink my upgrades now. Thanks for the info.

I doubt that it is hardware related.  Most likely windows related.
To be sure, download and run a program call memtest to rule out the memory.  
Here is the link.
http://hcidesign.com/memtest/

Also, when you get the error message does it give you the name of a file?

 Thanks onnetz for the link.
No, I don't think the error message ever  pointed to a specific name or a file.. The error message is more like a general "memory cannot be read".It doesn't pinpoint to a specific  file that's corrupt.

Ok. Most likely if it was hardware then the bad memory would either not be seen by windows or when put under load you would get the blue screen or a restart.
Run the memtest to make sure though.
To rule out the obvious, have you installed or uninstalled anything around the time it started?
Windows xp sp1 and 2 have a hotfix for it.

On upgrading your computer to a new one. If you can afford it then go with an intel I7 quad core processor. The 920 is the best bang for the buck. Its in the same price range as some other quad cores but it has the benefit of hyper threading. Meaning its close to the same as having eight cores instead of four. It will slice through renders like butter.. :-)  This would also put you in a position to not have to upgrade for quite some time.

*To rule out the obvious, have you installed or uninstalled anything around the time it started?
Windows xp sp1 and 2 have a hotfix for it.

No. Nothing comes to mind. The problem started with paintshop pro 9. I though it was related to psp9 poor handling of memory  and my firewall messing things up, so I thought nothing of it.
This was when I first started installing programs to my then  new PC. I initially thought the error was a result of a bad installation of psp9. I was too lazy and didn't want to reinstall it.
 I thought it didn't matter but now I get that error a bit more often and with other programs as well.

I'll have to run that memmaker during the night, so the program has enough time to check out the memory properly.

On upgrading your computer to a new one. If you can afford it then go with an intel I7 quad core processor. The 920 is the best bang for the buck. Its in the same price range as some other quad cores but it has the benefit of hyper threading. Meaning its close to the same as having eight cores instead of four. It will slice through renders like butter.. :-) This would also put you in a position to not have to upgrade for quite some time.

Thank you very much for the info. I'll have to check out the prices and see  how much the upgrades end up costing.

I found this link that has some info on psp9 and your problem.
http://forums.techguy.org/digital-photography-imaging/566301-corel-paint-shop-pro-photo.html

It sounds like reinstalling works but for some people only a while before it returns.

Did you check out the hotfix for windows? Or do you have sp3?

On the computer if you dont want to build your own I found them for around $850 and up.

The I7 processor is a different socket than the older mainstream.
amd processors are am2 and am3.
intel is 775
the intel I7 is 1366.
So buying just parts you would need at least the processor, motherboard and probably memory since all those motherboards use ddr3..
Roughly $600.

Thanks for the link!
It seems that other psp users have had the same problem.
I had already increased the size of the virtual memory like they suggested, but it  made no difference.
Some counter strike players seem to get the same error message as well.
Curiouser and curiouser!...

I did a few runs with memmaker, but the program found no problems with the RAM.

I have Sp3.
I'm starting to think that  this is some odd, rare problem with Windows Xp. Maybe a bad installation or something...

Malware, adware, and spyware can all cause this problem as well. I would try reinstalling psp and see how that goes. I've also read where adobes flash player will cause this as well.
More or less what it boils down to is that there is a program on your computer that is causing a memory leak.

Thank you for your help.
As it turns out my computer indeed had a virus (a fake msupdate.exe). My usual Antivirus programs couldn't detect it, but SuperAnti Spyware found it. The virus had been in the system for quite some time.  I don't know yet if the problem is over. I think I am going to reinstall psp9 and some other programs, just to be sure.

No problem about the help. Hopefully that fixes it. What antivirus were you using? avg maybe?

I was using Norton for a long time. I also use Dr Web cure it. But they couldn't detect the virus.