Windows XP crash - files disappear

Hi folks,

I'm wondering if anyone has encountered the following situation and found a
reason for it happening (two seperate machines and slightly different
problems):

I did an install of Office 2003 and service packed it on a machine running
Windows XP SP2. Nothing strange to report. Rebooted the machine a few times
and all was okay. The users took the machine home and office had literally
vanished - it was not on the Start menu and there was no files located within
Program files | Microsoft Office. There was nothing listed in the event
viewer as to why this had happened and the only way I got it back was be
using a System Restore point. It was such a clean disappearance that the only
way I could see it happening was from Add/Remove programs and the user
assured me this had not been done.

A few days later another user is copying a huge file to his desktop and his
machine hangs/crashes. After a reboot, there profile has disappeared and
everything he had on his desktop has gone - files/shortcuts etc. My colleague
used a System Restore point and this resolved the problem.

However, I do not understand how this is happening as it seems very drastic
and I've never seen it before in 6 years of having XP on our desktops. It
also seems that both problems are related as they are exhibiting the same
symptoms. Has anyone else encountered this problem or know of what may cause
it.

I've scoured the knowledge base and cannot see anything that resembles this
or what may cause it to happen. I'm not so concerned for a fix more than what
parameters may cause it! All our machines are fully covered with antivirus
and this has not shown any problems.

Thanks for your help in advance.


.

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