.....and the feeling is mutual.

At random intervals (first time was about 4 months?) my computer would crash and won't restart. I tried safe mode, last know good registry etc but it always come back with a registry error.

I've reinstalled Windows many times after that and now have a collection of about 7 Windows.old folders which are just taking up memory.

What is the problem and how do I fix it?

Problem 1 :
IE7 (most often the culprit) would freeze, I reset, then blue screen - registry error blah.

Problem 2 :
What the %$^% is a "crash dump"? I don't like the sound of that.

I am (very slowly) trying to finish my graduate degree and the computer crashing every 3 days isn't really conducive to my productivity!

Thanks guys.

looks like your trying to upgrade xp with vista which can be done, but not the best way. repeated upgrades with out a complete format of the harddrive is not proper.
you will never rid the computer of problems.
somehow you need a full install disk of xp or vista.
i would suggest an xp disk.
you give no details of the computer, so good advice is hard to give.

kj
computer corrections
cookson, ok

It begs question. Is the XP installed an upgrade? a full XP program? Furthermore, did you run a Windows compatability check on all of the sys hardware? XP programs on top of Vista is not the best way to go. Finally, IE7 requires XP with SP2 to work well. You could try Firefox or Opera..
I have to agree with kjanx comments, it's just going to pile up with one issue after another. Do a complete format and, install XP and all of it's updates. Check your BIOS, chipset drivers for the latest version. Stick with XP till you finis your course.
I am currently using Vista on a Toshiba laptop, P205-S6267, with 2GB of RAM. All of the latest Win updates, latest BIOS, Chipset drivers, etc. as of 1/3/2k8.
All of the programs running on this laptop are Vista only~ I would also recommend that your AV program be of the 2008 version~If, for example, your AV is an 2006 version, even with all the current updates, dump it now for the current 2008 copy.
version. I used NOD32, Security Suite for 2008.
I wish you well on your studies~Good Luck~