Perflib log faults, Crashes Computer

Gentlemen-

I've just put together a brand new computer with some misc hardware. It's a fresh w2k install on my first AMD platform. So far I’ve been disappointed by this very strange problem. The computer seems to paralyze itself at various times. It often happens during graphics (such as Civ4) or even when I’m trying to close a PDF.

The common symptom seems to be about an hour of repeated application errors reported in the log file like this: (These happen every 30 Seconds for a half hour and then it usually crashes)

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Event Type: Error
Event Source: Perflib
Event Category: None
Event ID: 1015
Date: 7/7/2006
Time: 10:25:31 PM
User: N/A
Computer: LANDROVER
Description:
The timeout waiting for the performance data collection function "PerfProc" in the "C:\WINNT\system32\perfproc.dll" Library to finish has expired. There may be a problem with this extensible counter or the service it is collecting data from or the system may have been very busy when this call was attempted.
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The hijackthis logfile:
Logfile of HijackThis v1.99.1
Scan saved at 11:00:33 PM, on 7/7/2006
Platform: Windows 2000 SP4 (WinNT 5.00.2195)
MSIE: Internet Explorer v6.00 SP1 (6.00.2800.1106)

Running processes:
C:\WINNT\System32\smss.exe
C:\WINNT\system32\winlogon.exe
C:\WINNT\system32\services.exe
C:\WINNT\system32\lsass.exe
C:\WINNT\system32\Ati2evxx.exe
C:\WINNT\system32\svchost.exe
C:\WINNT\system32\ZoneLabs\vsmon.exe
C:\WINNT\system32\spoolsv.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgamsvr.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgupsvc.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgemc.exe
C:\WINNT\System32\svchost.exe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\VS7DEBUG\MDM.EXE
C:\WINNT\system32\regsvc.exe
C:\WINNT\system32\MSTask.exe
C:\WINNT\System32\WBEM\WinMgmt.exe
C:\WINNT\system32\svchost.exe
C:\WINNT\system32\Ati2evxx.exe
C:\WINNT\Explorer.EXE
C:\Program Files\VIA\RAID\raid_tool.exe
C:\WINNT\system32\VTTimer.exe
C:\Program Files\VIAudioi\SBADeck\ADeck.exe
C:\Program Files\Zone Labs\ZoneAlarm\zlclient.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgcc.exe
C:\Program Files\ATI Technologies\ATI.ACE\cli.exe
C:\WINNT\system32\ctfmon.exe
C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 6.0\Distillr\acrotray.exe
C:\Program Files\ATI Technologies\ATI.ACE\cli.exe
C:\Program Files\ATI Technologies\ATI.ACE\cli.exe
C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe
C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Desktop\HijackThis.exe

O2 - BHO: AcroIEHlprObj Class - {06849E9F-C8D7-4D59-B87D-784B7D6BE0B3} - C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 6.0\Acrobat\ActiveX\AcroIEHelper.dll
O2 - BHO: AcroIEToolbarHelper Class - {AE7CD045-E861-484f-8273-0445EE161910} - C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 6.0\Acrobat\AcroIEFavClient.dll
O3 - Toolbar: &Radio - {8E718888-423F-11D2-876E-00A0C9082467} - C:\WINNT\system32\msdxm.ocx
O3 - Toolbar: Adobe PDF - {47833539-D0C5-4125-9FA8-0819E2EAAC93} - C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 6.0\Acrobat\AcroIEFavClient.dll
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Synchronization Manager] mobsync.exe /logon
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [RaidTool] C:\Program Files\VIA\RAID\raid_tool.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [VTTrayp] VTtrayp.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [VTTimer] VTTimer.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [AudioDeck] C:\Program Files\VIAudioi\SBADeck\ADeck.exe 1
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Zone Labs Client] "C:\Program Files\Zone Labs\ZoneAlarm\zlclient.exe "
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [AVG7_CC] C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgcc.exe /STARTUP
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [ATICCC] "C:\Program Files\ATI Technologies\ATI.ACE\cli.exe" runtime -Delay
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [ctfmon.exe] ctfmon.exe
O4 - Global Startup: Acrobat Assistant.lnk = C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 6.0\Distillr\acrotray.exe
O8 - Extra context menu item: E&xport to Microsoft Excel - res://C:\PROGRA~1\MICROS~2\OFFICE11\EXCEL.EXE/3000
O9 - Extra button: Research - {92780B25-18CC-41C8-B9BE-3C9C571A8263} - C:\PROGRA~1\MICROS~2\OFFICE11\REFIEBAR.DLL
O9 - Extra button: Related - {c95fe080-8f5d-11d2-a20b-00aa003c157a} - C:\WINNT\web\related.htm
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Show &Related Links - {c95fe080-8f5d-11d2-a20b-00aa003c157a} - C:\WINNT\web\related.htm
O16 - DPF: {6414512B-B978-451D-A0D8-FCFDF33E833C} (WUWebControl Class) - http://update.microsoft.com/windowsupdate/v6/V5Controls/en/x86/client/wuweb_site.cab?1151935603390
O16 - DPF: {6E32070A-766D-4EE6-879C-DC1FA91D2FC3} (MUWebControl Class) - http://update.microsoft.com/microsoftupdate/v6/V5Controls/en/x86/client/muweb_site.cab?1151937157875
O23 - Service: Ati HotKey Poller - ATI Technologies Inc. - C:\WINNT\system32\Ati2evxx.exe
O23 - Service: ATI Smart - Unknown owner - C:\WINNT\system32\ati2sgag.exe
O23 - Service: AVG7 Alert Manager Server (Avg7Alrt) - GRISOFT, s.r.o. - C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgamsvr.exe
O23 - Service: AVG7 Update Service (Avg7UpdSvc) - GRISOFT, s.r.o. - C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgupsvc.exe
O23 - Service: AVG E-mail Scanner (AVGEMS) - GRISOFT, s.r.o. - C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgemc.exe
O23 - Service: Logical Disk Manager Administrative Service (dmadmin) - VERITAS Software Corp. - C:\WINNT\System32\dmadmin.exe
O23 - Service: TrueVector Internet Monitor (vsmon) - Zone Labs, LLC - C:\WINNT\system32\ZoneLabs\vsmon.exe

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Any help would be appreciated... I can't seem to get anywhere!

-Jim P.