Jim Roseberry
If the machine still crashes, it's time to test the system's RAM.
A bad stick of RAM can cause major stability issues...

Jim, I am so with you on this. It doesn't happen often but when it does, the problems it causes are legion and seem to have nothing to do with logic. 

+1, a RAM stick degrading has only happened to me once and was the freakiest gambit of issues that I have ever experienced; but this would also manifest itself globally rather than being isolated to a program (i.e., you will see stability degradation no matter what you were doing with your machine).