File- save crashing apps / EXC_BAD_ACCESS (SIGBUS) - KERN_PROTECTION_FAIL

Question

Since moving to snow leopard I'm having a large number of application crashes, especially in web browsers, (Firefox, Chrome) and Text Wrangler. The issue is reproducible, all I have to do is perform a "file - save as" function, the system hangs a bit while all my drives spin up and then the application crashes. It's especially bad with saving images or file downloads.
sample crash log from Chrome:
Process: Google Chrome [29631]
Path: /Applications/Google Chrome.app/Contents/MacOS/Google Chrome
Identifier: com.google.Chrome
Version: 5.0.342.9 (342.9)
Code Type: X86 (Native)
Parent Process: launchd [111]
Date/Time: 2010-04-24 15:06:29.189 -0500
OS Version: Mac OS X 10.6.2 (10C540)
Report Version: 6
Exception Type: EXCBADACCESS (SIGBUS)
Exception Codes: KERNPROTECTIONFAILURE at 0x000000000289a4d0
Crashed Thread: 2
-----snip thread 0 and 1---------------------
Thread 2 Crashed:
0 com.google.Chrome.framework 0x005f1341 ChromeMain + 6193649
1 libSystem.B.dylib 0x95f8cfbd pthreadstart + 345
2 libSystem.B.dylib 0x95f8ce42 thread_start + 34
Textwrangler Crash Log:
Process: TextWrangler [1080]
Path: /Applications/TextWrangler.app/Contents/MacOS/TextWrangler
Identifier: com.barebones.textwrangler
Version: 3.1 (2640)
Code Type: X86 (Native)
Parent Process: launchd [111]
Date/Time: 2010-04-19 21:30:44.386 -0500
OS Version: Mac OS X 10.6.2 (10C540)
Report Version: 6
Exception Type: EXCBADACCESS (SIGBUS)
Exception Codes: KERNPROTECTIONFAILURE at 0x0000000000000078
Crashed Thread: 7 Dispatch queue: TFSVolumeInfo::GetSyncGCDQueue
----------snip---------------------
Thread 7 Crashed: Dispatch queue: TFSVolumeInfo::GetSyncGCDQueue
0 com.apple.DesktopServices 0x97eb8445 TFSVolumeInfo::GetVolumeSyncThread() + 83
1 com.apple.DesktopServices 0x97eb8391 TNode::PostNodeTaskRequest(TCountedPtr<TNodeTask> const&) const + 81
2 com.apple.DesktopServices 0x97eb80fa TNode::RequestInternalTask(unsigned long, TPropertyValue const&) const + 172
3 com.apple.DesktopServices 0x97ebd672 TNode::RequestSynchronize(unsigned long) + 120
4 com.apple.DesktopServices 0x97f06359 TNode::SynchronizeVolumes(bool, TCountedPtr<TVolumeSyncThread> const&) + 431
5 com.apple.DesktopServices 0x97f0a806 TNode::HandleChange(char*, unsigned long, TCountedPtr<TVolumeSyncThread> const&) + 1746
6 com.apple.DesktopServices 0x97f06011 TNode::AddVolume(TCountedPtr<TVolumeSyncThread> const&, short, unsigned long, TNodePtr&, bool) + 1175
7 com.apple.DesktopServices 0x97eb20ea TNode::GetVolume(short, unsigned long, bool) + 382
8 com.apple.DesktopServices 0x97eb54b8 TNode::GetNodeFromFSInfo(TCountedPtr<TFSInfo> const&, TNodePtr&, unsigned long, bool) + 416
9 com.apple.DesktopServices 0x97ed4464 TNode::ResolveSharedFileListAliasIfNeeded() + 714
10 com.apple.DesktopServices 0x97ebbcc9 TNode::SynchronizeChildren(unsigned long, TNodeEventPtrSet&) + 4409
11 com.apple.DesktopServices 0x97eba6b0 TNode::HandleSync(unsigned long) + 886
12 com.apple.DesktopServices 0x97eba306 TNode::HandleSync(TCountedPtr<TNodeTask> const&, TNodePtr const&) + 56
13 com.apple.DesktopServices 0x97f0d0c4 TNode::HandleNodeRequest(TCountedPtr<TNodeTask> const&, TCountedPtr<TVolumeSyncThread> const&) + 1154
14 com.apple.DesktopServices 0x97eb878f _PostNodeTaskRequest_block_invoke2 + 94
15 libSystem.B.dylib 0x95f93828 dispatch_call_block_andrelease + 16
16 libSystem.B.dylib 0x95f861f4 dispatch_queuedrain + 249
17 libSystem.B.dylib 0x95f85c52 dispatch_queueinvoke + 50
18 libSystem.B.dylib 0x95f85a68 dispatch_workerthread2 + 234
19 libSystem.B.dylib 0x95f854f1 pthreadwqthread + 390
20 libSystem.B.dylib 0x95f85336 start_wqthread + 30
Google leads towards a wide range of possible causes, everything from software bug to bad RAM.
Any chance this is an issue known to the community?

Answer 1

Disconnect all peripherals from you computer and run the Hardware Test which is on your system disc that came with your computer - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1509
Afterwards re boot from this disc to run *Repair Disk* from the utility menu. To use the Install Mac OS X disc, insert the disc, and restart your computer while holding down the C key as it starts up.
Select your language.
Once on the desktop, select Utility in the menu bar.
Select Disk Utility.
Select the disk or volume in the list of disks and volumes, and then click First Aid.
Click _Repair Disk._
Restart your computer when done.
Repair permissions after you reach the desktop-http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=25751