Mac Keeps Crashing - Menu Bar Disappears and Nothing Will Run

Question

I'm having major problems with a macbook, 2.2Ghz, 4Gb RAM, 160Gb Hard Drive, 10.5.2
I'm not sure if this is a software bug, something to do with the fact that I've recently installed 4Gb RAM, replacing 2Gb that I installed a few months ago, or possibly something with parallels desktop running Vista, I recently installed several vista updates.
Basically, there are several ways in which the computer keeps crashing - I've pretty much figured out how to make it crash now. When it crashes, the menu bar disappears, sometimes leaving the shadow beneath it and the right hand icons, sometimes not, and the dock becomes useless - nothing will run. I cant use expose etc or switch between windows. Pressing Cmd Alt Esc to open the force quit dialogue box bring up an empty box - implying that nothing whatsoever is running! I have to physically shut down the computer using by holding the power button and start it back up again. When it starts up, it sometimes continues to refuse to work until i restart it again. There is no message whatsoever about having restarted or crashed.
The computer will work fine for most processes, but the things making it crash are:
1. Entering Time Machine (I've had to stop backing up and disconnect my time machine drive now)
2. Using parallels desktop - I run windows vista, and it'll work fine until I launch any applications that are more complicated than just solitaire or freecell - windows messenger and powerpoint will cause the crash. OSX won't be working, but windows will continue to work fine - I can finish what Im doing and shut it down, although keyboard input no longer works. I then have to restart OSX.
3. Running DVD Player in Front Row has now started bringing up the grey screen of death and telling me to restart.
Obviously these things can be avoided - but I can't back up my computer, I can't watch DVD's without crashing the computer, restarting and then going straight into DVD player, and I can't use the copy of Vista on Parallels that I've just spent a fair bit of money on.
I've tried taking out each of the 2Gb Kingston RAM cards, which came brand new and sealed, to see if one or other is possibly faulty, but they are both causing the same problems. I don't have the previous RAM cards to hand to test.
Has anyone here experienced anything like this before, or can anyone help me?

Answer 1

Hiya Pricerob,
Your problems seem to be exactly the same as the issue I'm having when it happens. Can I ask how much RAM you have installed, and how frequently the problem occurs? I'm curious also because I'm planning on buying an imac soon, and was planning on installing the 4Gb of RAM I have into that when it arrives - the £300 apple charges for the upgrade is a little excessive.
I mentioned that I've tried to download the latest firmware update, but it keeps crashing upon completion. Have you had any issues like this?
Another really obscure thing I've found regarding the firmware update is that it saves an install file to my Applications/Utilities folder. This file would cause my mac to crash. Every time I opened the utilities folder, it would crash. I moved it to the desktop, and had major issues where the computer would crash immediately upon startup because the file was there, and the same problem once I managed to get it in the trash. It was only by accessing the macbook in target disk mode that I was able to delete the file and use my computer as normal again.
Anyway, considering the problems I've had, would anyone say it's worth risking installing the RAM into a new imac when it comes, considering that the problems with my macbook are ongoing even when the RAM is removed and I can easily reinstall the operating system on a brand new computer, or should I leave it and buy some more?