PC crash

Not long after mentioning that I'm satisfied with Windows XP and not upgrading to Vista, something happen to my PC and I have to do a reformat.

It all starts when I cannot install or uninstall any program. Doing so will crash the PC completely. Tried scanning for virus, spyware, malware and such and nothing was found. Did online scan on Norton and Trendmicro but the required component cannot be installed as "something" is preventing the files to be download.

With no way out, I did a format and re-install all the software. I have a hard time looking for a good anti-virus software. I don't like Norton as it is very "resource demanding" Gave up on Trensdmicro Pc-cillin as the last version I installed will auotomatically freeze up my internet connection for no reason and only way out is to restart PC. Zone alarm is not that good either as it slows down the system.

Currently I'm trying out Prevx1. Will be trying out nod32 and Avast when I have the time.

It was during the searching for software that I found that theres a "Windows XP Black Edition USA Retail" available for download on the net through torrent download. Of course it's illegal. It comes with many other software including MS Office 2007, Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional and a whole lot of others.

I've not tried installing it but have read from many forum page that it's actually a working copy and there's no need to activate it. It functions like normal and Microsoft update function is also working.

Now I'm wondering is there really a "Retail" version of Windows XP that doesn't requires activation or is this a HACK copy in which the pirates repackage everything into a single disk.