The computer has a 500 MHz Pentium III chip, an Asus motherboard (which was replaced early this year), and 128 MB of RAM.

The active desktop takes much more out of your graphics card and processor. Are you sure you need it enabled? It will generally slow your computer down in the 300 to 600 mghz processor range. I would recommend converting all desktop images to BMP files (you can do this by opening the JPG/GIF/TIF/etc. image in Microsoft Paint and doing a 'save as' to BMP file).

I have an ATI Rage Pro Turbo AGP 2X card. It has been in the machine since December 1999 and is original equipment. The only related change that I can pinpoint is that I am using an Active Desktop wallpaper on the computer and the problem seems to have started at about the same time.

I have downloaded the newest driver from ATI but am kinda scared to try installing it. I did look at the other posts related to this issue and similar issues and that seemed like the best option to try.

If you read all the previous posts for this error message, you will see that this error message is EXTREMELY common.

I would try the updated version of their drivers on the manufacturer's website. Some have never been successful in fixing these problems and resulting in buying a new video card.

Good luck!