It is probably a problem with Windows. The kernel is a core part of it, and nobody else seems to be having the problem that you are. You could try running
Windows Update to see if that fixes the problem. If not, it's possible that you could have a virus (try
House Call or
AVG) or you could be infected with malware (try
Ad-Aware,
Spybot, and
MS Antispyware to fix that). I can help out with spyware myself if you are having problems with that when I have time, if you want; my AIM is in my profile.