Hi Dan:

I'm not too sure about Quicktime, but I doubt it is a problem. As for Ptsnoop, here is the description from Pacs Portal:

These descriptions I've come across - all valid as far as I can see :-
(1) Program installed with some modems that monitors the COM ports for the modem driver. Not required from what I've read - may need a registry edit to get rid of it
(2) Backdoor trojan virus that copies itself as PTSNOOP.EXE -see here for more info
(3) Apparently the people who put it out claim it's a driver for a Voice modems (don't know who they are though - Ed)
Note: If using AOL and you disable this you may lose your connection or lock up
(4) Can also be an older Logitech scanner program. Remove from the Win.ini tab under Load='path'PTSNOOP and the System.ini tab under drivers='path'ptrtkr.drb. Can cause parallel port conflicts big time dragging system resources way down when a conflict exists
(5) Allows audio monitoring of modem phone dialling tones and can be useful if you have connection problems
(6) Karen Kenworthy's Snooper - "logs the start and stop time of all programs run under Windows"

And it is safe to disable this service under msconfig. As always, be careful with msconfig, and if you are not sure how to disable it, ask someone (or me).

I would like to point out that the bit I highlighted in bold above could be the reason for your system instability. Having port conflicts will inherently cause your system to fail more frequently.

Hope that helps, and if you would like help with msconfig, please ask.

Jonathan 8)