wmiprvse.exe aplication errors

for the past 2-3 weeks, i have been getting a bunch of application error pop ups..Mostly wmiprvse.exe, but also svchost.exe and a few others.  I can only terminate the program, but it keeps popping up.  Also, I just bought a Microsoft LifeCam 3000 and i cannot lod the drivers...are the problems related?  I have tried Panda Antivirus, Kaspersky online virus scan and a few registry cleaners, both in regular mode and safe mode.  I am running Windows XP.  Do I need to totally reformat my computer? Any thoughts? Thank you