Why does my Brother MFC 3240C Printer constantlly go dead requiring complete shut down of my computer and?

You have the hal turner virus. I had it myself, its a pain in the as$ if you don't know how to get rid of it. Search for "hal.dll" and delete it asap. If that dosen't work, update your question and tell me what happens.

With both computer and printer off, un-plug the USB cord,(computer to printer) Un-plug the printer from AC source. Turn the computer on. When WinXP has fully loaded, go to Start>All Programs>Brother>Uninstall, and click on it. Follow the instructions. After it's done, shut down WinXP normally. (Yes, I know this is a pain in the b*tt, but we need a Hard-Shut down, right now.) Now dig that Brother MFC 3240C Cd out. Start the computer back up. When XP has fully loaded again, put the disk in. Load the drivers for the Brother printer,(Means just follow the instructions, and load the disk, lol!) Plug the printer back in to AC source. Now plug the printer into the computer with the USB cord, and turn it on. Go to the 'Control Panel' for the printer,(Can't remember the exact name of it right now. I gave away one of these, back in June of last year. I liked it! Got a flat-bed multi machine now, Epson CX4800)

In this user window find the Diagnostic feature, and click on it. Let it run the diagnostic test. You might have to open the 'lid',(case halves), and shut it again. Everything fine so far? Test this baby out. If all of this doesn't work, I suggest you have a mechanical printer problem.

have you trying removing trhe printer completely and re-installing a fresh copy of the drivers, you might have a corrupt drivers that causes the lockup, you can also check you hard drive for errors , and a virus scan never hurts,

good luck

im gonna save ur question and keep commin back i have a brother mfc 420cn and same crap happens to me too :( thanks for askin this question i never would have i just suck it up and do it overs and overs. sorry not an answer