kernel32.dll is consuming my system

kernel32.dll is consuming my system. I've used the latest ZoneAlarm to scan
my system and it has not reported any issues. I've also run a Google search
for kernel32.dll and got a lot of hits but nothing I saw seemed to be a
solution. It is quite possible that I just did not understand what I was
being told.

I've scanned my HD for "kernel32" and found kernel32.dll a total of five
times all in different places in the C:\Windows folder, four of which look
like possible windows updates and the fifth was in the C:\Windows\System32
folder. The size of the files ranged from 984,586 to 989,696 and the dates
ranged from 7/5/2006 to 4/13/2008.

Any suggestions for possible solutions?

I forgot to mention I'm running WinXP Pro with all the latest updates on my
IBM laptop.

My initial issue was failure of my USB ports. If I rebooted all was OK but
when I loaded an iLinc client to teach virtual classes on the Internet I'd
loose all my USB ports. This just started to occur about two weeks ago,
prior to this I did not have any problems using the iLinc client. My current
WinXP Pro is about three years old. I've been considering a total system
rebuild but I need to order another hard drive before I start this process
in that it will take me several days and I cannot afford to be without my
system that long.

After a lot of searching I found a suggested fix at
[URL="http://forums.techguy.org/3435808-post2.html."]http://forums.techguy.org/3435808-post2.html.[/URL] I applied the suggestion and
my USB ports then worked, this was last night. Today while teaching my class
the USB ports dropped out after about 5 hours into the class, rebooting did
NOT restore the USB ports. I then used Sysinternals Process Explorer to
discover that kernel32.dll was consuming my system.