XP Freezing Dilema

[stefan]

I recently built my brother a computer. Hitachi 120 gig
harddrive, pentium 4 3.0 processor w/hyperthreading,
radeon 9800 pro 128mb, 512 ddr 3200 RAM. After windows
was installed, the computer frequently crashed. It did a
few times just surfing the net, a few times playing games
(no slowdown or choppiness before crash), and once
installing a game. i couldn't figure out the source and
a friend suggested that i run the full scandisk. i did
this and (call it good luck) the computer ran fine for
about 3 days. it just started freezing again while my
brother was playing a computer game. now it will boot
into windows, but everytime i put a game cd in the drive
and close it, the computer freezes. any suggestiosn on
where this problem is coming from? or if its just
windows and if i should reinstall? i'm totally lost.
thanks for any help. i'd really like it if someone could
help me on AOL instant messenger. my screename is
NerdCoreRocks. Thanks. s.k.

 

[xe77]

Probably faulty RAM.
http://www.memtest86.com for a free testing tool.

 

[Guest]

Chk and make sure the ram and cpu cooling fan are seated
right... this is a problem i have seen on amds where
someone installed the cooling fan and it was seated
slightly of center the computer would do exhibit some of
the problems you mention.... like crashing for no reason
chk your connections

 

[Guest]

thanks for the suggestion, i used that program and it
didn't seem to find any errors. any more suggestions?

 

[Guest]

the cooling fan for the processor is on fine, it runs at
50degrees celcius or below. i think the ram is seated
right? i'll check again. thanks

 

[Kelly]

Suggestions:

You can use Event Viewer to view and manage the event logs, gather
information about hardware and software problems, and monitor Windows
security events.

To view the event log: Administrative Tools/Event Viewer or
Start/Run/eventvwr.

To review Shutdown Event Tracker data, Open Event Viewer. Click System Log,
scroll to the Event column, and find entries with the number 1075.

HOW TO: View and Manage Event Logs in Event Viewer in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q308427

And also:

Go to Start/Run/Msinfo32/Hardware Resources, Components/Problem Devices and
Software Environment/Windows Error Reporting.

Go to Help and Support/Pick a Task (left side)/Use Tools to view.../(left
pane)My Computer Information/(right pane)View the status of my system
hardware and software/Hardware/Update and Troubleshooters.

How to Troubleshoot Hardware and Software Driver Problems
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q322205

Try running the DirectX Tool: Start/Run/Dxdiag, Lower Hardware Acceleration
(Display/Settings/Advanced/Troubleshoot/Hardware Acceleration).