Why is my computer randomly freezing up?

Question

OK I'm going to be as detailed as possible to help YOU answer this question as best as you can, I'm running:

Components:
ASUS P5NSLi motherboard
Core 2 Duo E6600 (not over-clocked)
Corsair XMS DDR2 (1gigabyte) RAM installed correctly
2x500 GB SATA Maxtor HDs
ATI X1900
Avermedia 1500 TV Tuner
Linksys Wireless B PCI card

Temperatures:
CPU: idles at 51 Celcius
MB: idles at 41 Celcius

Software on PC:
Windows Media Center Edition 2005
ATI software
McAfee Viruscan 8.0
Touchkit drivers for 7.0 in touch screen display on case

Problems with components:
The northbridge gets so hot!!! You could cook an egg on that thing, so i installed a thermaltake northbridge cooler and the tempuratures now idle at 50 celcius for the CPU, so that did help lower the temp of CPU at least.

So basically when im online or the network connection is working i could be browsing the net, downloading a torrent, or watching a movie in media center and the screen will just freeze. HELP??

Answer 1

Try this. Go to Display Properties. Click SETTINGS. Click ADVANCED. Click TROUBLESHOOTING.
There, you will see a Hardware Acceleration Slider Bar. Move the slider one notch to the left. Then restart and use your computer and see if it freezes again. If it doesn't, you're good to go. If it does freeze again, then go back and move the notch to the next position on the left. Keep doing this until your computer no longer freezes. Don't worry if you have to move it all-the-way to the left, none of this will affect your actual performance, only the way certain 'parts' speak to each other. This will almost always fix a computer that freezes alot though... good luck :-)

Answer 2

If you have isolated the problem to happen ONLY when your network is in use, then you have a network driver incompatibility. I would make sure that you have the latest drivers for your motherboard, internet adapter (all if more than one) and video card. Also, check for any firmware upgrades on the motherboard and network card.

I see you have a wireless card and also a network adapter. Disable - in BIOS is possible - the one that you are not using. This will eliminate possible IO conflicts.

Download and run Memtest 86+. Run this for at least 8 hours. If your ram passes that test, you have good RAM.

You are running an SLi motherboard with an ATI video card, make sure that you have the latest drivers for both, and if try changing the video card out to an nVidia if you continue to have problems.

Next, format the hard drive, re-install all drivers with the most recent available, re-install all Windows updates, and then one program at a time install the programs you use. Test each program for lockups before installing the next one.

A personal opinion, replace McAfee. I use F-Secure, it is more stable and more user-friendly than either the Norton Virus or McAfee.

Try getting a heat spreader for the RAM

Answer 3

You might have software that is fighting for the same space as the the one you are using. This is a problem I had at one time when I had 2 anti-virus programs running at the same time.
Good luck!

Answer 4

If your computer hangs or reboots while you are working on it, it could be a problem with device drivers, hardware or software. This problem can be solved by uninstalling new softwares, updating device drivers and making minor configuration changes. Detailed instructions at http://tinyurl.com/yk5zpr

Answer 5

Have you tried checking for spyware and things like that? That can bog it down, make it run slow.

My fiance has a laptop, I know that he can't run McAfee on it. It will actually freeze the computer. Once we removed it, the freezing stopped.

Answer 6

As they said in South Park the movie - F'n Bill Gates!

Answer 7

u probably have a virus, or if ur running old software like Windows 98 or older (mainly 95) or your cptr is older than 8 yrs, u should get a new 1!!!

Answer 8

my computer is the same way. maybe you are doing too many things all at once or maybe it just needs to cool down.