intermittent freezing - win2k

[Down8 0]

Been a while since I came 'round here....

 

OK, recently replaced my aging P3-500 with a new system (AXP2500+, Abit NF7-S, 512MB HyperX, GF3Ti200). It's all well and good, except that it randomly freezes.

 

The freezes last for roughly 30 seconds, then it's open to input for about 3 seconds, then 30s freeze, ad nauseum. I save what I'm doing and hit the reset button. While the screen is frozen (and sometimes sound continues, sometimes not), it will 'accept' input, in that if I type anything (say, "my computer is freezing, i'll brb - screw nvidia & ms") it will appear once the 3 second gap comes along.

 

Someone said this sounded like a bad OS install, but I've reinstalled a couple times. I removed the memory card reader, my ATi TV tuner, and increased cooling (~48*C idle, max 53*C under load), tried both the MS and NVidia IDE drivers. Tried not running certian programs (MBM, BT), since it seemed like those might be the cause. But all to no avail, the freezing always comes back.

 

As soon as finals are over, I'll be doing a fresh install of WinXP-Pro (I tried it before, and got the same freezing problems), so I'd like to figure out what is causing this so my fresh install will be trouble free.

 

Any ideas where to look? Not enough/'dirty' power supply? Driver issues? Bad hdd? Ire of the computer gods?

 

-bZj

[Down8 0]

Forgot to add:

 

The one thing I haven't tried removing yet is my USB-WiFi adapter. Anyone have freezing issues with something similar?

 

-bZj

[sapiens74 0]

How many services are you running?

 

And are you running Norton AV?

[thatsteveguy 0]

and just out of curiosity, but your Wifi is properly secured? In that someone isn't warjacking you? Prolly wont' cause the freezing but you never know

S

[Down8 0]

I use AVG antivirus (never had problems in the past).

 

My WiFi setup is mostly secure. I don't use encryption, but my router only gives out IPs to specific MAC address. And I live on the outskirts of a small town, so that brings the chances of interlopers down. Still possible though, I guess.

 

As for services, it's a normal Win2K install, the only thing I specifically shut off was the messenger service. Is there somethign specific you had in mind?

 

-bZj

[CyberGenX 0]

I have seen that freezing problem on a couple boards. It usually ends up being USB! Try disabling USB and see if that helps... Also for sh^ts and giggles try pulling ALL of your cards except the video (of course). If the freezing stops, it maybe a hardware driver or IRQ fault.

[Down8 0]

I was fearing it might be USB... I went WiFi b/c the DSL drop is in another room, about 70ft away as the cable runs. The USB-WiFi... well, it's so hard to give up my internet for even a day or two to test.

 

All I have is the tv tuner and my GF3, so I've gone cardless before - problem persists.

 

Any other possibilities to check? (Can't really do w/o 'Net until after finals.)

 

-bZj

[sapiens74 0]

Set services you aren't using to manual

[Down8 0]

 

Anything stand out as not being needed? Telephony there will disable Remote Access Connection Mgr, so I think I need it.

 

-bZj