My computer is doing only audio-visual work which consists of playing MPEG2 files (long ones) out to a video projector. Problem is that the computer sometimes eezes during a session. Most times this is after about an hour. The vision locks on the last moving frame and the sound goes dih-dih-dih-dih-dih-dih-dih-dih- -ad infinitum. The computer does not respond to any keyboard input and sometimes won't reboot - it well and truly "hangs". Sometimes the only way to reboot is to power off the unit on the rear power switch and then back on. After disabling the on-board soundchip and installing a separate sound card about 3 weeks ago it seemed to behave but now has started doing it again. The video card is a Nvidea Ge Force 7300GT-TDH with 256mB DDR2 memory. Processor is an AMD Triple-Core Phenom at 3.1gHz. Mobo is a Gigabyte GA-M770-DS3. Memory 2gB 800ns DDR2 Power supply 450W Running XP-Pro SP3. Using Media Player Classic for replays. No other programs are running nor is there a internet connection on this computer although it is on a LAN with two other comps. Can anyone suggest what can be done to gaurantee freeze-free operation. More info can be supplied if needed.

This has nothing to do with your problem but I'm curious why you're not running DDR2-1066 to take full advantage of your Phenom? http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products... Other than that, check for overheating or possibly a driver issue.

Um, 1066 memory was considerably more expensive. Not sure about overheating, I'll check that, and drivers are a complex issue as the video card is a dual port type driving both analog and dvi outputs, both are used. I'm using NVidea's 175.19 geforce driver set as this is required to allow video-mirroring. Curiously I played a file using VLC and noted that cpu usage dropped from around 20% with media Player Classic, to 3-4% with VLC. I thought I might be on to a cure when it crashed just as before, and only after about 5 minutes with VLC.

I agree with Jam. Check your temperatures. It might also be a good idea to test your RAM. http://memtest86.com/ There is a version to create a bootable floppy diskette and/or an ISO for creating a CD. Run it overnight and any failures are unacceptable. FWIW to XP users: When you click on the 'Command Prompt' you are just causing the 'Command prompt' to be displayed. This prompt gives you access to NTVDM.EXE, the 'NT Virtual DOS Manager'.

Went down the temperatures road and had quite a ride. Bios originally reported CPU at 76c. Fitted a massive thermal h/s with heatpipes and this dropped temp to 56c. Then fitted 3000rpm/100cfm fan to h/s and temp dropped to 32c. Then fed in external cool air to front of case and cpu core temp is now typ. 17-20c (ambient 27-28c). However, that didn't stop freezes. Havn't checked memory yet but wil do the mem86 thing. Have selected in Task Manager that mplayer.exe is run on one core rather than three. Also found that the lastest build of MPC (6.4.9.1 Rev 89) includes a bug fix for "freezes with MPEG2 video" - well waddya know! I was previously using build 82. It's going to take a while to shakedown this problem but will post back with results.

No improvement to date. Haave run out of ideas. Nothing suggested has fixed it. No one can give any clues as to why it still locks-up picture and sound randomly during mpg2 replays. I'm just so disappointed with it all.