Problem: I have a 1 GHz Athlon on a Kinetiz 7B MoBo w/ 256k Ram running Win 2K. The computer semi-randomly locks up. I can't move the mouse or do anything. I have to reboot and system will run fine for a while. This can happen a couple times a day or not happen for several weeks. The one time I can always make the computer lock is when I try to install one of the major Win2K updates. I have tried update 4 (?) a couple times and ended up locking every time (one time it resulted in having to reformat and install Win2K again). More Info: I have reformatted the disk and reinstalled Win2K a couple times. I have checked all the jumpers (I think)on the MoBo and they seem to be in the correct position. Could the BIOS settings or version cause something like this? Could the temp on my CPU be rising when I do certain tasks and locking up (I only have a CPU fan on my computer, no system fan)? Or, do I just have a bad MoBo? HELP!! Greg

Your description sounds like you have a unstable power supply! I had the same problems after I installed a DVD burner but with a new better power supply the problems vanished!

Is there a way you can swap processors with another machine into that one ? see what happens, then swap memory if you can find memory from a friends computer that uses the same RAM type. If all fails, flash bios and update chipset. Check to see if there is something wrong with your IDE controllers.

The first thing you need to do is download then update and run a full scan with Adaware. Then you need to run a complete virus scan also to eliminate virus or spyware problems. If all is well, then the next choice for lock ups would be video drivers or Ram. Also download Belarc Adviser and Aida32 (more detailed) to test memory and see if you have any corrupted or incomplete updates. If you can find a folder called CatRoot2 in your system folder, try renaming that file to old and see if it goes away.

Download SpyBot Search and Destroy from Download.com. That might be it. I am thinking probably your RAM though.

I tried reseating the RAM board and also installed another 256K RAM board (in addition) and the computer is more stable so far (a few days). I have a QDI ManageEasy program that is supposed to monitor the computer and it shows both memory chips. I don't know what those other apps that were mentioned do? I will try them if they are free/shareware. Thanks for the help.