I built this system myself. Nothing is overclocked nor has ever been on this system (all CMOS settings at their default automatic settings.) It ran for about two years without incident, but a couple months ago it started running unstable. The entire system would freeze or crash at random. Now, my CPU had always run pretty hot (50-65C) so I figured this was the problem and replaced/upgraded it (the new one runs at 45-50C). However, the problem persisted, though the crashes and the like did seem to happen a bit less often. Next I tested my RAM with GoldMemory 5.07, and it turns out that one of the DIMMs I had installed reported some errors. So I removed it and ran the program again, and this time it detected no problems. This seems to have improved the stability of the system a bit more, but it will still crash seemingly at random every 45-60 minutes on average when the system is in active use. I've done all of the other obvious stuff I can think of. Downloaded latest drivers/firmware updates, downloaded all of the critical updates off Windows Update and have scanned for viruses. I also ran CHKDSK, but was unable to get it to perform a surface scan like I wanted to (not sure if it's possible to run a surface scan on a disk formatted with NTFS?) So far, I've only had the system reset while in Windows (though sometimes it resets very shortly after I boot up) but other than that I haven't been able to pin down any specific condition results in a crash. I don't have any parts available that I can use to swap out any of the existing components, so I'd prefer to do what I can to troubleshoot the problem in software to figure out exactly which piece(s) of hardware are failing me, or else determine what the problem is. Any assistance would be appreciated. My apologies if there's a similar thread that already answers my questions, but I know there are so many possible causes/solutions to this kind of system behavior that I thought it might be best to just throw my problem out there with a list of everything I've already tried. Thanks in advance. Below is a more complete profile of my system specs: OS: Windows XP Home Processor: AMD Athlon XP 2400+ (Thoroughbred, 2000 MHz, 266 MHz FSB) Motherboard: EPoX 8KHA+ (VT8366A-8233) RAM: 512 mb Mushkin Basic PC2100 Drives: Maxtor 6L040J2 40.03 GB drive, rev 93.0500 (primary master) Plextor PlexWriter 10x12x32x PXW1210A (secondary master) 3.5" Floppy Drive Graphics: Leadtek GeForce3 Ti200-TDH Sound: SoundBlaster Live! 5.1 Modem: U.S. Robotics External USB modem (5633A)

You can download and run the HDD diagnostic tools from Maxtor. That will confirm the health of your HDD. You could try running a little while with your CDROM or Floppy drive disconnected to see if that resolves the problem. You can disable auto restart to get a BSOD message and code to help you track down the problem. Right click My Computer/choose properties/click the advanced tab/click Startup and recovery button/uncheck automatically restart/click ok/and ok.

Thanks for the help. I followed both of your suggestions. According to all of the tests that Maxtor's "powermax" program can run, the hard drive is fine. I disabled automatic shutdown and when my last shutdown occurred, it seemed the problem was related to the system's USB controller or driver. This is probably the problem... EPoX has a USB driver patch on their web site (which I already installed) which is supposed to help clear up these issues, but it hasn't helped. It's looking like I'm probably going to have to replace the motherboard (yuck) to settle this problem once and for all unless anybody has any other suggestions for possible solutions. Thanks again. :)

download a memory tester off the net and check your RAM. Migh tbe a bad memory stick.

Random crashes at different times with no specified error often indicate a power supply problem. If it becomes unstable freezes and crashes can happen and a lot of strange errors. In my case a new bigger psu helped but I was lucky because I knew that my 300W psu was a bit small for my 5 harddrives and 3 optical drives. But it worked until I changed a CD against a DVD burner. The few W more had been the difference between a stable and regularly crashing system!