hi, my pc is restarting randomly, even in safe mode! Either that or it simple just freezes. Even when i'm not doing anything on it. It always restarts/freezes within 5 minutes, and when i try to access my norton antivirus program, it doesn't load, so i'm suspecting that its a virus. Also, i can't access antivirus websites like antivirus.com, symantec.com, microsoft.com, etc... Does anyone know what's causing these problems? They only just appeared like this morning and is obviously not any hardware issue since i did not make any major changes to my pc

Maybe it is overheating, dust clogging the fans is a big cause of this.

Information about cleaning computer components
http://www.computerhope.com/cleaning.htm
Getting The Grunge Out Of Your PC
http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=60403472
http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=60403472&pgno=2
http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=60403472&pgno=3
http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=60403472&pgno=4
http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=60403472&pgno=5
http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=60403472&pgno=6
http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=60403472&pgno=7
Fred Langa cleans the dirtiest PC he can find, and along the way shows you how you can easily tackle yours.

erm, i just cleaned my pc last week though, so i'm very sure that its not overheating at all

This is a small extract from the links provided.

http://www.ultratech-llc.com/KB/ASP/FileView.asp?File=/KB/BSOD.TXT
http://www.ultratech-llc.com/KB/?File=BSOD.TXT
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/treeview/default.asp?url=/technet/prodtechnol/winntas/tips/techrep/bsod.asp
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=325011
http://windows.about.com/library/weekly/aa030599.htm
http://windows.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q192/4/63.asp
http://labmice.techtarget.com/windowsxp/TroubleshootingXP/default.htm
http://www.labmice.net/WindowsXP/TroubleshootingXP/error.htm
http://sft-cyber.com/stoperrors.htm
http://aumha.org/win5/kbestop.htm

Troubleshooting Windows STOP Errors (BSOD) and Freezes

The following issues are easily responsible for 99% of all system instability issues, particularly with Windows:

• Bad or Flaky RAM
• High CPU/Case temperatures (Insufficient cooling)
• Bad Drivers (usually with el-cheapo hardware)
• Inadequate or Dirty Power
• Overclocking (some devices cannot run out of spec)
• Improper Permissions/Rights (results in Access Denied)
• Dirty Upgrade from Win9x/ME to 2000/XP
• Virus Infection (can result in a wide variety of problems)
• Incorrect jumper settings on your hard drive
• Improperly terminated drivers and controller
• Disabled or Misconfigured Services

SYMPTOMS OF COMMON ISSUES

• Bad Drivers ............ BSOD (Blue Screen of Death) or Spontaneous Reboot
• Overheating ............ Spontaneous Reboot or System Freeze
• Bad/Flaky RAM .......... Spontaneous Reboot or System Freeze or Failed Install
• Dirty Power ............ Spontaneous Reboot or System Generated Errors
• Inadequate Power ....... BSOD or Spontaneous Reboot or System Freeze
• Overclocking ........... BSOD or Spontaneous Reboot or System Freeze
• Improper Permissions ... BSOD or System Generated Errors
• Dirty upgrade .......... BSOD or System Errors or Slowness or Erratic Behavior
• Virus Infection ........ Inexplicable slowness or Highly Erratic Behavior
• Wrong Drive Settings ... Inexplicable slowness or Failed Install or Long Boot times
• Bad SCSI Termination ... Inexplicable slowness or Failed Install or Long Boot times
• Disabled Services ...... Poor System Performance or Installation Problems or Limited OS Functionality

Troubleshooting system lock-up problems
http://www.legge40.freeserve.co.uk/Tips2.htm#LOCKUP

darianx, Something most likely has you host file blocking these sites. Please download Hijack This at this link http://www.tomcoyote.org/hjt/ then place it into a folder of it's on, such as C:\HJT, so that back up copies can be made and not clutter your desktop or other folders and the backup copies of deleted items can be easily located if needed.

Once saved double click HijackThis.exe, and press "Scan". When the scan is finished, the "Scan" button will change into a "Save Log" button.
Press that, save the log, Ctrl-A to Select All, and copy its contents into the text editor at this forum.

Do not fix anything yet unless you know what you are doing. This is a powerful tool that can crash the computer if used improperly.

Then download hoster from this site http://www.funkytoad.com/hoster.htm and save it to the desktop. Then click "restore original host".

Once you can access antivirus sites run this free online scan from Panda

When the scan completes, if anything malicious is detected, click the See Report button, then Save Report and save it to the desktop, then copy/paste into the text editor and post it.

Download Ewido Security Suite then set it up this way Ewido Setup Instructions reboot into Safe Mode and run Ewido

When the scan has completed, Ewido will create a report.txt file. Click the "Save Report" button on the bottom of the screen and save the log to your desktop in case you need it later.

Please reboot into normal mode and post the ewido log.