Since a few days back home pc is freezing about once a minute for 10 seconds each time. Can move the mouse but all apps and START button etc freeze. Have run Norton av 2004, AVG, and now have panda av installed. No viruses found by any of them. Tried Ad-aware also, nothing. PC is working fine apart from this freezing. What could it be?

Have you gone into Task Manager to see which processes are causing the problem?

Some resources that may help: 1. At www.support.microsoft.com, search Knowledgebase and Support Center databases for Windows XP for other specifics and known issues relating to the Start Button. 2. As per Microsoft, "To help troubleshoot error messages or other issues when you cannot determine the cause of the issue, disable common startup programs, settings, and drivers to eliminate possible software conflicts when you start Microsoft Windows XP. This procedure is known as "clean booting." A. Clean-boot in Windows XP http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=310353 B. Troubleshoot using the System Configuration utility in Windows XP http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;310560

MrC: Excellent advice above. However, do some simple things first: Ceck your connections, mouse to box, keyboard to box, what is your mouse moving on? Try it with a clean piece of opaque white paper. Does it always freeze while you are moving the mouse, or does it also happen when you are typing or while reading the screen w/out moving the mouse? Is your IE updated? Should be IE 6, is your Xp updated? etc...updated? Do the simple stuff first. My two cents: get rid of Norton. Use free AVG or Free AVAST. Norton is a resource hog, and it messes with programs especially the Utilities. If you must pay for an AV get Nod 32 or AVG Pro. Start-up lists: http://www.pacsportal.co.uk/startup_content.php http://www.sysinfo.org/startuplist.php http://www.windowsstartup.com/ Thresher

In addition, you could rule out any undetected malware and Dialers and then scandisk and defrag your harddrive before performing the clean-boot troubleshooting the freeze problem as instructed by Microsoft. Re: cause of applications hang problem PREP WORK: 1. Remove temporary files, temporary Internet files, cookies. Empty Recycle Bin. 2. Keep System Restore disabled until the cause of the application-freeze problem is solved. Restart PC in Safe Mode. 3. Update and run anti-trackware and antivirus tools to remove detected viruses as before in Safe Mode. TO RULE OUT UNDETECTED MALWARE 1. Visually scan for undetected malware or Dialer running in the Task Manager and double-click to open Add/Remove icon in Control Panel to identify suspicious programs installed. Identify the processes running in the Task Manager and suspicious programs installed by searching the databases at the links provided by Thresher, downloading and running Process Explorer from www.sysinternals.com, or searching the Internet and virus encyclopedias. 2. Remove identified malware or unnecessary Services running. SCANDISK & DEFRAG HARDDRIVE If applications still hang after running defragmentation, then the problem is most likely a program conflict problem with the following assumptions: the Task Manager didn't reveal that a malicious process is running in memory and that all your antivirus programs run successfully to completion without errors or malware detected, and your computer is current with Microsoft critical updates. Clean-boot troubleshooting to diagnose the cause of the application freeze is recommended.