NT boots fine. Computer is used to control a Takaya APT9400 Flying Probe ICT machine. System with same software has been working fine for last 3-4 years. A couple of weeks ago, when the application was launched, it would stay at the application splash screen for up to an hour and a half before continuing. The it would work for a while. The mouse would then become erratic and delays would build on button clicks. Sometimes the splash screen would freeze and the mouse and keyboard were locked. Lately, the splash screen loads, and everything locks up. What's up with this?

Run the "usual" diagnostics: Scandisk Defrag (NT4 doesn't have one natively, you'll need to find one to add on) Virus Scan. Possibly a memory check (Compaq's seem to be notoriously picky about memory) Otherwise, if the OS seems to be solid (without the flying-probe software running), then see if re-installing the software helps (but backup any data on existing previously-tested PWB's beforehand). 384MB should be enough memory for a Takaya, but more would help, assuming the machine can handle it...