pc locks up on interactive ed software and games like chessmaster5000 but is ok on word processors etc,all other programs are closed do we have hardware probs or is it software conflicts, any ideas out there? tks

Could be a power supply problem. They are known to cause hangups under load.

did it just start recently? is it a new build comp or did u install anything? besides the fact that it locks up we know nothing, give us some info. if u just installed something then look at uninstalling it, if it is a new build then it might a hardware problem like the power supply, if it just happened then something went wrong, if u just got this new software and they don't work it might be a vid problem, but either way we need more info

the pc is 18 months old it has never run ed software without locking up. some programs were for win98 but recent buys have been for xp the programs usually run for 10 mins or so then lock up although we downloaded a program from shockwave called bookworm which will run for approx 30-40 mins i have reformatted the hard dr and set up again from factory partition (hp)but this has not made any difference, there are no other programs running while using the software