Win 2000 Pro freezing randomly

[GateStormer]

At randon times, my system will just stop responding. My only way out is to hit the power reset button. And my antivirus never can do a full system scan. I've tried many times, it will scan anywhere from a couple hundred files to about 20,000 files be fore it freezes. I have tried reformatting my drive doing a fresh install of win2000 pro then installing my antivirus software first to do a virus scan, even before installing my modem drivers to reconnect to the web. My antivirus program still stops responding. My current system config is as follows:
ASUS CUV4X-D motherboard
PIII 1GHZ
1GB RAM
WD 60GB harddrive- partitioned 6GB for OS and 54GB for other programs and files.
SB Live! soundcard
XTASY GeForce 2 video card
Win 2000 Pro with all updates
NAV 2002 all updates
Norton Personal Firewall set everything to high security.
Cable internet connection through a CATC Netmate II USB connection
I have got the latest drivers for all hardware, and current updates for all my software. I have NOT installed any BIOS updates though.
I am lost as to the problem. If anyone could provide any insight as to what the problem (or solution) could be that would be very much appriciated. :confused: Thank you.

[sedu]

Two things would help with diagnosis. When system freezes, try using Ctrl-Alt-Del to see what program is not responding. Also go to Control Panel>Administrative Tools>Event Viewer and see what error messages are being displayed. Make sure that your heatsink/fan is clean and operating properly, a virus scan is processor intensive and can raise temps quickly if there is a heat issue.

[GateStormer]

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately, Ctrl-Alt-Del never responds, everything freezes completely. I took a look at the Event Viewer as you suggested. I get no error messages showing up there for the times that the system freezes. Just a couple of callup errors appear, but only a couple, and not at any times close to the system shut-down. Oh, and my case is open, and fans kept clean. I also have converted my drive to NTFS, to see if it helps. It has only froze half a dozen times since then, unlike the dozen times in the same time frame under FAT32. Maybe just a coincidence. I am wondering if I might need to upgrade any of the firmware? I fear that though. Thanks again for your reply.

[Dodge]

Did this start Recently or has it been an ongoing thing? In other words has been doing it since the PC was built.

Have you ran a Defrag and Chkdsk of the system? If not then do both.

How old is the system, and especially the Power supply?

Do you have a Fan that you could point toward the inside of the case to help in the cooling? If so then give it a try.

This problem sounds more like an Overheating issue than a Software or Firmware problem.

Such as, the Power supply overheating or going bad, or the CPU is over heating.

[sedu]

You might try going here: http://housecall.antivirus.com/housecall/start_pcc.asp and try running the online virus scan.

[GateStormer]

argh! 4th attempt to post reply!
First off thanks for the replys.
Next system age:
MB, RAM, CPU = 8 months
Win2000 install = 4 months ago
PS and Case = 2 months old
Video Card = 6 months old
HDD = 10 months old
Replaced 250 W PS and case about 2 weeks after freezing started. Upgraded to 300 W.
Ran both Defrag and Chkdsk. No probs found. But, still have freezing.
I will try putting a fan directed into the case.
Oh, btw, this system is a 24/7 system. It never gets shut off, other than when i have to reboot. And is used about 16-20 hours per day.
Thanks again.
The online virus scan also froze. Never at the same place though.

[GateStormer]

The online virus check completed! It had discovered a worm. Specifically the WORM.HYBRIS.M. Could this have been a cause of a problem? The virus encyclopedia listed it as a non-destructive virus.
Thanks for the link sedu.

[Dodge]

Yes it very well could be. This is one of the Varients of the hahaha@sex.net virus or the Snow White virus. Each has numerous different descriptions depening on where you are reading at.

Did you get it Cleaned out?

[GateStormer]

I did get it cleaned out. However, my freezing system still remains. I am leaning more now on the overheating system suggestion to my problem. Are there any cooling systems (fans/water cooling/etc) that you might recommend?

[Theoran]

Gatestormer,

Your above question about cooling systems and fans be be better asked in the Hardware & Overclocking Forum (http://www.cybertechhelp.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=forum&f=7). Those guys and gals know alot more about hardware than I do. :o

[GateStormer]

Thanks for the advice. I'll do just that.

[gr_mimi]

The next time your anti-virus doesn't complete a complete scan, shut down and start in safe mode. You may have too many other programs running the the background without enough memory.

[Kodiak]

First what you need to do is right click on my computer - properties - advanced tab - performance. Make sure that your system isnt set to the default of using only 20 megs of virutal memory. If it is set at 20 megs that is your problem. You need to go into ur registry to correct the problem by changing it to a mininum of 384 megs. You can find this information on microsofts website.