Help needed badly,
My computer keeps freezing on me. I'm running XP Pro. It's been in for service several times and they say it runs fine for as long as they keep it but when it's returned it only lasts about an hour or less then freezes regularly. I have an AMD Athlon 64 2.2Ghz, ASUS A8V-VM SE Motherboard, 2Gig Kingston DDR 400 SDRAM, Seagate 2T Green hard drive, Nvidia GeForce 8400 GS Video card, 2 Lite On DVDR/CRDR drives, 1 Lite On CDR drive, Ralink RT73 USB WiFi Adapter, Behringer UCA202 USB Sound Adapter, Logitech K350 USB Keyboard, Kensington USB Expert Mouse Pro and 2 Seagate FreeAgent USB External hard drives. I have run almost every anti malware program you can think of but every time I try to run an anti spyware program like Avast or SuperAntiSpyware it freezes after 3-5 minutes. Any help will be greatly appreciated. I have both DDS and HiJack This available. Thanks for your time.
Tquad1951

Tracking down the root cause of lockups can be extremely time consuming. Without any clues such as error messages, event log entries, or predictable behavior such as consistent lockups using a certain program, start troubleshooting by trying to isolate whether it is a hardware or software problem. Memory, hard drive, or power supply issues are common hardware causes, particularly with machines that are several years old. These components can be checked and exercised with free or low cost diagnostic tools.

Memory
Memtest86 (http://www.memtest86.com/) or Memtest86+ (http://www.memtest.org/) can be used to exercise memory. Letting the test run long enough for the computer's internal temperature to stabilize or overnight is usually sufficient to expose any memory issues.

Hard Drive
Each hard drive manufacturer has diagnostic software available on their website to check their drives. Hitachi's Drive Fitness Test (http://www.hitachigst.com/support/downloads/) includes an exerciser that can be used to exercise any drive for an extended period.

Power Supply
These are harder to check for intermittent problems without diagnostic equipment. If the computer consistently freezes only after running awhile (after the computer has warmed up), try swapping the power supply out with a known good one.

If these three components pass testing, the next step is to disconnect and remove all devices and then add them back individually (and using the computer for several hours in between device additions) until the freezing reoccurs.

How long did the service center run your computer? If it was several hours or overnight, also investigate devices in the power path to your computer, such as power strips or the electrical outlet itself.

If it runs at the store but not at home there can be several issues. One occurs when people like to hide their PC in a cabinet of the desk and thereby limit its cooling. The other occurs when you electrical outlet is faulty or old and is not supplying a good 110volts to the power supply. So voltage or heat would be the two issues to look at. You can try running with the side of the case off and a fan blowing on it for heat issues, or try using a different outlet in the house to see what happens.

I suggest that you run SFC (System File Checker) to verify that there are no corrupted system files. Replace any corrupted files. Then run Defrag, a system utility. It may take 24 hours or more! Then check MS for system updates. Finally, download and install SpywareBlaster, then update it to the newest definitions. You may have a nearly full hard drive, so consider deleting temporary Internet files and such. Perhaps even offload large files to another media, such as CD's or DVD's (if you have the appropriate hardware).

Go back to basics and reinstall the OS then a AV program (Only 1) same with a Anti malware - spyware program. If you install from disk shipped with the computer remove all the Shovelware or free and trial software. Verify that you have good ventilation and run it some if it freezes check the system logs to see if you can spot the problem. If the computer runs well in a base configuration start adding applications and peripherals one at a time and see if I freezes checking the system log for any clues to why it freezes if it dose.