Ok, I'm at my wit's end. I have to run a version of Windows, specifically something later than 98SE for the software I run and the things I need to do, but with every freakin' version of XP I've tried, I get the following problem.

About 2 - 3 days after I install XP, and get a few programs on it, it starts randomly locking up. C-A-D won't reboot, nothing. All I can do is hit the reset button to reboot.

Now, I used to have an Nvidia 3D graphics card. I thought that there might be a comflict, so I bought a new graphics card, a Radeon 9000 Pro.

After a few weeks, same problem.

Here's what I'm running:

AMD Duron 1 ghz Processor
VIA Motherboard with AGP slot and onboard modem/sound. The modem is disabled, using the sound.
Radeon 9000 Pro
512 mb RAM (good ram, too.)
Typical cheap NIC
Windows XP with the latest Service Packs/Updates

That's it. I don't have all the doo dads running, not a lot of programs or anything running int he background. I've even tried uninstalling all extraneous programs, still does it. Tried different versions of video and motherboard drivers, still does it.

It doesn't do it during any particular program execution. I can be running Everquest, or Notepad, and it'll happen.

Please, someone tell me there's a cure for this.

Hardware conflict somewhere. Radeon may be the culprit. But it is hard to say. new drivers didn't fix anything. Hmm...

I would suggest Windows 2000.

The thing is, it did this with TWO cards, so unless the AGP slot is funky, or some such, dunno what the problem might be.

It worked fine back in the day when I used 98SE...though now, I can't get it successfully installed, so...

My choices of OS are XP, and XP Pro. I don't have any other copies of Windows that I can run right now, or believe me, I'd try.

I've noticed frequent lockups as a combination of certain Nvidia and ATi video cards with AMD processors.

What model motherboard do you have? How old is it? What you probably have is a hardware problem: defective CPU bypass capacitors. See http://www.daniweb.com/forums/thread910.html for a statement of the problem, and my response. Bad capacitors usually show signs, including bulging/split tops, goo spitting from the base, or lifting off the PC board. They are cylindrical aluminum, plastic-sheathed devices arrayed around the CPU socket.

The motherboard is less than 1.5 years old. It appears to be in good condition, as does the chip, slots, etc.

The exact model, I'm still trying to figure out.

Here's the clicker for you guys, that I forgot to mention earlier.

For purposes of troubleshooting, I've installed and run FreeBSD and LINUX on the box with absolutely no problems.

I ran FreeBSD for about a month, just to make sure it wasn't a hardware type of issue. It ran beautiful. No crashes, no nothing.

(Unfortunately, there isn't enough music software for those platforms, to allow me to run it as an alternative to Windows.)

It appears that the motherboard model number is: (drumroll, please)

VT8363

The more detailed information that I got, for the system, otherwise, is:

Processor
Model : AMD Duron(tm) processor
Speed : 1000MHz
Model Number : 1000 (estimated)
Performance Rating : PR1450 (estimated)
Type : Standard
L2 On-board Cache : 64kB ECC Synchronous Write-Back

Mainboard
Bus(es) : ISA AGP PCI USB i2c/SMBus
MP Support : No
MP APIC : No
System BIOS : Award Software International, Inc. 6.00 PG
Mainboard : TRANSCEND AKT4/A 8363A-686B
Total Memory : 511MB SDRAM

Chipset 1
Model : VIA Technologies Inc VT8363/5 KT133/KM133 System Controller
Front Side Bus Speed : 2x 100MHz (200MHz data rate)
Total Memory : 512MB SDRAM
Memory Bus Speed : 1x 133MHz (133MHz data rate)

Video System
Monitor/Panel : Plug and Play Monitor
Adapter : RADEON 9000 Family

Physical Storage Devices
Removable Drive : Floppy disk drive
Hard Disk : ST320011A
CD-ROM/DVD : MITSUMI CR-4802TE
CD-ROM/DVD : SAMSUNG CD-ROM SC-140B

Logical Storage Devices
1.44MB 3.5" (A : N/A
Hard Disk (C : 4.9GB (1.7GB, 35% Free) (NTFS)
Ladidah (D : 13.8GB (8.5GB, 62% Free) (NTFS)
180-g01415-100 (E : 658MB (0MB, 0% Free) (CDFS)
Hppp (F : 233MB (0MB, 0% Free) (CDFS)

Peripherals
Serial/Parallel Port(s) : 2 COM / 0 LPT
USB Controller/Hub : VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host Controller
USB Controller/Hub : VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host Controller
USB Controller/Hub : USB Root Hub
USB Controller/Hub : USB Root Hub
USB Controller/Hub : USB Printing Support
Keyboard : Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard
Mouse : PS/2 Compatible Mouse

MultiMedia Device(s)
Device : VIA AC'97 Audio Controller (WDM)

Printers and Faxes
Model : hp deskjet 656c series

Operating System(s)
Windows System : Microsoft Windows XP Professional Version 5.01.2600 Service Pack 1

Network Adapter(s)
Network Drivers Enabled : Yes
Adapter : SMC EZ Card PCI 10 Adapter (SMC1208)

The board itself may be 1.5 years old, but the design is about 3 years old. There is no obvious reason for it to freeze; it may still be a capacitor problem.

Test the memory. Download MemTest86 from http://www.memtest86.com, which creates either a bootable floppy or, if you download the .ISO file, a bootable CD. This is the best memory tester out there and may help diagnose the problem. BSD and Windows "look at" memory differently and one may crash where the other works fine.

I have a very Similar problem with My PC and I'm Currently looking for a fix thats How I came across this site. Anyway I think the problem is with your CD writer as that is what I pinned it to in my system, to confirm this I suggest you disable it through device manager and see if you PC keeps crashing. I tried to fix this a while ago by updating the firmware on the drive which is available from "http://www.mitsumi.com/enduser/1_drivers.html". I had no success with this last time and rolled back onto W2K Pro. I'm going to give it another go or see if I can find another fix some how, or just chuck it in the bin and get a new writer! PS if the firmware update works for you or you find another fix please let me know either by email or a post.

get a good board
http://www6.tomshardware.com/motherb...721/index.html