Question : Problem: PC Freezing

Experts,

I have a 5-year old Dell desktop PC that's freezing at random.

The machine boots and works perfectly, but occasionally freezes on the desktop.

When it freezes there's no Windows stop error (i.e. BSOD), or any other indication that an error has occurred, other than the fact that everything is frozen ... mouse and keyboard do not respond ... and a hard reboot is needed.

The disk access LED remains lit when the computer is in the frozen state.

The freezing usually happens when the computer hasn't been used for a few minutes, and can happen with or without the screen-saver being active.

Windows XP Pro SP2 was re-installed on a freshly reformatted disk, and the only applications installed are a minor subset of applications that had been installed on the machine prior to the OS re-install.

In other words, after the OS re-install there are no new applications on the machine, that weren't there prior to the OS re-install.  And the machine worked fine for 5 years with those same applications installed.

The OS reinstall was done to remove a virus.

I scanned the disk several times with NAV and Comodo, both of which report no viruses.

The freezing didn't begin until several weeks after the OS re-install, so I don't think the freezing is necessarily related to the OS re-install.

The freezing incidents appeared to begin soon after a very strong power surge occurred in the 120-VAC power line.

Even though the machine is protected with a 500-VA UPS with built-in surge filter, I fear that a portion of the power spike may have entered the machine's delicate electronics.

Do these symptoms suggest a particular type of hardware failure or imminent hardware failure?

Can you suggest ways to diagnose the problem?

Thank you.

Answer : Problem: PC Freezing

run sfc  /scannow from the run box  - then check if it still freezes