hello

i recently put together a computer using an intel 915 motherboard, an
intel 3.2 ghz prescott pentium with hyperthreading, and some kind of
ddr2 ram.

i installed windows xp home, then bought an academic upgrade to xp
professional w/ service pack 2.

i can't understand why programs i run in xp keep crashing . if i open
them and close them immediately (e.g., firefox) .. they dont hang. but
if i open them and mess around for a while and then close them, they
hang. typically if i wait 10-15 seconds the hanging stops and the OS
suddenly does everything i asked it to in the last few moments.

im very certain i havent contracted any spy/mal-ware of viruses.. and
i keep the number of programs running in the background to a minimum.
i have a feeling this is either a problem with XP or with my hardware
configuration.

i know this is a shot in the dark. does anyone have any clue why this
might be happening?

You might start by turning  all themes off you can do that by right
clicking on the desktop and click properties. Select window sclassic
theme and see if that resolves the issue. Have you ran a defrag?
Matt

Well, I really dont know the answer but i feel the problem can be
solved by applying patches from the microsoft. Try fixing the problem
with virtual memory and display drivers

I agree with boonlia, although, i found this problem happens a lot
with the Windows XP upgrades.

What i would suggest you do is the following:

-Download all the upgdates for the software and hardware on your
computer. Since windows only updates itself when you install these
updates, all your software gets, "left behind".
-Try scanning for ad's or viruses. I know that this seems odd, but
with all the crap out there today there's no saying what kind of virus
could cause things like this to happen.
-And if worse comes to worse, possibly try a fesh install of the
entire operating system. There are countless things that could be
messing it up.

I hope this helps! Good Luck.

One very important thing to do is to examine very closely your BIOS
settings (usually by hitting F2 or DEL during POST). Before you change
anything, write down what your current settings are for everything,
then usually you can select "FailSafe Defaults" in the BIOS and see if
you still have problems. If you don't, you can make changes one by one
in the BIOS to improve speed and performance.

If you're not using your serial ports, shut them off in the BIOS. If
you're not using your printer port (LPT1 - IRQ7), shut it off in the
BIOS. If you have a separate sound card, make sure your onboard one is
shut off in the BIOS, etc...

A couple other things -- Try changing the answer to "Plug & Play OS?"
From YES to NO or from NO to YES. This usually affects whether or not
the OS uses the IRQs passed on from the BIOS or not.

I will second the notion that you REALLY need to check for
Malware/Viruses again. Microsoft's Malware/Adware utilities are
actually quite excellent. Download and install from the MS website:
http://tinyurl.com/5dlld

Also, AntiVIR is an excellent FREE antivirus tool. Use it. www.free-av.com

Run the MS program and the AntiVIR program. 

I'm meticulous about keeping my machine clean from viruses, not
opening up unknown things, etc., and I was shocked to find out how
many pieces of spyware and trojans I had on my machine!

Good luck!

Since you have said that you 'recently' put together your system,
there could be a simple explanation. It could simply be that your
processor is overheating. The symptoms that you describe are similar
to those that people get when they try to excessively overclock their
processors. Did you install a suitable heatsink? (ie. Did the heatsink
come with the cpu in a boxed set?) Check with your vendor to see if it
is suitable.

Re: wikid-ga

> The symptoms that you describe are similar to those that people 
> get when they try to excessively overclock their processors.

Really? That's very interesting since I've gone through lots of
trouble to cool my processor.

I'm not trying to overclock it.. I'm just running the processor at the
3.2GHz it was advertised as, but I am getting lots of heat problems.
The heatsink the boxed set really didn't do the trick at all, and so I
switched over to another heat sink that was slightly more expensive
and supposedly better. When I try to read the temperature in BIOS it
claims that it's at 170 deg C, or something equally outrageous. That
is clearly wrong.

So, what can I do to really cool down my computer? 

Should I get a more expensive heat sink? Could an aluminum case help?
Is there any way to slow my processor down?

Please let me know.

Thanks

Oh -- and one more question

I've been running it like this now for more than a month (it is
persistently on) .. if heat really is the problem could I have
possibly already done some permanent damage to my processor?

Heatsinks are rated for different processor speeds.  If your heatsink
was designed to cool your processor, then you should have no problem
with over-heating.  Thanks to our friend, Google:
170 degrees Fahrenheit = 76.6666667 degrees Celsius
This is a totally normal temperature for an always on PC.   If your PC
does reach temperatures over 85 degrees Celsius, permanent damage can
occur.  I have had my PC at very high temperatures, however, and had
no problem whatsoever.  I concur with the others that said to check
for spyware/defrag/fresh install... but make sure that you are using
the correct drivers.  Check with your Motherboard manufacturer to
check on updates for your board.

Many of the answers above are great places to start. In light of your
original post however you mentioned that you are using  "some kind of
DDR2 RAM". This worries me as to - is this memory new out of the box?
or used? Faulty memory can cause problems similar to the ones you are
experiencing. You can download a free memory tester from microsoft's
website. Go to their download's section and search for mtinst.exe and
download it . You will be required to put a floppy into your floppy
drive. This program rights out a bootable file to the floppy, then you
simply reboot, make sure the machine is set to boot from floppy (this
can be accomplished in the BIOS) and let it boot into the program. It
will begin executing right away. This is a pretty thorough memory
tester and is likely to find any problems in your RAM , processor
cache, and even mobo cache, if there are any problems there. Also,
make sure you have ALL the updated drivers for all the periferals in
your machine, as well as check the web support site for your
motherboard and insure there are no BIOS upgrades needed for your
motherboard. If you DO find that you need a BIOS upgrade be VERY
CAREFUL when doing this and be sure to follow the instructions to a T
from the support site. Check and doublecheck that you've downloaded
the correct BIOS version if necessary to perform the update and make
sure you fully read through the precautions and instructions provided.
Incorrectly flashing a BIOS can render your computer system
inoperable. Hope this helps. If you've performed all this and yet
still experience problems I am very sorry to say it may be a hardware
issue.  One last comment as well, when updating all your drivers do
not forget system drivers as well i.e. driver's CD included with the
motherboard (however I recommend going to the support site for this as
well and downloading the latest version of your drivers - it should
not be hard to find).