I got a computer that will freeze and can only get moving again by powering it off and on.

And when I mean freeze I mean you move the mouse and the cursor stays. You do Ctrl-Alt-Delete and nothing happens. Its totally dead.

This happens about once a day or so. I do not think its spyware. I ran an anti spyware program and it came out clean. Its not a virus ether.

I think it may be the processor. I have a Pentium 4 in my tank. I am on Windows XP Home edition.

Anyone want to take a stab at this?

Probably a hardware related problem. This is always the hardest thing to diagnose.. it could be almost anything causing the problem. I guess first thing to test would be the ram and hard drive. For the hard drive run whatever utility is recommended for that brand (ie Powermax for Maxtors). For ram try http://www.memtest86.com/

After you've had your computer on for a while (and if it freezes) reboot and go into the BIOS, if there is a system monitor see what temp the CPU is running at and the CPU fan speed.

I've had problems with Win9x/Me freezing for no apparent reason, but Win2k and above have been good to me.

Thanks, I will try that.

Is it a new computer or is it a computer that was previously reliable and has been ****ing up latley?

Is it a new computer or is it a computer that was previously reliable and has been ****ing up latley?
Its about two years old. Its one that I built myself. It was doing ok until I got DSL.

Try anti-virus programs. I've got 7 on mine. It's usually a virus/spyware/trojan issue.

Use Internet Explorer & head over here for a scan (it won't work with Firefox.) It manages to find things I can't any other way. It was recommended by a close friend & computer tech. :)

http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

Kewl beans MM, thanks! :D

Its about two years old. Its one that I built myself. It was doing ok until I got DSL.
Mkay, so it was working fine on dialup, and it's two years old...

Check out those temperatures. When was the last time you blew it out with some canned air. Sometimes dust buildup in the heat sink can cause overheats. If that combined with what Cbad mentioned doesn't help, it may be time for a fresh install.