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Usually a PC locks up due to hardware or software conflicts. You can tell if it's a hardware conflict if the lock ups occur while using the same combination of equipment (e.g. printing while downloading something off the web). This was more common in older systems - but I haven't experienced this problem with newer PCs in the past few years due to their achievements in making equipment compatible with other vendors.

More commonly, a lockup is due to software conflicts. These are harder to troubleshoot, since they could appear randomly. Most times, this is due to a lack of memory. If you have a lot of software on your PC, they could be using most of your free memory. If you're running 128Mb or 256Mb with a Windows 2000 or greater OS, then you're probably lacking in RAM.

In the Task Manager, check out the Performance tab & peep the memory section (the 2nd graph Page File Usage History). If the yellow line is anywhere near 1/2 way through the grid, you might want to upgrade your memory or uninstall memory-hungry apps.

With today's prices, upgrading RAM is quite affordable. As for uninstalling unnecessary application, go to Control Panel & then to "Add/Remove Programs". Search for any unrecognized and unnecessary apps & remove them.

A computer may lock up when the hard drive is fragmented or almost full, and the registry is full of junk from previously installed programs. See related questions for advice on cleaning up.

If your PC doesn't give you any messages and screen is frozen, it might be hardware conflict or heat, but if your mouse still moves then I would check my video card, update drivers and check the temperatures.

Also, viruses and adware contribute to instability. So if you have tried nearly everything else, run some spyware and virus scanners. Back when Windows 98 was popular, some people complained of a green dot in the upper left corner of the screen and instability. That was spyware that did that. Removing the spyware made the dot disappear and the system lock up less.

If all else fails, it is probably the motherboard. Motherboards contain electrolytic capacitors which serve to filter the current (among other roles). With time, they may swell, leak, or explode. There are places which will replace them for you. Also, motherboards can develop broken traces and loose connections. In some cases, the problem is the ROM BIOS, and you can often flash it with a newer version that makes it more stable.

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11y ago

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