Freezing Problem. No idea whats going on. please help

[CJSnake]

Okay so long story short, for a long time now, my computer has been freezing whenever you do things like: play games, watch videos, download files, compress files, move files, browse certain sites (eg. Myspace). It used to freeze even right after startup but it doesn't anymore

I have no idea what the problem is. Ive ran virus scans, disk defrags/cleanups, diagnostics programs, all of which have the potential to also freeze up my computer. I have gone through and completely erased files and programs that are unwanted, updated my system and virus programs.

So now, i am left with 2 ideas:

1. There is a virus or software problem i just havent found yet
2. The RAM, Motherboard, or Video Card is screwed.

Im running on Windows XP Professional 5.1.2600 Service Pack 2
CPU: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.20GHz
NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 420
(if you need any other info just ask)

I decided that i wanted to reinstall windows xp. What im worried about it losing all of my pictures and massive music library. Ive tried transferring it all to a usb, external hard drive, ive tried compressing it all to store it online or something. BUT of course, it freezes while in the process. I am willing to reinstall, as long as i can find a way to keep all of my music and pictures.

What i am looking for is either

1) a way to find and fix the freezing problem

or

2) a way to keep music and pictures and reinstall windows to fix any errors.

It would also help if i could determine if it was a software, virus, or hardware problem
please help. and thank you in advance.

 

[raybay]

Your equipment is not up to the task... if freezes or halts due to power supply, video graphics card, memory quality... and it becomes a matter of testing and replacing... a long and slow process.
I would begin with testing each memory module, one at a time, with MemTest, for four hours or seven passes, whichever is longer...
You have not told us enough about your computer for us to make specific comments.

 

[Archean]

In addition to ray's comments, I would also advise you to look at your event viewer logs (especially with red/yellow tags) and see what they tell you about various issues your pc may be having.

You can use some freeware synchronization program like goodsync or AllwaySync'n'Go to (copy/sync) your data/music/pictures etc. between any two mediums. They can also help in case your pc freezes, as they will simply sync and copy only those files which are not located in the target drive/folder.