freezing pc newbie

[trendyradiosux]

hey guys im some problems.........with my pc ....here is the deal i just installed a master 40 gig 7200 hd and a slave 20 gig 5200 hd, and i have 256 ddr ram with a Geforce 3 ti200 64 mb video card and im running windows Xp profesional. for some reason after i reinstalled everything and added in the new hd and installed xp and got everything going the pc started locking up and would just freeze. It started to say that i was low on virtual memory but how can that be since im not running mass programs in the back ground.............and anytime i run media or play any sort of pc game it just freezes .................. u guys have any idea what might be going on or what i could try?
thanks
here some more info also im soposed to be at 1.7 ghz but heres the info
System Info Version: 2.2
Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP
Processor: AMD AMD Athlon(tm) XP 1700+ @ 1.47 GHz
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce3 Ti 200
Total Physical Memory: 256 MB
Free Physical Memory: 120.21 MB
Motherboard Manufacturer: ABIT
Motherboard Model: 761-686B(KG7)

ps i hope this is the right place for this post if not im very sorry

[integral]

What are your CPU temperatures? One of the more frequent caused of such hangups is overheating, ensure that your HS/fan is proberly mounted. d/l something like Motherboard monitor to easily view your temps. Do a web search to find it at somethinglike Livewiredev.com

Good luck

[Sylvander]

Hello TRS

You certainly COULD be running out of virtual memory!

WINDOWS IN CONTROL
1. Under normal circumstances [when Windows is in control of your virtual memory] Windows allocates space on the C: drive for "Win386.swp" [the swap file which provides Win98 (& your?) virtual memory].
2. If you run out of space on the C: drive then there's no room available for the size of Win386.swp calculated by Windows to be required.
3. This could happen if:
a. You partitioned your primary master drive and the C: partition is rather too small for your needs.
b. You've been filling your 40 GB C: drive with so much software and data files it's almost full to capacity.
c. Some viruses start to take the HDD out of use bit by bit so the C: drive gets smaller and smaller.

FIXED SIZE SWAP FILE
If you specified that you wish to set the location and size of your swap file yourself and you made it of a fixed size which is too small for the needs of your running programmes, Windows would warn you when it was close to full.

Get to know "System Monitor" [if Windows XP has it] and study the operation of your PC and the use of it's resources. In windows 98 it's at "Start>Programs>Accessories>System Tools>System Monitor". Maybe XP is the same.