I have a computer that was built by myself and a friend about 5 years ago. I have an AMD 1.76 processor, a 40 gigabyte hardrive and 256MB of RAM. I run windows 2000 and always install the automatic updates.

Recently my computer has started doing three very odd things

1) While playing music it will (sometimes) lock up and a very loud buzz will come through the speakers

2) Computer will lock up while watching a video or listening to music online

--A switch from Window Media Player to Real Player help with these for about two weeks and then the problems came back----

3) Computer locks up when the hard drive is scanned (i.e., virus scanning, spyware detection) or when I attempt to install a program from the CD drive

By locking up I mean no response from mouse or keyboard at all

Someone told me to replace my power supply but I am not sure that that makes any sense. I have tried to run a registry mechanic program but it locks up in the middle of scanning.

If anyone has any idea of what could be going on and how to fix it that would be juts awesome


Thanks David Merolla

Have you tried scanning while in Safe Mode?


To start the computer in safe mode

1. You should print these instructions before continuing. They will not be available after you shut your computer down in step 2.
2. Click Start and then click Shut Down.
3. In the drop-down list of the Shut Down Windows dialog box, click Restart, and then click OK.
4. As your computer restarts but before Windows launches, press F8.
On a computer that is configured for booting to multiple operating systems, you can press F8 when the boot menu appears.
5. Use the arrow keys to highlight the appropriate safe mode option, and then press ENTER.
6. If you have a dual-boot or multiple-boot system, choose the installation that you need to access using the arrow keys, and then press ENTER.

Thank you so much for replying!!!!!

Tried scanning disks in Safe Mode. The registry mechanic worked fine, but the virus scanner quit and the system locked after about 20 minutes or so. This is much further than I get in normal mode.

P.S. using AVG virus scan. Have had the same problem with Mcafee software.

Maybe there is some mal-ware roaming around on youre system , can you post a hijackthis log? (see link below)

Thanks again for replying

I rran the hijack this program and have attached the log. The program gave another list of things that I could "fix" what is that?

Can you please do this for me:

Show hidden files and folders:
For 98/2000/ME:

1.double-click the My Computer icon
2.Click on the View menu, click Folder Options
3.Advanced Settings box, under the "Hidden files" folder, click Show all files.
4.If you see a warning message, click Yes.
5.Click Apply.
6.Click OK.

And then do some pre-work clean up
In safemode: (hit f8 when booting up)
empty the C:\windows\prefetch folder ,
empty the c:\windows\temp folder ,
empty the C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Local Settings\Temp folder ,
empty the C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files folder EXCEPT the content.ie5 folder (may be hidden).
(replace administrator with youre user name) and (replace windows with winnt if needed)

And close all instances of IE and OE ,then go to: Control Panel / Internet Options / General tab ,
Click the "Delete Files" button.
When prompted place a check in: "Delete all offline content", click OK. This removes the junk files such as downloaded files,
zero byte files created by Outlook Express and many other hidden files that reside in your cache.

Stil in safemode , fix these with hijackthis:

Then delete this from youre C:\WINNT\System32 folder:

DivX.Exe

And also you should update I.E. , youre version is out of date.


Hope it helps.

Try what Joe5 suggests but could you also make sure that all your fans are working correctly. A good way to check is to touch your CPU heatsink after the machine has been on for 20 minutes and see how hot it is. If it burns then its a problem.