freezes/lockups resulting in data loss

[viz0]

[system specs at bottom]

ive been having some trouble with lockups and freezes on my system resulting in data loss when a reboot is performed. basically, my system will become very sluggish and eventually lock up and me having to reboot the system to continue. the lockups/data loss started happening out of the blue as well. i changed absolutely nothing.

the problem im having pertains to data loss when the reboot is complete. several programs' data seem to be deleted and/or corrupted in the process. for example, firefox reverts back to the defaults--bookmarks lost, all plugins reset and everything else reset as well. winamp fails to load and gives me an error and even soulseek files are corrupted and reset to defaults. my soulseek CFG files are emptied and set back to 0kb just as if i had installed a fresh install. those files werent even in use when my system locks up. these files ALWAYS reset/get deleted when this happens. why those?

this happened on a different hard drive i was using about a month ago, so i decided to install a fresh copy of xp on another drive, and the same things still happens and its really becoming irritating. i have run diagnostics on both drives using UBCD and they come back completely OK with no problems whatsoever.

any comments or suggestions? thanks in advance.

os: xp pro w/ sp2
dx: 9.0c

cpu: amd athlon xp 2400+
mobo: msi kt3 ultra
ram: 1gb ddr generic
video: ati radeon 800xl
sound: m-audio delta 44
hdd0: wd 40gb 5400rpm

 

[shawn_selig291]

maybe try running checkdisk... sounds like some files got corrupted.. or might wnan format an d re-install windows..

 

[viz0]

maybe try running checkdisk... sounds like some files got corrupted.. or might wnan format an d re-install windows..

it is quite obvious that files got corrupted..

i already stated that i have run diagnostics on both drives..

i already stated that i have tried installing windows on two different drives [with an obvious reformat]..

 

[DILLIGAF]

I'd say run a ram diagnostic programme such as Memtest, sounds like faulty ram to me.

EDIT: This assumes you have run all the normal virus/spyware scans and temperatures are not excessive

 

[viz0]

I ran memtest for about an hour and it found no errors. im going to run it over night to see if it catches anything. ive been using this ram for nearly 5 years now, as a side note.

 

[DILLIGAF]

What are your cpu temps under load, if the memory is OK then cpu temps is next on the list

 

[viz0]

ill check tomorrow morning, but the freezes never occur when the system is even at the slightest load. i dont game on this machine at all.. just for music and the web.

 

[DILLIGAF]

I notice that you have made no mention of your psu yet, could you supply some detail please? (watts on the 12v rail(s), maximum output, brand etc)

 

[Raffaz]

Have ya done the usual antivirus / spyware tests in safemode?

 

[viz0]

I've got a Thermaltake 480w Xaser III PSU [http://www.hardware.info/en-UK/prod...Thermaltake_Xaser_III_Silent_Purepower_480W/] which I highly doubt is the problem, but I'm downloading MBM now to check it out and the temps.

Oh, and I ran memtest for 8 hours overnight and not a single error was found, so the RAM seems to be okay as far as I can see.

I haven't done the spyware tests in safemode as the lockups occur soon after a fresh OS installation [even on a fresh drive], but I'll try those I guess.