i would do an error test on your maxtor hard drive
Go to my computer > right click c: > go to properties > tools tab > click check now > check both boxes > press start and if it prompts you that you need to restart your computer for scan to begin then restart
when the scan is done the log file is created in the c: drive. right when you double click c: you should see a txt file if you find it post up the results. if you dont find it thats ok, the scan shouldve fixed any errors, if the problem keeps happening.. we can try some other ideas
im sorry it took so long to get an answer, i wasnt on for awhile
I'll do that now and edit this post with an update.
I suggest you do a virus scan to see if there is a virus or trojan on your system.
If that does not solve the issue too, I would backup your computer and Reinstall windows XP.
I already did a reformat and it didn't solve the problem. Thanks though .
Are these performance related freezes, where the system's just trying to catch up with what you're doing? Or do you mean reboots etc?
If it's the latter, it could be the PSU not providing enough power.
I've actually got the wrong PSU in there right now, but the regular one I use is a 450W PSU, and it still freezes.
To explain what I mean by freeze is:
It complete freezes, it doesn't restart. Sometimes the screen will just go black and I have to hard shutdown to get it to start back up, sometimes it will freeze in the middle of what I'm doing and leave the image on the monitor.