Hi,

Random freezing is nearly always attributable to faulty hardware. Have you
checked the ram? Swapped in another power supply? Checked that there are no
bulging capacitors on the motherboard? Reseated all components? Checked for
loose cabling?

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
[url]http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/[/url]
Windows help - [url]www.rickrogers.org[/url]
Vote for my shoe: [url]http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com[/url]

"Blithe" <invalid@cox.net> wrote in message
news:%23vtuQIq%23JHA.5064@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...[color=blue]
> OS Name Microsoft® Windows VistaT Ultimate
> Version 6.0.6002 Service Pack 2 Build 6002
> OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
> System Model Maximus Extreme (ASUS)
> System Type x64-based PC
> Processor Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Extreme CPU Q6850 @ 3.00GHz, 2997 Mhz, 4
> Core(s)
> BIOS Version/Date American Megatrends Inc. 0904, 12/18/2007
> SMBIOS Version 2.4
> Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume1
> Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "6.0.6002.18005"
> Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 4.00 GB
> Total Physical Memory 4.00 GB
> Available Physical Memory 2.76 GB
> Total Virtual Memory 8.20 GB
> Available Virtual Memory 6.93 GB
> Page File Space 4.29 GB
> XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
> Hi - I've been living with random Vista freezes for about 6 months - they
> are frequent but no more or less so over the months - and they began after
> I clean installed a Vista Ultimate on a new PC (specs above). The freezes
> can occur at booting, at the Welcome screen, opening Windows Mail, opening
> either MS or Firefox browser, during a running video - just about any time
> doing anything. Oh, and sometimes I get a random reboot for no apparent
> reason but that happens much less often. Device Manager is no help -
> usually reporting that the event was "unexpected." How profound!
>
> Other symptoms, when rebooting after a freeze, indicate - often as not -
> that my bios settings have been reset - & a booting screen asks me to
> choose (1) to reset the bios to default values automatically or (2) to
> enter and manually reset them. Normally, in the bios, I manually choose
> to disable the floppy drive & set booting sequence to A. CD B. Hard drive
> C. third option requires "disabled' for the latter sequence. So, often as
> not, after a freeze, I find that my floppy drive and boot sequence
> settings were reset to the defaults - changing my preferred settings.
>
> I use Device Manager to 'disable' two card reader icons and a floppy
> controller - so the icons show an downward arrow to reflect the settings.
> Why? Because my new PC came with an internal, defective USB floppy/card
> reader installed, and, yes, I did try to remove the unit but the desktop
> tower is very poorly designed & I am not able to access and remove the
> defective floppy's connection to the motherboard.
>
> Yes - I accept the proposition that hardware-wise - my expensive lemon of
> a PC is questionable. However - I've seen from user postings these past
> months that my negative Vista experience is also far from unique or
> uncommon.
>
> The two last instances of my Vista freezes that happened seem similar:
>
> 1. I clicked on a Windows Mail email link to a news story & my browser
> opened the right window promptly - the Vista loading bar at the bottom was
> reading/indicating that data was in the process of transferring the
> story - & the "Done" word had not yet been posted there - and when I moved
> my mouse to the scroll bar to begin reading the story - the freeze
> occurred just at that point.
>
> 2. The same type of freeze occurs when a video is in the process of
> loading and I activate my mouse cursor before the downloading process is
> "Done"
>
> I am, of course, cautiously making plans for a new PC/ OS combination -
> strongly suspecting that the troubles I've described are caused by a
> complex of PC/OS compatibility issues that are not likely to be
> diagnosed - much less solved - by throwing more money into present system.
>
> What keeps me posting for help is an abiding curiosity and a search for
> truth - & I'd appreciate a fresh set of ideas. Anyone? Thanks.
>
> Blithe
>
>[/color]