Bob

That's proper minging...should check the fan runs smooth and true...and get a compressor to really blow through the parts, especially around the hard drives...

Paul&Nic

Yeah very poor I know ... ... altho it's only 6 months odd old, but IS the first time I've cleaned it ...

So far its still running ok ...

cakeychef

Have you tried using the repair option with windows disc.

willmore

Zapped you paul - was it good for you this time?

Bob

the repair console is shite if it ain't a dodgy windows file, plus if your windows cd is an ole one, will have to have the joys of all those updates again, unless you slipstream your copy first.

willmore

Can someone please tell me what the heck left click right click is?

Signed - a mac lover at heart!

Paul&Nic

Hit was good Sue, thanks ...

left click, right click as in the buttons on the mouse.

gedge

I think that was mac humour for you ;-)

Paul&Nic

Went over my head ...

gedge

I'm a little surprised that this is looking to be like a hardware issue (although I shouldn't be having seen the insides of your case lol).

So the theory is that a mouse click draws slightly more voltage or puts slightly more load on the cpu, to the extent that the system crashes?

Have you tried navigating without a mouse when the system is going critical?
Why would a mouse click cause more of a drain than say opening an application?
I'm not saying that the hw suggestion is wrong, but it leaves me with these questions.

I've had my athlon 1800 running at 2GHz for about 5 years with just the cpu fan and a single 80mm case fan without a prob, but then it is more of a file server nowadays.

Bob

you can get decent mice for the mac, you'll love them...

gedge

Hey Bob, a little birdy told me it's your birthday.
Have a good un.

Bob

corrupt OS files would be the cause, when system is unstable and it crashes to often, it'll knacker the system files, happened to my OS when my HD died which is why cloning over to the one drive didn't work.

Though what might be worth doing is seeing what you have running high on in the task manager, java, explorer, and also a stupid amount of page file and ram being used when you ain't got much going would mean a duff hard drive and/or duff OS.

Bob

cheers

gedge

So here's my starting thought for a trouble shooting, if it's not the hw...

Apparently XP reboots the system where older versions you'd get the good ole BSOD! This is a Stop Error which could place data at risk, so the OS reboots rather than continuing with possible dta corruption.

In XP you can set how to handle stop errors. In Control Panel, go System > Advanced Tab > Startup And Recovery > Settings.
In the System Failure section, clear the Automatically Restart check box.
This should mean that a stop error now results in an on screen error messages rather than a reboot.
How you find out what is causing the stop errors is something else all together. Case of trial and error, I'm not the expert but this may help.