random freezing

i've been havin this problem for a while now.
i bought my desk top as a factory assembled computer it came with core duo e4500 @ 2.20 ghz, 2 gig memory, running vista OS.

i was havin a few problems and had a few bsod, i solved all problems but was left with it randomly freezing.

since then i have up graded my system,

windows 7 OS
4 gig of ram
sound blaster card
nvidia geforce 8400 gs
and a new Hitachi hdd 500 gig.

i made an assumption that by up gradin the lot, it would take care of the freezing problem but it hasn't.

I've run memory tests with no problems, I've run a compatibility test and all was fine, I'm stuck as where to go from here.

any advice would be appreciated and thankyou in advance

[Moderator]

Please describe EXACTLY what happens and when it happens.

Also, when you "upgraded" the OS did you do a new install with format or did you run an in place upgrade?

when i up graded the os it was on a brand new hard drive, i installed windows 7 home premium.

when it froze the other day all i had running was skype , facebook, and vlc player, it happened 3 or 4 times in a row after i turned it off and back on again.

for the most it runs fine its complete random freezin, although it does seem to happen more when on youtube or other sites where you are streaming

thank you for your time allan

[Moderator]

After installing W7 did you download and install all of the correct drivers starting with the chipset driver?

Please open Device Manager - any yellow or red symbols?

yup when i did the os i downloaded all that needed to be  and when you go into device manager there are no problems there

[Moderator]

Okay. Please open Task Manager to the Processes Tab. Sort on the cpu column with highest usage at the top. Next time the system freezes see if one of the processes is spiking. If not, I suggest a selective startup. It's going to be time consuming, but it will help us determine if something loading with the system is causing the problem.

To run a selective startup test, open msconfig and on the General tab choose "selective startup" (uncheck all three items) and reboot. Does the problem still occur? If not, start adding items back to msconfig one or two at a time, rebooting after each change, until the problem reappears and you'll have identified the offending process. This is clearly a time consuming procedure, but it is the best way to determine if some process loading with the system is the cause of your problem.

After you've isolated the cause, do not use msconfig to permanently disable the process. Instead, if it is a service go to START - RUN and type: services.msc (then press enter) and disable the service OR, if it a program, you can download & run a simple app such as Mike Lin's Startup Control Panel (http://www.mlin.net/StartupCPL.shtml) to enable, disable, or otherwise manage startup programs.

allan

lets start back at the beginning.

it would appear you are right firstly with the chipset drivers, i just assumed that when i hooked it all up and went online that it would just update itself,i've spent all night so far looking for the said drivers on my computer with no look, would you be so kind as to point me in the right direction for these please.

my computer is a packard bell i media j2412
version pb80x19701

when i bought it it was runnin vista os
with 2 gig ram
internal sound card
nvidia geforce 8400gs

when i did a reformat on that, that is when i started to have the problems of it freezing, but like i say its completely random, theres no one thing that makes it freeze.

could you help me please to locate drivers for this and all bein well that might just sort it out.

many thanks

There are a couple of things that you can do to find the drivers.  One is go to the packard bell website, find the system that you purchased and see if they have a help system with a list of the drivers.  There are also a couple of different software options that scan your pc and let you know whether the drivers are out of date.  I have had mixed feelings about all of these so maybe there is one here people can recommend.