It could also be your memory. Do have just one 256 stick or two 128's? Try swaping them out and see what happens.
 
Or maybe try different video drivers, just because they are the latest doesn't mean they are the best.

Ok, I swapped out ram (2x128's) and it still did it with each individual stick. I dont think it can be the mobo or cpu either, as i dont really overclock and cmos chips are fairly reliable. Im thinking it could be the Power supply. Do you thimk this is a possible symptom of a failing PS???

Is there anything repetitive about the time it takes to do it? Like 5 min after bootup, or 10 min after logon, or something like that? A failing PS *could* generate symptoms like that, especially since you had similar lockups before formatting (right?).

Ya...that was the straw that made me decide it was time for a clean install...i like a clean install every 3 months or so and I havent since xmas. Anyways, the only thing that i can see the lockups follow is when im just p1ssing around with the mouse...whether i click on a pull down menu, or check email. i find it does it alot when im adding users to the ftp account (which isnt up yet b/c of this) but then again it goes back to the mouse thing, but when dont you use a mouse...heh. O...to geoph, I had 6.5 installed and they worked fine then installed 12.00....everything was going on like comp locking, so I went back to 6.5s after format.

well you can get a new PSU or if you have an older mobo/processor try it on those and see if it still does it. Other than that i would have to blame either mobo or chip.

ok...just noticed something weird....mp3z keep playing after a lock up
If this means anytihng...

:

do you have another video card you can try?

Nope, I would have tried that.
 
O well....I got a new computer comming soon nayways. Ill do some more tweaking then. Thanx for the help though!!!

OK.....i should get a virtual slap for this
 
The main reason why it was jamming....
i had the video drivers for TNT2/TNT2 Pro
where I have an Ultra card
it hasnt jammed for hours now....alot longer than b4, but im runnina stability test overnite.
For some reason....i had it set as that...one of those moments
***smack

*e-slap* Good job, ace!

I can only hope that fixes the problem.
 
Software problems in some ways are more frustrating for me then a hardware problem. I have been building systems for over 11 years now and have committed every stupid mistake in the book. I've burnt motherboards, killed power supplies, destroyed video cards etc. It's all a learning process for me and is often depressing. Especially when you kill a mobo and you just lose your job. Anyway the point of this rant is that during my many hardware forays’ the most common problem I have received is the one you mention. Complete lock ups. Now 80% of the time this can be a relationship between a program and a hardware item. How many times does a computer freeze while sitting at a true DOS prompt? Rarely. It's so frustrating to see this happen again and again. I remember one ABIT VIA chipset mobo I owned, this thing just loved to freeze. It turns out the chipset had a compatibility problem with the Riva card I was using.
 
Things like these can not be corrected by a software adjustment.
No one truly knows the level of compatibility between a motherboard and a peripheral. We can only learn by trial and error. I am merely stating this as I won't be surprised if your 'freezing' problem continues.
 
By the way, a power supply can suffer from spikes or electrical inconsistencies, these can cause system crashes but more often then not your pc will reset, rather then freeze.

I went insane too man....Im running Windows 2000 Server (off my cable modem)/98 dual boot, 2 HDs stacked on top of each other...it got really freakin hot in my room because of summer and lack of A/C around the computer. It started locking and rebooting. I took the case off, and put a fan near it...it quit locking and rebooting. Heat is killer...see if you can get some airflow in there.
 
-Madwacker

There is plently of airflow (2x80mm 1x60mm) and the cables are neatly placed. It was indeed simply the drivers.
it has not jammed for days now, much longer than the usual 15 minutes.