Computer Freezing ... Software or Hardware?

I've been running this particular setup since early 2008;

ASUS M2N-E AM2 NVIDIA nForce 570 Ultra MCP ATX AMD Motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Brisbane 2.2GHz Socket AM2 65W Dual-Core Processor
NVIDIA GeForce 7800
ADATA 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM 800 (PC2 6400)
M-Audio Audiophile 2496
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive (Operating System)
1 x SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive
3 x SAMSUNG Spinpoint F1 750GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive
LOGISYS 600W ATX SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Power Supply
DVD/BR Drive
14-in-1 card reader
2 x 21" Dell Monitors

All housed in a NZXT TEMPEST EVO case running Windows XP.

Now onto the problem. For the past 2-3 weeks, I am experiencing my computer freezing up. When I say freeze, this means that the mouse still moves, but any software running at the time will be unresponsive. I can open my computer, my documents, etc ... however, I can't start or end any software. I can open the task manager, however, using it to force the shutdown of software will cause it to hang. I also can't power off the PC (or restart). I have to hold the power button and force a hard shut down (turn off).

I have not found any common situation when this happens, though, it never happens after rebooting and actually using the PC. It is always hours later. I have tried changing my power settings (currently set to never turn off hard drives, don't turn off monitors and screensaver after 5 minutes)

Looking at the event viewer, the only 'warnings' I have are time related (hasn't synchronized in xxxxxx seconds). That's it.

I have run all typical spyware apps. Malware Bytes, Spybot S&D, SuperAntiSpyware. I run CCleaner regularly. I also run Hijackthis semi-regularly.

I protect my PC using Comodo firewall and Avast! Antivirus.

For any potential hardware problems, I have ran MemTest86, SeaTools (for the Barracuda drive) and ES Tool for my Samsung drives. I have also ran a benchmark/diagnostic app (can't remember the name) that supposedly tests all hardware (memory, CPU, video, etc ...). All have come back with no errors or warnings. I also ran chkdsk on all hard drives without any issues.

I will be glad to post any logs, etc ... At this point I am just lost. I have a suspicion it is a hardware related issue and know this can be hard to track down.

Any thoughts?

 

So your XP has been installed since 2008 without having been reinstalled at any point ?
Have you checked your drivers to make sure all your drivers are most current ?
Windows updates all up-to-date ?
So system stuff (windows explorer) work, but 3rd party apps freeze up and become unresponsive ?

 

No, Windows XP has been reinstalled several times ... lastly probably 12-14 months ago.

I have updated all of my drivers late last night. I will report back if this has helped after the computer has set 'idle' for sometime while I am at work.

In regards to what works and doesn't, it is definitely not only '3rd party' apps. Simple software programs that come pre-installed with windows can't be opened either ... such as notepad or paint. I can pretty much only open my documents or my computer or any file folders.

And as said before, if I open the task manager, it does open fine, however using it to force an application to end will cause task manager to freeze as well.

Again, thanks for the help and I will report back if the updates to drivers has seemed to make a difference.

Oh, and another quick question ... do you think my 600W power supply might be on the light side of necessity given that I run 5 HDD's and everything else?

 

Here is a handy online PSU computer that allows you to enter ALL of your hardware, and it will help you determine how powerful of a PSU you need. It is certainly possible that your PSU might be a little light for your load, but this wouldn't cause the symptoms you describe.
http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp
(nothing to download)
In my experience, with XP, there seemed to come a time when inexplicable things would start happening, being virus free, and I would simply re-install, and everything would be back to normal. DONT DO THIS YET. Let's get a real pro in the thread to see if we can perhaps narrow down the possibilities.