Computer Freeze - Please Help!

Problem:



My computer seems to be freezing randomly. Very randomly. It freezes “whenever it feels like it”. It doesn’t give any error messages or any information or unhandled exceptions, it just stops functioning, and my screen stays the same. Nothing, at all, happens. The screen totally freezes, and I cannot control anything, move the mouse, and if I am playing any games, it freezes and the sound skips. At least if I had some sort of error messages I could look further into it. But I don’t. I recently installed the 3 software/hardware shown below under the “Recently installed” section. These freezes started at about the time that these items were installed. Now, I’ve tried removing the hard drive, even though it shouldn’t have a connection with the rest of the computer, but it still has the freezes without it. I doubt that it is the Java 2 Runtime Environment. So, I believe it might be the fan. Is it possible that its pulses make my computer freeze or perhaps rattle the motherboard or graphics card or audio card on that side of the case? I will try removing it and seeing if I still receive these problems…what do you guys think? Help me out, please. I have a unique situation.



System:



OS: Windows XP SP1 Home Edition

Motherboard: P4C800E DELUX INTEL875 chipset FSB800 Dual DDR400 RAID SATA

Video Card: ASUS 9800XT/TVD 256MB DDR DVI, TV OUT 8x AGP

RAM: KINGSTON 256MB DDR RAM 400MHz **KVR400X64C25/256**

Processor: PENTIUM 4 3.2C GHz w/512K 800MHz FSB

Power Supply: 420W PS (Enermax EG425P-VE (SFMA) SMART FAN RUN 2mins AFTER PC SHUTDOWN

Primary Hard Drive: WDC WD800JB-00CRA1 80GB Hard Drive



Recently installed:



Java 2 Runtime Environment 1.4.2

Maxtor 6Y160PO 200GB Hard Drive (Secondary)

Enermax 8cm Fan (This is my third fan attached to this computer. It pushes air in from the back of the case, located above the graphics card).



Background applications (that usually run in the background for me):



HP Photosmart 7350 Series Printer Software

ATI GPU Software

McAfee VirusScan Software

Bluetooth Logitech Wireless Keyboard/Mouse Software

 

I will try that. I tried taking away the recently added fan but that surely wasnt the issue. I'm gonna take the cover off, get some compressed air to dust, and then try using an external fan. I'll let you know how it goes...

 

Well, it looks like its not overheating. I've placed a house fan right beside the comp after opening the case and leaving it open. I even opened my windows to let cool outdoor air flow in (live in Canada). What could it be now?