Ok guys, I have some annoying problem with Windows XP.

Most of the programs running on my machine, such as Firefox, MSN Messenger or BitComet, etc will freeze altogether. I thought this was a video card related driver problem so I updated it but the problem is still persisting. When the program freezes, I cannot open Task Manager as well, when I press CTRL+ALT+DEL nothing happens.

I suspect its a software related issue or maybe a driver issue, but I don't know where to begin. My computer specs is in my signature and I'm using SP2 with all the latest Windows updates. Please help me here, thanks.

Do the Caps Lock, Num Lock, and Scroll Lock keys still respond?

I'm thinking this is more of a hardware problem.

Yes they do, I can still use the keyboard except Task Manager won't work, everything is still functioning except those programs, I have to perform a full reboot to resume normal work in Windows.

I can bring up the start menu but it won't open the programs, it freezes there as well.

I thank you had better change a user account to try . Is that account you use now belong Administrator group ?

Yes I'm using an admin account.

I had this problem with my previous installation and I formatted my computer and the problem is back again. Don't know whats causing it.

Follow these steps to enable complete memory dumps (this assumes a PS/2 keyboard is attached):

1. Create or set the following registry value:

Key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\i8042prt\Parameters

Value: CrashOnCtrlScroll

Type: REG_DWORD

Data: 1

2. Right-Click on the "My Computer" icon on the desktop and select "Properties"; this will open the "System Properties" window. Go to the "Advanced" tab and click "Performance Options". Click "Change" under "Virtual Memory". Set the pagefile to be located on the partition where the OS is installed, and set it to be equal to Physical RAM + 50 MB.

3. Also in the "System Properties" window, click on the "Advanced" tab, then click "Startup and Recovery". Make sure "Complete Memory Dump" is selected (see 3a if this is not in the list). You can change the location of the memory dump file to a different local partition if you do not have enough room on the partition where the OS is installed.

3a. If the "Complete Memory Dump" option in step 3 is not available, you will need to manually set this registry value:

Key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\CrashControl

Value: CrashDumpEnabled

Type: REG_DWORD

Value: 1

4. You will need to reboot for these changes to take effect.

5. The next time that the issue is occurring, hold down the RIGHT CTRL key and press the SCROLL LOCK key twice to cause the server to bugcheck and create a memory.dmp file, by default in the root of the Windows directory. Once the box reboots and disk activity dies down, you should have a dump we can analyze.