When Windows XP freezes

If something freezes like a computer or a laptop then experienced computer technicians use General Troubleshooting Theory. This theory needs something about ten  pages to explain properly. We will describe here  so called Systematic Fault Isolation that is a part of General Troubleshooting Theory. Systematic Fault isolation can help to diagnose issues related to Windows XP freezing.
Systematic Fault Isolation is a technique for systematically isolating the source of an issue. Simply eliminating half of the items that cause the problem or eliminate one after another until the system will be stable.

For example if the Windows XP freezes and the hard drive more than three years old then simply by testing the hard drive or ve will eliminate this component as a cause of the fault or we will know that the hard drive is faulty.
Why to begin with hardware test. Simply because there is no logical point to for example reinstall the operating system if the hard drive has a bad sector  or even overheating. It simply will fail again in a while.

Another component that can cause system freezes is memory or RAM. It is not so frequent as hard dirve faults, but when RAM is faulty the system will freeze up or display a blue screen and the shuts down. And now memory issues are more frequent as the capacity of the memory increases so increases the probability to fail.

After we checked the two main components on the computer then we can return to the operating system and check it for viruses, malware and other foreign code pieces in it.
Usually the infected system is reinstalled as we do not want the virus to resurrect. We never found an antivirus that can remove properly the virus code. There is so many viruses and they made so smart . If the virus is reported as mild or low danger then probably the re-installation is unnecessary. But if it has something like Conficker then  the re-installation is the best solution.

Another cause could be a power supply, motherboard or the CPU. The CPU usually gets damaged if it overheats. It happens frequently in laptops with a clogged heatsing or  radiator plates. In laptops there is almost always some dust covering the heatsink plates near the fan. If the layer of the dust is thick the CPU gets hot and can fail.
Also the motherboard is the cause of fail or freeze. It can happen not so frequent as hard drive fault or RAM fault but still we need to consider it as a component for isolation. ON some brands motherboards the faulty capacitors are cause often of system instability. It is easily found as the capacitors gets deformed or even some color liquid shows up.

This is almost all the possible causes that can cause the computer with Windows XP to freeze. Just remember the hardware the age is critical as the longer it operates the more chances to fail. For the software this may be not the case except may be viruses that gather in the system.
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