Ok, well I decided to bite the bullet and just upgrade some parts. I still have no idea what is the issue, and without some spare parts I have no way to test. Going to upgrade and if it turns out it's the PSU, I'll pitch the old one out, and have the new one, probably just sell the old mainboard 2nd if it's fine, if it's not I'll RMA it and then sell it when I get it fixed .. depending on how much that costs me heh. The mainboard I have now is currently still under warranty (3yr warrant purchased about a year ago) however the PSU is a couple of years old and I have no warranty info for it so. Anyways, since I have no idea what is causing these issues, let's just look at some new parts I can slap in here to get me back in fighting trim. The Secret World comes out at the end of the week and I need my baby looking her best =) My current parts: Windows 7 x64 Processor: AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Mainboard: ASUS M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 AM3 AMD 890GX HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard Ram: 3x4g sticks of G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) GPU: BFG Tech BFGEGTX260MC896OCDE GeForce GTX 260 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP PSU: XION Power Real 1000W ATX Power Supply **Sorry for no links, but I don't have enough posts here yet to allow it. I realise I don't need a 1000w PSU, so I am going to drop down to a lower priced 750w one, I was thinking of the: RAIDMAX HYBRID 2 RX-730SS 730W ATX12V V2.2/ EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Modular Power Supply, New Version with Build-in LED Fan On/Off Switch **Found on newegg.ca and for the mainboard: ASUS M5A97 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS **Found on newegg.ca I am also considering upgrading my video card, I would like suggestions in the 150 price range please (or as close as possible, I'll say 150-200, but lower is better heh). I currently have BFG GTX 260 OC, and it's been an amazing card but it's getting a little long in the tooth. I don't care what site (ncix, newegg.ca, tigerdirect.ca, etc) I am Canadian, please keep that in mind, as long as they ship to Canada, I am fine with that. I have about 220$ to spend on the motherboard + PSU combined (with taxes + delivery) - so chop that up however you like, and as I mentioned, about 150(possibly 200) for the video card. Everything else is fine as is I think. Suggest away please and thanks very much for your time and efforts, Cheers.
Years ago when I used to repair TVs there were products called freezer sprays. It was a can with some sort of coolant under pressure. With a fault that was heat dependant you could temporarily cool individual components with the spray. Something like that might allow you to pinpoint the problem area more accurately (before you go spending any money!).
Ok so... Brand new motherboard, brand new video card, brand new power supply... Was defragging the drive with O&O ... computer did that lock up thing again...(@91% done). I would say it's the HDD but its happened on 2 different drives. Everything has been swapped out or replaced. Even 2 different copies of windows have been used lol. I am starting to suspect maybe it was O&O the entire time. I haven't had any issues getting into windows (yet) or any other issues so far, I removed O&O just in case Friggin perplexing issue!
Holy smokes! It locks up only when you run O&O and this has been the case from the beginning? Uninstall O&O, scrub your registry and see if the problem goes away. If it does you've likely found the problem, if uninstalling O&O doesn't solve your problem you've at least eliminated another possible cause. One of the first things you should always do when a problem pops up is ask yourself what was changed just prior to the problem starting or what seems to precipitate the problem. If it freezes when you run O&O, don't run it and get a another program that does what you need. I have one Windows 7 computer that simply will not successfully run SUPERantispyware so I use Malwarebytes and Spybot S&D on it. If you need a good defragger, use Defraggler. It uses the same algorithm Windows uses. Windows System Imaging has always worked flawlessly for me and there is a world of good programs to wipe data from your drive ... I use File Shredder. There are many others that do what O&O does and most are free.
Reformat. Because I am not too bothered about losing data or personal files, what I would do is just reinstall Windows! Most of the time this works for me, If I ever have a problem I will research it on the internet and then upon failing re-install Windows! Hope I Helped!