Windows XP: Windows XP system just randomly freezes, what’s causing this?

Freezing of Windows XP

In reply to: Windows XP system just randomly freezes, what’s causing this? by Lee Koo (ADMIN) 

Freezing occurs when the computer has lost it's way and can be caused by both hardware and software. The first thing to check is whether you have two competing Internet security softwares installed, this will cause havoc and also if you incorrectly or incompletely uninstalled one and then installed another.
If this is not the case the first to check is hardware. This is the foundation of all operations. Check in this order
1. Go To START , My Computer, locate your C hard drive look to the right and check how much free space is shown.Ideally there should be abour 20% (depends on disk capacity, you do not specify the capacity of your current drive in GB)If a small amount is free you will need to make space by deleting unwanted music, video, photo and other files. Those that are taking space and you want to keep burn to CD or DVD and then delete from the hard drive.
2. If the hard drive has plenty of space then stay in My Computer place the mouse cursor on the C drive icon and click with the right mouse. In the list that follows left click on Properties. In the Properties window left click on the Tools tab at the top. In the Tools display left click on the Check Now button. A small popup will appear and with the left mouse click in the two small boxes at top left to place an arrow in each then left click on START. A message will indicate that the drive will be checked on the next computer start. So restart your computer and let it then check the hard drive, depending on the size this may take over an hour.
3. If after a disk check is completed there is still a problem. Use a program to check memory for errors. Memtest 86 is a good one and can be downloaded to run from floppy or CD. This test runs independently of windows eg insert CD and restart the system. Note the computer bios must be set to allow the computer to boot from a CD or else this will not work. Memtest is thorough and will take a long time.

If both the hard drive and memory test OK assume that the processor is also fine. Now software needs to be checked.
1. A simple first move would be to restore the system to a previous date. This is achieved by left click on START, then "HELP and SUPPORT", in the following window look for "Pick a Task", then left click on "UNDO changes to your computer with System Restore".In the next window left click NEXT,in the following window left click on a highlighted date that you feel is before when you experienced problems then left click NEXT , follow the prompts and allow the system to restore. If this fails try a more recent date, if none will work or there are no highlight dates it means your system has not been set up to recover via Restore.
2. If Windows is corrupted to the point of needing repair you will need the use the recovery/repair method that is provided by the laptop manufacturer. Take care before going down this path you need to save any valuable files/data to a CD/DVD or external drive so that they can be recovered if the recovery process destroys all files.

Re your question about using an external drive. There is no way that this can help with the current operation of your system. External drives can be used for two purposes. 1. storing data files for live use. 2. For holding a backup of all data files and also an image of your entire system complete with application software (office etc etc)
The second requires backup and/or imaging software and if done well it can enable the recovery from a complete system failure securely and quickly. Another long process to explain, but not here.

I hope this helps you make progress.