PC Crashes/Freezes

[Daelakk]

I'm not sure if I'm posting this in the correct forums, but I don't see a better place for it.

OK, here goes:

So, I start up uTorrent. And, it works great. Until my computer freezes. This has happened a buttload of times with different clients since I got my computer. It could be something running that freezes it up when my internet is being used a ton, or it could be a hardware issue. (HDD Maybe?)

Anyway, the time between uTorrent startup and freeze varies, but they seem to be getting shorter each time, except for a few select times that it doesn't freeze for hours overnight or whatnot. It also happens more often when my computer is idle.

I remember Norton caused a few problems, I tried uninstalling it and I had ZoneAlarm for a while, and that seemed to have fixed the freezing, but then my mum got mad at me so i had to reinstall Norton, so it reintroduced the problem. I have once again uninstalled Norton, and now have AVG antivirus, but the problem still is there.

If it is worth noting, a few times it has crashed without uTorrent running, when it connects to my wireless network (maybe it's the wireless?) but it hasn't happened that much. I don't think it's uTorrent specifically, but it has something to do with my internet being used alot.

This is really getting annoying and I just want to run my torrents all day and night without them being interrupted!

(I even had to restart this thread because it froze)

I hope that's enough information, I'll post any kind of log (hijackthis?) or system specs that you will need.

System Specs:

Intel Pentium 4 Processor (3.00Ghz)

with 1.5GB of RAM

Nvidia GeForce 6600GT graphics Card

Creative X-Fi Sound Blaster audio card

Windows XP Home Edition SP2

again, sorry if this is in the wrong forum or even the wrong site to be posting this in, but I couldn't think of any other sites off the top of my head.

I have read the incompatible software list, and I don't have any of the programs. I also run antivirus, spyware and ad-aware checks once a week or more. I also ran memtest, and my memory is clean.

The freeze is also complete and final, it just locks up, no ctrl-alt-del, no mouse, nothing. I have to press the little button on my tower to restart.

I'm thinking it's a problem with my computer and lots of internet usage or something. I don't think it's something I got recently, because ever since I got this computer and ran torrents (started with ABC and Azureus), it has frozen like this.

I'm sort of thinking it's my antivirus program(s), trying to scan every file that comes through my computer or sometihng and then locks it up. But my CPU doesn't increase when I'm running uTorrent, and the time varies alot between uTorrent startup and computer freeze (5mins->12 hours)

edit: The red LED light on the front of my case is always blinking or solid when uTorrent is running, yet the CPU usage is below 35%. Maybe it's an HDD issue, although I wouldn't know how to check for that. Everything else runs perfectly fine, and my computer handles games and labour-intensive programs well.

[Switeck]

What's the speed of your internet connection both up and down?

What's the settings you're using in µTorrent, according to Speed Guide (CTRL+G)?

[Daelakk]

I ran a speed test on dslreports.com

The results:

You received 2619537 bytes in 4.687 seconds. Throughput is 4366 Kbps. (I have cable going to my house and I'm connected via wireless)

[ http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/1198/02052007185510ap6.png ]

So I'm using the 2mbit speed guide settings. I'll try the dial-up settings and see if that affects anything.

edit: nope, not even the lowest setting affects anything. Still locks up.

I'm leaning toward hardware issue, still. It's not my wireless card, I removed it and replaced it with one of those USB ones. I'll try and run memtest if my floppy drive wants to work. i hate floppies.