Windows XP Media Center Edition(version 2002, SP2) keeps freezing

I dont know wht but from last couple of weeks my pc is continuously freezing and to fix the issue I have to restart the computer by holding down the power button. This issue occurs anytime but especially when I am watching a video in Windows Media Player 11 as well as when I am playing some games like World of Warcraft. I have ensured that there are no viruses and spyware on my computer. I would appreciate if anyone can help.

Did you make sure that you have installed the latest drivers in your computer. For example, in your case you need to have the latest video card drivers in your computer.

Yeah, I have made sure that I have the latest updated version of the driver for my video card installed on my pc, but still the freezing continues.

Did you try to open the CPU case and checked whether all the fans are working properly or not. Also check if the heatsinks are not clogged with dust, if it is then you will need to clean all the dust from inside the case and then the problem could be lowered. Also try to run hard drive and memory diagnostics and see if they are not causing this issue.

I have already cleaned my system by opening the CPU case and it seemed to help a little bit. But I dont know how to run the memory and hard drive diagnostics? Any tips that you could share with me? Thanks.

You can download the memory diagnostics software for free from many websites, just search for it on google. Also there are many various memory manufacturers that have diagnostics which work with their brand name. For the hard drive diagnostics tool, you will need to go to the manufacturer of the hard drive and get the same.