OK, here’s the whole story…
Last week, a thunder struck my computer, and fried the DSL and motherboard LAN ports (I’m using the wireless USB now). I reformatted and reinstalled Windows (and installed my usual drivers and software).
After that, I upgraded to Avast 6.0.1125 (the latest version). However, the computer started to freeze randomly, usually in the morning and the evening. Everything froze up, mouse and keyboard were not responding - only way to work again was to hit the Reset button on the PC case. I believe it happens just before (or during) the virus definitions update, but like I said, freezes are totally random.
Before that thunder strike, I was using Avast 6.0.1091 with no freezes at all. I thought then, maybe it’s a hardware fault because of that lightning? I tested the CPU, RAM and graphics card with various burn-in tests, with no errors at all.
Yesterday, I reformatted and reinstalled Windows again, but this time I didn’t install any Avast version. No freezes since then. Perhaps it has something to do with my new wireless adapter, and Avast’s update settings?
Avast update settings:
Definitions: Auto update
Program: Manual update
Proxy: No proxy (direct connection)
My computer is permanently connected to the Internet: Enabled
My system:
AMD Athlon XP 2200+
768 MB DDR RAM (3x 256 MB)
ASUS A7V8X-X motherboard (with latest VIA Hyperion Pro)
ATI Radeon 9700, 128 MB DDR (with Catalyst 8.12 and ATI Tray Tools)
2x Western Digital Caviar Blue 160 GB, PATA
ASUS DRW-1814BL DVD+/-R/RW DL, PATA
Thomson TG782i ADSL modem (T-Com branded)
AirLive WL-1600USB wireless USB adapter (using Windows to configure my connection)
400W power supply
Windows XP Pro SP3
If you need any additional information, I will provide it…