" It works fine most of the time but randomly and infrequently it will almost freeze and does not respond."
I see that a lot in the summer, its usually heat related. The computer gets hot & does that.
As for the OP, did you buy a computer maintence program? Most of them let you know more than you need to know about every aspect of your computer.
>> I see that a lot in the summer, its usually heat related
So why is it doing it in the month of August when it is 92F in my room? Oh wait, never mind. I’ll get back to you in January. 
I am suspecting some program running may have something to do with it. To see what is running in your computer use MSINFO32.EXE or similar program (ctrl-alt-del does not tell you everything).
You should recognise every single program running and know why it is there and what it does.
I found WMIEXE.EXE which was not familiar and I did a search
http://www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist_w.htm
says to leave it alone
Microsoft’s Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI). Windows Management Instrumentation provides a standard Windows programming method of accessing system information, performance information, event monitors, and application monitors.
Recommendation :
Leave this task alone.
but http://www.bits.bris.ac.uk/mxcl/tweaks/wmiexe.php says it can be safely disabled and when running can cause tenporary freezes. I have disabled it by hiding it from WIN98 and everything seems ok for now. If I notice any problems I will enable it again. I’ll see if the freezes stop or continue.
You may want to check what tasks you have running and see if any of them are the cause of the suden freezes.
Does the CPU utilization stay up if you boot into Safe Mode? If it’s spyware or something similar causing the problem, it shouldn’t start up if you boot into Safe Mode. (A virus may still start up if that’s the problem, though.)
He already said his virtual memory file was on D:. 
And limiting the max size isn’t such a hot idea, since you’re effectively bringing down the amount of RAM you have, although setting the min size is a good habit to get into.
“So why is it doing it in the month of August when it is 92F in my room?”
Happens to me on really hot days too. Some motherboards have temperature indicators & mine showed how hot it got on hot august days.
Also, see whats running:
Programs>Accessories>System Tools> System Information >software environment>running tasks
Thats for Me.
handy, System Information is a shortcut to MSINFO32 which I mentioned
I have an idea. Poor cooling.
If the CPU is overheating, it will throttle down to 800Mhz. Naturally, an 800mhz Pentium 4 is rather slow, about the same as a P3 500Mhz or so. If it gets hotter, it will throttle down to 400Mhz, which would be UNGODLY slow.
A simple way to test this theory, does the computer seem fast right after it starts, before it has time to warm up? Another way to test, if you don’t mind opening the computer, is to take the side panel off and point a room fan into it, and see if the problem improves.
Not entirely a hijack. I’ve heard advice both ways from online places like cnet about setting the virtual memory vs. letting windows handle it. Is one better for one type of computing and the other for the other? and how do you decide on 2-2.5? Mb? Gb?
PC
What about FINDFAST?
PS: Windows ALWAYS runs slower after Word or Excel, even after you Exit.
PosterChild,
That should be 2-2.5 times the size of the main memory, sorry. So if you have 256MB RAM, the page file can be set to somewhere between 512MB and 640MB.
Hauky,
The reason to set the maximum size and the minimum size to the same number is to stop Windows expanding the demand page file when it feels like it. That simply stops everything until it is done. Realistically you do not need that much memory anyway.
sailor,
There are a couple of reasons why that happen. The first one is the virtual memory thrashing I have mentioned. The second one is power management. Perhaps Window have shut down the HDD so it takes time for it to spin up. Of course, it can be a combination of these two.
That’s what I mentioned earlier; it turned out to be the cause of similar problems on my machine. Currently we’re having a heat wave and I have no a/c; until I can afford a better case, I have a huge fan pointed at it.
You can usually check your system temperature and CPU temperature in BIOS. (Note to builders: chose your case carefully! I skimped on mine, and now I have to buy a new one because there’s no provisions for additional fans in mine. 
)
For those with inadequate mechanical cooling, I’d suggest looking into software coolers for help – e.g., CPUIdle, CPUcool, or VCool (works for AMDs only). The first two are shareware, and the last is freeware. And to know just exactly what your system’s temperatures are, get Motherboard Monitor, which is also freeware.
The authors of these programs have a standard disclaimer that they’re not responsible for any damage to your system as a result of using their programs. I’ve had no problems, but YMMV.