I run my PC under XPHomeSp3 on a wireless home network. I usually have
multiple windows open, some downloading and some running applications.
When things slow down, I check the task manager for the guilty
application and either shut it down or reallocate among the two
processors in the PC

However, every once in a while...once or twice a day, it locks and I
have to do a hard reboot. So far I have not lost much, but I will
someday. I suspect a McAfee update download as the guilty application,
but not always. I am changing the protocol for the automatic update to
track this. Otherwise, I would like a better way of handling the
locking up (both mouse and keyboard).

Thanks

Henry