I am running the following system:

OS: Windows 2000 Professional Service Pack 4 (build 2195)
Processor: 2.40 gigahertz Intel Pentium 4
8 kilobyte primary memory cache
512 kilobyte secondary memory cache
Board: 865-Series
Bus Clock: 133 megahertz
BIOS: Phoenix Technologies, LTD 6.00 PG 06/18/2003
Drives   Memory Modules c,d, e
260.03 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
120.66 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space
_NEC DVD_RW ND-3550A [CD-ROM drive]
Drives:
c: (NTFS on drive 0) 120.02 GB 72.89 GB free
d: (FAT32 on drive 1) 100.00 GB 8.63 GB free
e: (NTFS on drive 2) 40.00 GB 39.13 GB free (SATA)
BUS Adapters:
HighPoint RCM Device
RocketRAID 1520 S-ATA Controller
Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Host Controller
Standard Universal PCI to USB Host Controller (4x)
Multimedia:
RADEON 9600 SERIES [Display adapter]
RADEON 9600 SERIES - Secondary [Display adapter]
DELL 1905FP [Monitor] (19.3"vis, s/n T611656CACF6, June 2005)
Creative SB Live! Basic (WDM)

Whenever I try to burn a DVD (ISO, mp3 collection, etc) lately the 
computer shuts down about half way through the job. It has also done 
that several times when I was converting large video or audio files 
to some other format.

I saw some reference to issues relating to similar problems having to 
with how a computer accesses the DVD burner. But, could it also be 
the audio card not being sufficiently powerful? Drivers for all 
devices are kept up-to-date. I do have a lot of stuff "attached" via 
USB hubs: scanner, speakers, external drives (both USB and FireWire), 
2 printers (one on the parallel port) etc.

Over the years, my experience with sudden shut-downs seemed to have 
been related to over-heating issues. The CPU ALWAYS registers 103F, 
even after the system has been shut down overnight. It is a little 
crowded in the box, so maybe ventilation is not as efficient as it 
should be, so I would consider switching to round cables.

What would be the more logical (read: least expensive) way to go 
about solving the problem? I thought of starting with taking the lid 
off the box and keeping it off, although the added noise is a bit off-putting.

I sure would appreciate help with this.

Kind regards and a Happy, Joyous and Healthy New Year to all.

Andrew 

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