Random crashes

[qwertyjjj]

I have a Gigabyte 3GHz AMD with 4Gb RAM, almost never have more than 2Gb RAM being used even if a lot of programs are running, 3 monitors running as well (1 off USB).

I am having a problem where the computer will just lock up when I click on something in an application. Usually the application is Excel or sometimes an application called Dealbook 360. The software vendors of Dealbook 360 say it is not a problem with the software and I have it running on another computer and it does not cause the system to lock up on that. I can't figure out why only these 2 apps would cause it to crash but maybe it is just coincidence. Is there anyway to figure out what might be causing this? I can analyse the dump files if needed but not sure where to start...

[hang-the-9]

Random lockups, motherboard, power supply, RAM tend to be the primary suspects.

Inspect the motherboard for any bad capacitors (they should all be flat, not rounded or popped), try to run with one stick of RAM at a time, then 2 if that test works, then all of them. If you still get the random lock-ups, you may need to find a power supply to test with.

A good idea maybe to run a few benchmarks like PCMark or PassMark, running both can't hurt. Stress tester like Prime95 is good to run also. This will rule a few things also.