Hello all, I have a problem that has been a major headache and I have searched about 12 hours today for the answer.

Here is my problem...

I just bought a refurbished Dell Latitude CPx J650GT Pentium III 650MHz system, 128MB PC100 ram, 20GB hard drive, ATI Rage Mobility-M1 AGP 2X graphics chipset, ESS Maestro-3i PCI audio, running Windows 98SE.

When I first booted the system, all seemed well.  But about 5 minutes into running Windows, the system stopped responding.  No errors, no bluescreens, etc.  I could still move the mouse pointer around but clicking on anything had no affect.  When I hit Ctrl-Alt-Del, I did get the task manager window but it showed everything to be running.  However, that window then freezes in place on the desktop.  At this point I can do nothing other than move the mouse around.  I then have to hit Ctrl-Alt-Del to restart the system.  This happens constantly.  I have had this system for 24 hours and have yet to shut the system down normally.

I assumed maybe it was a buggy installation of Windows 98.  So I reformatted the harddrive, reloaded Windows 98SE and as soon as the installation was complete, before loading any other programs, drivers, etc., it did the same thing.  I naturally assumed this must mean that the issue is not with the operating system but with the hardware.  I downloaded Dell's diagnostic program and ran the program twice.  All tests came back as passed.  I suspect the memory module may be bad but it successfully passed the diagnostics test both times.

Has anyone had this problem or have any advice on how I may remedy the problem?  I sincerely appreciate your help and time with this matter.  Thank you in advance! ;-)

Steve