keyboard freezes

[Chris in U.K.]

Folks, I have an annoying problem, my kb freezes (no response at all from any key or combination) while playing games - has never happened while using Office apps, CAD, photo stuff etc.

I first noticed it while playing an online game and after a few occurrences I thought it might be a server issue, so I logged out out using the mouse, logged onto a different server and it worked for a while then it happened again. Now it has happened on an installed game, while I was offline.

This happens with 2 different KBs from different manufacturers, and can happen after a long time or after just a short while - it seems pretty random. The KB comes right back to life after any kind of reboot, and the mouse continues to be fully functional while the KB is down.
PS2 KB with USB optical mouse.

Setup: Pentium 4, 512 ram, Gigabyte mobo with Titan 533 chipset. Running XP Pro 5.1 with SP2. CA anti-virus and PestPatrol anti-spy on all the time.

Other than this problem the system has been very reliable, so any suggestions gratefully recieved!

THanks,

Chris

[Lespaul20]

With it happening to two different Keyboards I would be inclined to think it's the PS/2 Port or something on your Motherboard. Do you have a USB keyboard you can test with?

[glc]

It may simply be running out of resources - i.e. insufficient RAM. You have 2 heavy background processes running - antivirus and antispyware - and gaming on XP with only 512 ram can be rough. Next time it happens, just sit there for a minute till hard drive activity ceases and see if it starts responding again.

[Chris in U.K.]

Thanks guys, I'll try both of those ideas.

Chris

[Chris in U.K.]

Thanks again for the suggestions,fellows.
The worst thing about intermittent faults is that you have to wait for them to happen, and I'm still waiting.........

Chris

[Chris in U.K.]

You were right GLC, I finally managed to pin it down..........definitely a resources thing. Off to the memory shop then !

Thanks,

Chris