Random/frequent crashing

Question

hello,
I've got an emac about 4 years old now with a osx 10.3 operating system.
Recently all of a sudden i have been experiencing completly random crashing where the whole thing will just freeze.
It dosent seem to matter how many programmes im runing at a time and ive got plenty of space left on the hard drive.
So, is it just where the thing is old, have i got a virus or do i just need to do a system clean up, and then how do i go about doing any of those???
PLEASE HELP, Sam

Answer 1

If an eMac is crashing unexpectedly, and doesn't fall within the range of serial number covered by eMac Repair Extension Program for Video and Power Issues, some things to try include:
-- disconnect everything except the Apple USB keyboard and mouse, to see if a faulty peripheral is causing the problem
-- Start Up in Safe Mode, also with peripherals removed, to see if third-party drivers are at fault
-- check if the RAM is defective; the Apple Hardware Test disc that came with the eMac (either a separate CD or a bootable partition on the OS X Install DVD, depending on the eMac model) can perform some basic RAM tests, while Memtest (especially run in single-user mode per it's instructions) can perform more exhaustive tests
-- check the dirve directory using Repair Disk (or fsck if the OS X install disk in unavailable) as described in Using Disk Utility and fsck
-- make sure the crom maintenance tasks are current: How to Force Background Maintenance
Here are some general troubleshoorting guides:
Travis A. - Regular Maintenance / General Troubleshooting
Texas Mac Man’s Troubleshooting site