Hi Ken,
changing from one OS to another is always a little traumatic, especially if you have come to love the version you are using. I remember how much I hated 98, 2000, & XP when they first came out. Vista was a dog but I always say that I ran it as a beta tester for Windows 7 and I still feel that all of those that plugged away with Vista should have been given a free upgrade to 7.
Windows 7 is different to XP but it is reliable and and easy on the eye. The Windows security measures that were so annoying on Vista have been improved with a simple control slider that allows you to turn it off completely if you so wish. I am running the 64 bit Ultimate edition and it has provided me with a solid platform with all of my hardware working, even some of the old bits of kit I have knocking around such as an old HP scanner.
OK, so that is the sales pitch over and hopefully you will now be a little more receptive to the idea of upgrading to a 64 bit OS that will allow you to make full use of your 8 Gig of RAM, but that doesn't help with your current problem.
Small system freezes can be due to many things, both hardware and software so it can be a little like looking for a needle in a haystack.
First off, as your operating system is only 32 bit I would remove one of the sticks of RAM from the PC. As has been mentioned before, a 32 bit OS cannot use any more than 4 Gig and this will take one possible cause of conflict out of the equation.
Whilst talking about RAM have you checked in BIOS what yours is actually running at especially the timings? You have some pretty fast RAM there and by default it will be pulled back to 1333MHz and although it should work without a problem it is worthwhile running MemeTest just to make sure everything is OK.
I'm not familiar with your RAID Card but does it have the latest firmware? This is an area that can easily be overlooked, especially when you have just bought it but it is worthwhile checking, just in case.
There could be a problem with your graphic card but I have to say that is not the first place I would be looking. The only practical way of knowing would be if you have a spare graphic card that you can use instead.
Check power saving options from within the OS. A 5-10 second pause would seem to be the time taken for HDD's to spin up if they have been powered down.
I can't remember if your OS installed on a single drive or on one of the RAID Arrays. I think, in your previous post you had a single drive attached to one of the marvell ports. Is this still the case?
