Computer keeps crashing

my specs:
pentium 4 3 ghz with hyperthreading
1.5 gb ram
geforce 7600 gs (requires 300W power supply and I have had no problems with this ever since I got it, which was almost 2 years ago)
300 watt power supply
windows xp

When I start up my computer and I do nothing, it won't crash. But when I do any activity, like listen to music, opening folders, or copying and pasting something, within a few seconds, the screen freezes (it also looks kind of weird; there are dotted lines surrounding the borders of windows and dotted lines around the mouse cursor, it's kind of hard to explain) and then the monitor shuts off a couple of seconds later (and if I turn it on and off the screen will still be black). If I'm listening to music, after the monitor turns off, I can still hear the music. If I'm copying and pasting something onto a flash drive, it will copy and paste it even after the monitor has shut off. Also, on only one occasion, it happened pretty soon after the windows login screen came up. If I boot up in safemode, I don't have this problem.

What exactly is going on? Could this be a ram problem? Video card problem? Power supply problem?

Also, what can I do to back up my data? In safe mode, is there any way to transfer files to a usb flash drive or to an external hard drive?

Thanks.

Cheers.

Can you check the temperature of your computer? Perhaps it's some kind of overheating problem. That, or your video card is dying.

So that we can rule out any kind of software error, please post your Application and System event logs in EVT format here. (Start > eventvwr.msc > right-click > save as)

Data backup > the easiest way to do this while bypassing your system is to put your hard disk in an external enclosure and copy it into another computer. Plugging an external hard drive is much more painless, but as you said, you can't copy and paste something without having a crash, so Not really sure if the drivers for external USBs are loaded in safe mode, but you can always try it first.

Ciao.

"post your Application and System event logs in EVT format here. (Start > eventvwr.msc > right-click > save as)"

I didn't really get what you meant. I thought you meant start menu, but there is no eventvwr.msc there. Where can I find the application and system event logs?

also: "put your hard disk in an external enclosure and copy it into another computer. "

I didn't get that either. Can you explain it again?

Cheers.

No worries. At least your clarification enables me to gauge your level of technical expertise and adjust accordingly.

To open Event Viewer, click the start button, and select "Run". In the dialog box, type in "eventvwr.msc" without the quotes and click Ok.

> Hard Disk

This involves taking your hard disk out of your computer, and putting it into a special hard disk casing which basically turns it into an external hard disk. This casing is called an External Enclosure.

If you connect it via USB cable to another computer, it is recognized as a removable hard disk. You can then copy all the files into the hard disk of the other computer.

Ciao.

It turns out that the problem was the graphics card. I just changed graphics cards and the problem went away.

Cheers.