> My two-year-old computer has been giving me many, many errors. Explorer crashes for random reasons that change every time I reboot. Fatal errors crop up just about daily and the computer freezes just as often (except for the mouse, strangely...).

Well, you say that the computer is freezing up and the mouse isn't. This can be caused by running too many programs. You can check how many programs are running on a Win9x machine by pressing Ctrl-Alt-Delete once. The only programs you need to run Windows correctly are Explorer and Systray; you might have other essential programs as well, such as sound drivers and the like.

Since you seem to be getting many errors, this could be a hard disk problem. You say that you've reformatted your hard drive and it hasn't helped. This may be to a problem with the magnetic media on the disk surface. Try running scandisk and doing a surface scan.

As for RAM, well, if your RAM is busted, the only solution is to get new RAM.

Heat could be a problem, as well-- check your manufacteres' documentation as to what the operation conditions should be. You may also have a BIOS setting that allows you to check what the temperature of your processor is.

But as always, refer to qualified service personel.