i usually just have mirc, msn and kazaa lite running when i'm afk, but also sometimes virtualdub, gordian knot or tmpgenc (all video encoders).

I never had problems with my video card b4. But i will try changing it. It doesn't hang straight away it takes time. From what i can tell a random time. My power supply is 300w

What advantage would a dual boot give me? Surely Xp would still hang?