Hi-

I am brand new to linux, so any in-depth help on my issue would be greatly appreciated. I have been trying to install various copies of Linux onto my Dell Inspiron XPS laptop. Each copy loads on fine, but the problem I am having is that maybe 10-30 minutes after boot up the system will just come to a dead halt...it completely locks up! The mouse wont move, the buttons won't activate anything, etc. I basically have to just turn it off and turn it back on. The versions of Linux I have tried so far are Mandriva 10 (I think its 10), Fedora Core 5, and SUSE 10. My laptop is a Dell Inspiron XPS, 3.4 GHz, 1 Gig of ram, Radeon 9800 Ati Video Controller. I have searched and searched and can't seem to figure out what is causing this total lock-up! If anyone has any suggestions please let me know...and remember, I am completely new to linux so go easy with the terminology. Thanks!

honestly it could be quite a few things, so lets try and narrow it down.

heat.
do that every few minutes to see if the temperature finds a balance, or wheter it just climbs.

daemon crashing, kernel crashing
read the entries in /var/log/messages
be sure the check them in this order, becuase if it is overheating, more than likely you will see a kernel panic or strange error