Thanks guys, I got the free space wrong should have been 9 gigs free. Usually I can set up a maximum scene with props + 6-7 characters inc 2 mill figures + 12 lights and render it with the help of cacheman and a bit of sweating for up to 20 minutes. I've found the freeze up to be mostly some characters in my "new figures" library, obviously freebies that came without textures. I have spent a couple of hours checking them and assigning new textures to them where neccessary. There are still about 10 to go and as from now I'll immediately follow up and test anything I install. Upgrading the PC further would be like Christmas here but the budget looks fairly bleak, cant even afford a new mouse pad right now. Your good advice was appreciated, thanks again, Tommy.