Over the last 7 months approximately 20 computers have spontaneously begun to expel smoke or caught fire. These incidents have occurred randomly and have only recently been brought to our attention. The potential for loss in each of the incidents for hardware was relatively minor however the potential for dramatic information losses exists. The majority of the incidents involve AST PC¿s. Historically the mother board and / or fastram cards have been the source of overheating. Two PC¿s overheated sufficiently to cause fire which required a call to the Fire Brigade. Other OPCO¿s have experienced similar problems with other Brand names.