I have the same problem. I took it to a local tech guy and he told me that there were a lot of unnecessary programs running in the background. He disabled them. Made a big difference. Also I find some sites get a little hung up, but if I leave them alone for a minute or two they will move.
I believe it is a Windows problem, I send all the error reports and hope they will eventually fix it.
Good luck

I have the same problem on my laptop but in my case when it freezes it rights itself after 2-3 minutes. I am waiting to take mine in to the tech guys at p.c world but they say it's a hardware problem but they need to keep it aweek.

Your computer may be starting a lot of unnecessary programs when it boots up. You can try disabling some of them so they only open when you want to use them.

You may have a lot of malware and tracking cookies that are slowing down your computer.

Sometimes the computer may appear to be frozen when it is actually just taking awhile to download email or to load a very graphic intensive website. Try giving it a little extra time before shutting it down.

Check to see how much RAM your computer has. Adding RAM is a great way to speed up your computer. Adding RAM is not very expensive either.

There are two good free programs you can download and run often to remove malware and other unwanted files. One is Ad Aware and the other is Spybot. You might see some real improvement in your computer's speed by using them both. You can download the free versions of both of the programs at the links below. I use them both and I know a lot of other people do as well.

Marcelle

I hear internet explorer 9 is causing people problems. If you install another browser and your problem is solved then it was IE. I use firefox (it's free) :) xXx

Major thing you need to find out is if it is a hardware or software problem.
Software prob: What you do not write is; when you got the pc back -did you inmediately hook it back on the internet ?- if not; did you tried it: was it ok ?
If it is a softw prob it is not so easy to tell you which one it is, unless I can check the pc myself. So many programs -not used- are sometimes installed-

Hardware prob; can you get into the BIOS of the pc ? sometimes- depens on the brand- you can start a system check (= check of memory, harddisk,...) To get it the bios is usually via esc, of a function button (F1, F10,...)

I can not help you but maybe those computer whiz can help me too. It is very difficult for me to dl my internet provider is very far from where I live, is there anything to booster the signal? What is Nanostation?

Hi Angel, Does it only crash when you go on the internet? What always precedes it locking up? That may be the key to the problem. I've heard bad things about IEv9 too. You can download Firefox and use it for free. It doesn't seem to have the glitches. I wish I could help you, but I'm a Mac user and I can really just troubleshoot Apple stuff. I have used Mac since 1994 and have never once had a virus. I have virus software running on my PC and it is always catching them. I didn't realize what a problem viruses can be :-) Hope you get some help.

Hi Angel, There could be so many reasons for this problem, If you had a new operating system installed and it was done with a proper formatting any viruses should be gone. I do this routinely on my own computer. The other thing is, if your computer is 4 years old it is probably on the slow side. Websites these days have so much going on that your computer might just be struggling to keep up. Adding more ram could help as Marcelle suggested but at the end of the day you have an old computer and it will have an outdated processor.
The other big problem that can effect Computers is dust. Now I am not suggesting you do this as most people would freeak out, but I will open my machine up and give it a good dusting, you do have to be super careful though because you can short things out, probably best to take it to a proper computer repair person.
As for it not being covered once you are online, that is ridiculous. In Australia under the consumer laws if a product or service does not do what it is supposed to do then the supplier is obliged to refund your money. In this day and age everyone would agree that a computer is supposed to go online. That is like a mechanic saying I have fixed your car but I won't guarantee the repairs if you drive it over 60kph.
I would be checking out the consumer rights legislation in your area and then asking for a refund. I personally would buy a new computer, but that of course depends on your situation.
Alice

You have been doing well to have a 4yr old.
I have to up-grade at least once a year.
Exra ram and such, reload the windows, newer versions of some programs.
But eventually the actual case or laptop cannot/allow new stuff. eg. no more space for ram or the older ram is no longer in stock.
Hope you get yours sailing/flying in windows.
All the offices and companies have to upgrade their computers too.
I have a live-in IT (my DS) and usually get all the kids hand me downs, cos they get the newest and faster.
BTW my son also can only do so much with older computers and says they need new to run faster/better.
Hugs Bev

Have long since you cleaned the dust of the internal fan inlets?

Clogged up fan inlets can cause this type of problem as can a faulty fan.
What happens is that because the fan will only work until it gets hot, then stops, your pc will freeze up, to prevent damage to the whole system.

Hope this helps, Hugs n roses, Meganne

Do you HEAR the fan running when you have your computer on? If it is overheating, then it will shut itself down. My power supply fan has gone out about once a year on my computer. I finally went and got a real big beefy one and put in there. No more problems. If you do hear it running, try taking some canned air (NOT a vacuum cleaner, as they generate static electricity) and blow out the internal workings. You will have to pull the case off (no biggie). This won't cost you anything, and may save your computer. Good luck!!

If you have installed a new program recently it can work properly but it will conflict with the operating system I bought a new computer last year and installed Roxio on it. The computer kept freezing up and would not wake up if left idle for a little time. I unistalled the program and reinstalled it and the computer is now working fine. Sometimes it will lock up if I give it too many comands too quickly. I just click: Ctrl,Alt and Delete and it bring it to the task master, I click on it to open and then close it again without doing anything and it unblocks the computer again. Hope this helps.

Sorry; my computer wizard is miles away right now.
Best of luck.
Jacqueline

Thanks for all your responses to help. You are all great! I hooked the computer back up after Best Buy installed a new operating system and drivers. Could access the internet, but still the same issue with freezing up, except it seemed to go a bit longer before freezing. While it was staying on longer, I quickly restored my photos (which I was most concerned about) using Carbonite. Each day this week it has kept freezing at closer and closer intervals. This morning it was like 4 or 5 minutes at most I could use before a freezeup.

I am still a novice with computers. I hope you will be able to save your photos and good luck with all the goings on with your computer.

As you are using Internet, It may be a case of temopary File.While Surfing on the net, every site create a temporary file which get accumulated in the temp folder.
You can use cccleaner to remove the temporary file

~Naveen