Toshiba A135 freezing up

I bought a Toshiba A135-S4437 in March of 2007. It has VISTA Home primium for it OS. I have had a continuous problem with the machine freezing up on me. It happens, on average, about once every 2 or 3 days (and I use the computer for me work, so it is on more or less from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM). It seems to happen at random intervals and the screen just completely freezes. I do have the internet on pretty much all the time while I work. I have to manually shut down the machine by depressing the power butter for 7 or 8 seconds and then start it up again. I've had my computer tech check it out and he is unsure what is causing the problem. He doesn't think it is a software problem but related to a hardware issue. We don't think it is a virus or spyware problem. I do use a firewall and anti-virus program. I've started monitoring the temps of the CPU with the Lavalys Everest program, and the temps seem to be very steady at between 45 and 50 degrees celsius. I'm not sure what the recommended temps should be, but the fan does seem to going on and off on a regular basis.

Has anyone had a similar issue with this Toshiba laptop or have any thought as to what might be causing the problem? I know that some of the older Toshiba laptops had an issue with static electricity causing the machines to freeze up, but, supposedly, those problems were fixed with the newer machines.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

I'm not sure if my computer consultant did either one of those tests. How do you do them??

Thanks

Thanks for the info. Let me try to see if I can run those tests. Again, I think my computer consultant did similar tests. He still thinks it is a hardware malfunction problem. He thinks the motherboard may have to be replaced. It is still under an extended Staples warranty, but I hate to have to send the computer off for a few weeks. I use it every day for my job.

Thanks for the message. I'm not sure about the solutions on the other thread. I am not on a network (I am self-employed). I do have the internet on almost all the time so I don't know if that is causing the problem. It is frustrating because I need this computer for work and it freezes up at least once every two days. It seems to happen at random intervals. My computer tech person has basically given up on a solution and is telling me to send the computer back to Toshiba to have them check it out. He thinks it may be a problem with the motherboard.

Operating temperatures ?? I've been monitoring the operating temps on my Toshiba laptop to see if it is freezing up because it is overheating. The temps seem to be fairly steady between 45 and 50 degrees celcius, although they occasionally spike up to the mid 50's. These temps are for the CPU (core 1 and 2). Is this a normal operating temp for a laptop?? The fan is definitely going on and off on a regular basis and my computer tech guy did blow out the fan area to clean out any dust.

I don't see any red or yellow exclamation marks next to anything in my device manager. Also, it seems to freeze up at random intervals. I usually have the internet on when I am at work and I sometimes have three, four, or five web sites open at the same time. I am not trying not to keep the internet on all the time and not to have so many websites open to see if that makes a difference. It's hard to pinpoint that I am doing any one thing when it freezes up. It's very frustrating.

Thanks for the reply, Saugen48. Yea, I don't think it is a memory issue. Also, my computer tech guy thought that it might be a problem with the internet explorer (he has had other clients who had troubles with Internet Explorer causing VISTA to freeze up), so I switched over to Firefox Mozzila a couple of months ago and it has made NO difference. The computer has continued to freeze up on a regular basis, even when using Mozzila. I'm still at wit's end here trying to figure this out.

My computer froze up again this morning. It seems to happen only when I am on the internet. It's a little hard for me to tell, though, because I use the internet heavily for my business. Probably 75% of the use of my computer is for the internet. I don't remember it freezing up when I do not have the internet on and I am using another application.

Thanks, Saugen, for the suggestion. I do use Norton Anti-Virus, as my anti-virus software. I'm not sure that I want to disable, though, because I am on the internet so much. What do you mean by a "third-party" firewall?? I'm not sure what that is. Thanks.

Thanks again, Saugen. I think I do have the complete Norton anti-virus package, including the firewall. I think my Vista firewall has been turned off so I'm not sure that that is the problem. Of course, my computer froze up again this morning on me when I was on the internet. It does seem to be internet related.

Thanks, fralook. I guessing it probably is a hardware problem. It actually froze up on me the other day when I first started my computer and I was NOT on the internet yet, so it may not be internet related. Again, it seems to happen at purely random intervals so it is tough to pinpoint exactly what is happening and why. I may have to send it out to be repaired. UGH !!!