My computer keeps freezing, what could be wrong?

lately, my computer has been suddenly freezing, i have a active virus protection program(my computer is almost 4 years old now) and i try my best to keep it up to date so this wouldn't happen, but it's been freezing lately, what could be wrong?

My computer keeps freezing, what could be wrong?network

You may have spyware and/or adware that is taking up your computer's memory. A couple of very good spyware / adware detection and removal utilities are Spybot and AdAware.

Spybot: http://www.download.com/Spybot-Search-De...

AdAware: http://www.download.com/Ad-Aware-SE-Pers...

Download and install them, preferably both, update them, and then scan your computer.

Also, when reviewing your computer for spyware, adware, and viruses, you should occassionally check that your "Hosts" file has not been corrupted. It can be found at either \\Winnt\System32\drivers\etc or \\Windows\System32\drivers\etc

You should most likely have nothing in the Host file below the "127.0.0.1 localhost" line. If there is a bunch of stuff in there, try to find another, uneditted version over or remove everything below the "127.0.0.1" line.

If that does not fix the problem, you may want to try another antivirus application and I would suggest you take a look at Avast Home Edition which has good ratings on Download.com. If you like it, download, install, update, and scan your system with it also.