freezing up is generally caused by either a lack of memory, some bad spyware infections, or something conflicting. I find more often than not is is the first two. Adding RAM is cheap and is the best easiest and fastest way to add new life to an aging pc. If you do not know what is on your pc or what you need go get the free belarc advisor tool, and run it, it will give you all the info about your pc, you can print it off and keep a copy. I usually buy my RAM from newegg.com they have good prices and good products.
belarc

If you do not have superantispyware free on your pc you need to install it update it and run full scan (once a week), also you need spywareblaster, install, update once a week and hit the enable all protection button so the shield turns green, also you can get spywareguard free. Cleaning out any nasties from your pc will help a lot.
superantispyware free (blue one)

Here is a link that might be useful: spywareblaster and spywareguard

Clair does the computer just freeze and the current view stay visible or does it simply quit? I am wondering if this might be heat related. Any chance you keep the tower on the floor? If so it will collect so much more dust and overheat so much easier. This is not suggesting raven's post is wrong but just another avenue of thought.

Ravencajun, Clair lives in Canada and we run a risk buying in the US and having things shipped up here. We all understand that taxes may be charged crossing the border but it is the brokerage fees that can kill us. USPS and Canada Post is good but at times sellers will not use the post office.

Long ago I bought RAM from Crucial and paid them the shipping. Parcel arrives, 10 days later I get a brokerage bill of $29 wiping out any bargain I might have had. Now I either cross the border myself or have things shipped to the UPS store in Buffalo, that works.

wow no kidding? I had no idea those kinds of fees were encounter to Canada. Now I understand why one of my Canadian friends wanted a mutual friend to purchase some things for her when he went to visit.

And yes dust is a terrible enemy of all pcs. I had built small wooden pedestal boxes to set my computers on rather than on the floor. Plus one is up on top of the desk, that one is see through with lights so I really don't want a bunch of dust in it.
Could be that some of your fans are not functioning properly any longer too.

I downloaded the superantispyware and did a scan. It found a lot of spyware and removed it. It's only been a couple of hours but so far my computer is back to normal. Thank you so much.
claire

Nice to see a problem solved quickly and precisely.

Owbist,

Doesn't the Canadian duty effect your purchases when doing as you reported?

Being on the Canadian border and visiting Canada several times a year I personally wouldn't dream of not offering to pay duty when returning to the USA. First it is the right thing to do, but more so with my luck I would be the only person caught for the whole day. The last I heard the standard of fine was confiscation of the good in question, and double the duty as penalty. Now that would ruin your whole day.

DA

DA, the Canadian border guards assume all our purchases south of the border are made in the US. Therefore thanks to the free trade agreement there are no duties payable. We do declare all our purchases and food is exempt from all taxes. In fact I always have the cash register receipts visible in my hand if he/she wishes to have a look at them.

You should expect the same considerations regarding duty. I suspect perhaps you merely pay the Michigan taxes. You are also allowed to return with US$250 daily. There was an interesting article a couple of years ago where a Maine citizen built his home with materials entirely purchased in Canada. At that time the exchange rate was so much better for you folks, haha.

On trips of less than 48 hours we are allowed to bring nothing back with us but if we do then federal and provincial taxes (14% combined) can be charged. This is at the discretion of the border agent on duty. We as old foggies find we can get away with buying somewhere over $100 each and pay nothing most of the time. We also do not cross on weekends when the Toronto crowd swell the numbers.