I have an Acer A0761h-1346. For sometime it has been freezing up and the only way to get it back is to hold down the power button and reboot.

Also, it constantly is telling me to do a Java update, but it is unsuccessful every time. (Not sure if it's at all related).

Any ideas?

Do you have virus removal software in your netbook, the activity you talking about is similar to virus.
You need to install antivirus program and scan your netbook, i use kaspersky as it provide real time protection.

Yes I have antivirus and have performed multiple scans etc. Everything is up to date.

Could be a variety of things, malware that your anti-virus does not catch (what AV are you using), overheating, defective hardware. The first thing to do is check to make sure all vents area clear. A can of compressed air is good for doing this as it's rather difficult to take a laptop apart to clean it.

Do you hold this on your lap or somewhere that prevents good airflow from getting to the laptop?

There are many types of malware that standard AV software does not detect. Pleas go to the Virus, Spyware, Malware Removal forum, read the first post and follow instructions.

Come back here once you get a clean bill of health if you still have problems.

Thanks for the feedback. Most times the netbook is sitting on my countertop in the kitchen. Using it in other parts of the house doesn't seem to make a difference, it still freezes up. I rarely use it on my lap.

For antivirus, I have used AVG, then Avira and now Microsoft Security Essentials. I also have Malwarebytes. None of these have made any difference in the fact that it always freezes up. I bought the netbook about 1 1/2 years ago and it was great at first. In the last year it has been freezing up a lot, and now its to the point it's very annoying.

I appreciate you trying to help. However, I did notice that your link to a spyware forum leads me to a different internet site and asks me to download software. That makes me sceptical. Don't want to download more problems then I already have.

Well I went ahead and followed your advice. OTL log is posted on the other site.

Sorry, I work at a few different sites and gave you the link to GeeksToGo instead of the malware forum here at Techie7, which is: Spyware, Adware, Viruses and Malware Removal

Stay with the one you already posted in. Come back here when you get a clean bill of health if the freezing problem still occurs.

Should I repost somewhere else? on the GTG site my issue is now on page 2 and has 32 views but no responses. This has happened to me for over 6 mos (posting to various sites but no one responds with suggestions). :-( I'm a teacher leaving on a student trip in a week and wanted to take this machine with me, but didn't want it to be freezing up all the time. When it's not seizing up, it runs great.

No, stay with G2G. I'll see if I can nudge them a bit.

Malware is a huge problem so all the sites that work on malware are very busy, which is why it takes days sometimes for themn to get to you.

No, give them another day. If nothing after 3 days, post in The Waiting Room, and provide a link to your post in the malware forum.

Malware is a huge problem and all the sites that work on it are very busy, so a 2-3 day wait is not unusual.