When I'm on the hotmail page (logged in) when I click on an e-mail to open it nothing happens. Otherwise my computer works fine. Sometimes when I change my default programs, hotmail will work again for a while. When it locks up again, I notice that my program defaults have been set back.

What default programs, where, how?

If I load my hotmail account in Chome it appears to operate fine. If I use Firefox the hotmail page will not load (i get an error). If i use IE my hotmail account will partially load but it wont finish and is non-responsive. Also, "search.bearshare.com" sets itself as my homepage on Chrome and Firefox. When I reset my homepage to hotmail using tools>options, eventually "search.bearshare.com" will reset itself as my homepage. My Msn Live page settings have dissappeared from Firefox as well as my bookmark to hotmail. Somebody out there doesn't want me to use hotmail. BTW, my hotmail account works just fine on my other computer.

Sounds like a malware infection to me. Go to the Spyware, Adware, Viruses and 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.