All browsers lock, forcing a reboot to rectify the problem

Apologies if this is a common problem, but as a newbie, it's not always too easy to find the answer to what you're looking for.

I've had this problem for a few weeks now.

After an hour or so of browsing (I normally use Firefox) but the same applies to IE or Chrome, I might be logging into e-bay or my on-line banking when the 'egg timer' just churns and churns, finally giving up. On closing the browser, it is then impossible to relaunch any of them.

I've tried the obvious stuff like rebooting my modem (it's now left on for days on end to give wi-fi to tablets)

Only restarting the PC seems to rectify the problem.

I tried rebooting to Safe Mode, and then rebooting again but nada.

I tried a system restore to a point prior to the latest W7 critical updates, and for a while this seemed to work, but then it always does work for a time. Of course, the updates came back later!

My system is W7 Home Premium 64-bit, my security software is always up to date,

Hello Billy and welcome to Seven Forums.

Since this is happening with IE, Firefox, and Chrome my first thought is whether or not you have some common plugins, add-ons or extensions that might be causing the issues you're experiencing. You could try running each browser with everything disabled to see if the problem resolves itself. If it does, you could enable one add-on at a time to see which one is causing th eproblem.

It's also possible that some program or application is creating a conflict. Try running a clean boot (AKA clean startup) to see if you can isolate any problematic programs.

Troubleshoot Application Conflicts by Performing a Clean Startup

It's also possible that your machine may have some damaged or corrupt system files. You could run a system file checker scan from an elevated command prompt (option two.) If problems are found, run the scan 3 times and reboot the computer after each scan.

SFC /SCANNOW Command - System File Checker

If neither of these solve the issue, one of the Forum experts has prepared a troubleshooting guide that has some additional suggestions including hardware diagnostics.

Troubleshooting Steps for Windows 7

Many thanks - I'll start working my way through your list! Happy New Year, by the way.

And a Happy New Year to you. Please post back if anything helped or not.

Thanks for that - what a way to spend NYE eh?

I've just run SFC/SCANNOW but it found nothing. I'm currently waiting to see if a clean restart does the trick, by unchecking all non-MS services. If this seems to work, I'll wait and see who hollers first, me or my wife, before re-instating anything. It certainly seems to have speeded up my reboots!

Trouble is, it can takes hours for the problem to manifest itself.

I've also made a start on browser add-ons, but apart from one that was added a few months back which I've now disabled, I can't anything much in common across my browsers.

Fingers crossed!