Windows 7: Not Responding

Asus K52Jr-X4 Laptop Computer
Intel Core i5-430M
2.26GHz
4GB DDR3
320GB HDD
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
5400 RPMDual-Core
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5470

Recently, I've been getting a "Not Responding" error quite a bit. I just got this laptop on Tuesday. Since then, I've been using the newest Firefox and AVG free. Often times, when I was on firefox, it would just go to a not responding error after a while. I couldn't even use CTRL ALT DEL to end the program, as I used to in Vista. (By the way, is this harmful to the laptop?)

I've uninstalled AVG and Firefox and am now using IE8. Problem is, I don't have a antivirus program now. The reason I'm mentioning this is that I've read the interactions between antivirus programs and Firefox (w/ addons) can cause this. I didn't even have addons on Firefox, or at least, did not install any.

Anyways, I've always read it can be caused due to overheating. My laptop hardly even feels hot! Is this immediate proof that the cause is not overheating?

Also, are there are free antivirus programs that don't cause this (when paired with IE8)?

Since then, I've also defragged the harddrives.

Also, exactly how bad is doing a reset when the not responding error appears? I've done it like 4-5 times in the past 2 days. It's not happened for a while now, since I've gotten rid of the AVG.

Welcome to SF!

The test to see whether your machine is overheating is using Speedfan to test your temps. Could you please post them?

Second, if you want a good, free anti-virus that won't crash your machine, I can recommend Avast and Microsoft Security Essentials. I can personally vouch for MSE, as it's my favorite.

Also, check your Event Viewer for errors. See if you can identify the cause of these freezes.

Good luck!

~JK

Hd0: 34C
Temp1: 55C
Core0: 20C
Core1: 22C
Core2: 15C
Core3: 15C

Temps look good. Let us know if the problems persist. Hopefully removing AVG did the trick.