PC freezes when not running a program

Hello,

I have had my PC for two years now, and have never had any issues with it until now, an issue that seems to have only gotten worse over time.


When I turn on my PC, it starts up normally, however when I normally hit the login screen, I instead find myself looking at a black screen for several minutes, until at long last the login screen appears and I am able to long in. Now, here is the really odd part. If I simply leave my PC on my desktop, web browser or anything similar, my PC will freeze. It won't shut down, I'll simply get a grinding noise from my speakers and won't be able to move my mouse, I am left with no other choice than to hold down the power button to restart the PC. The only work around I have found to this issue is leaving a video game running at all times. If I do this, It will never freeze (at least not yet).


I have attempted every repair I can think of, as well as doing a complete system recovery (resetting the PC to factory default) several times, the last time the PC barely got through the recovery, freezing several times when restoring. I am an author, and need my PC to work in order to write my novels! And I am simply too afraid to write anything because I am just waiting for my PC to give one last sigh and give out.

Can anyone help me fix this strange issue?


Note that if you need my dxdiag or anything similar simply ask.


Thank you!

My computer was freezing too, but not like how yours did. I solved my freezing problem by defragmenting my hard drive, then a restart. But it took a long time.

Thank you for the quick responses,

What I am curious about is whither this is a software issue, or a hardware issue; a failing hard drive for instance. Also I am unable to post a screenshot seeing as my PC freezes.

No, the issuses do not occur in safemode.