Random freezes with windows 7 - 64 bit

I'm having major freezing issues with Windows 7 x64 Pro.  It keeps freezing at random moments, it doesn't matter if I boot normal or safe mode.  I've been using the system for over a week without any issues and then yesterday it started freezing.  At first I thought it was my video card because it froze for the first time while I was watching a movie trailer but after I replaced it with an old card the problem continued.  I am using the microsoft security essentials software and I do not have any other antivirus or network security software installed.  This came out of no where and I cannot find a solution anywhere.  My specs are as follows:

Dell XPS Gen 4

Pentium 4 3.78 GHz HT

Windows 7 x64 Pro

4 GB Ram

Nvidia 9500 GT (also tried Nvidia 6800)

I am going to try booting up from Ubuntu CD to see if the problem continues under a different OS. 

Microsoft!  Fix this problem!

*UPDATE:

I may actually have a hardware issue.  I'm now getting an orange light on my power button which according to other XPS Gen 4 users (and Dell users in general) it means that I either have a faulty power supply or a faulty mother board.  I'm going to keep looking into this and see if I can have someone take a look at it to confirm.  I'm guessing that since my cooling fans are running when I hit the power button and no image comes up on my screen that it's a motherboard issue. 

My issue is not Windows 7 related as my Ubuntu boot froze after a few minutes as well.  You're off the hook Microsoft!  :-P

I'm having major freezing issues with Windows 7 x64 Pro.  It keeps freezing at random moments, it doesn't matter if I boot normal or safe mode.  I've been using the system for over a week without any issues and then yesterday it started freezing.  At first I thought it was my video card because it froze for the first time while I was watching a movie trailer but after I replaced it with an old card the problem continued.  I am using the microsoft security essentials software and I do not have any other antivirus or network security software installed.  This came out of no where and I cannot find a solution anywhere.  My specs are as follows:

Dell XPS Gen 4

Pentium 4 3.78 GHz HT

Windows 7 x64 Pro

4 GB Ram

Nvidia 9500 GT (also tried Nvidia 6800)

I am going to try booting up from Ubuntu CD to see if the problem continues under a different OS. 

Microsoft!  Fix this problem!

So we both have Dell Gen 4's. I'm pretty much exactly the same as you but I use a ATI graphics.

Do you use an external network card (I use external card and disable the internal NIC in Windows 7).

Also what is your sound card, same as mine?

NB I have no problems with XP or Ubuntu on the same machine (I've got a multi booting config, no virtual stuff running).

Also note my hard disks are mirrored (via the motherboard).

Full details of my config on the previous post.

Perhaps it's hyperthreaded CPU's?

Just to repeat - I am not using AVG - the freezing seems to happen mainly with audio or video, although I've had a freezing issue once when coming out of hibernate for some reason.

Giving multiple suggestions. Gen 4's - dis good aren't they? - feel terrible that I may have to upgrade soon....

NB it's not use asking MS to "fix it" - lots of people aren't experiencing this issue - we need to help out as much as we can here and nail down the problem.

I'm having the same problem as JakeyDood.

System specs:

CPU - Intel i5 Core 750

Mobo -

GPU - GeForce 9600 GT

4 GB DDR3 Ram

1 x Samsung 500 gb hdd

1 x Western Digital 80gb hdd

Windows 7 x64 Pro, installed on 80gb drive, one partition, C drive.

Ran fine when I installed it with my new hardware (mobo, cpu, gpu) after an upgrade on Monday. Last night (Wednesday) I got hold of the Left 4 Dead 2 Demo on Steam, downloaded no problems, played it for a good hour or two. Turned on my pc this morning, have a list of things to do - install antivirus, install games, updates, patches etc. Opened Windows Media Player to get some music going while I did all this, OS started staggering, music was staggering, playing for several seconds and then stopping, repeating this process.

After a minute, it locked up completely. It took several minutes to respond at all, but keyboard and mouse input was unaffected (cursor on-screen moved, capslock, numlock lights were responsive). After a few more minutes I got blackscreened. Again, mouse and keyboard were fine. After half an hour my desktop background came up, keyboard and mouse still going. After another hour of waiting, nothing else happened. I rebooted, checked logs - no problems.

I installed AVG, Spybot S&D and Malware Bytes, tried running scans one after another - OS froze as described previously after only a few minutes of logging in.

I have left the login idle after restarting previously, it too froze after a few minutes.

Tests I have performed since:

Ran safe mode - runs fine, no freezes so far.

Anti-virus, anti-malware, anti-spyware scans - reporting no problems

Updated drivers (mobo, gpu)

Updated windows 7

Removed previously installed software (Call of Duty 4, Steam platform)

Attempted reinstalling, OS freezes

Checked running temperatures - everything is running within normal temperatures (no more than 30 degrees celcius)

Used system restore to a restore point created Tuesday 3rd November 09 - still getting freeze issues.

I have tried rolling back drivers and even a format and reinstall - still getting this freeze problem.

Occasionally I hear one of my drives making a 'click' noise, but it has done this a lot recently, not entirely sure why it does that. Old drive I guess.

Update: While I've eben typing this out, my comp has frozen up in safe mode at login screen. Not very happy about this at all.

OS runs very well, loving it up til now. hope there's a fix for this later.

 Opened Windows Media Player to get some music going while I did all this, OS started staggering, music was staggering, playing for several seconds and then stopping, repeating this process.

Sound card? Network card?