Freezing system, Google hijack virus?

I have a Toshiba Sattelite laptop running Windows Vista and have had very few problems with it, but recently it has been freezing. Sometimes the screen will freeze but the mouse can move, other times everything freezes. Also, if the volume is on, it will set off a high pitched, continuous noise that can't be turned off unless I shut down the laptop with the power button. Then there comes times when it runs fine and there's no problem. Could it have anything to do with the Google hijack virus I've had for a while, that I can't seem to get rid of? May there be another virus I can't find? I have Malwarebytes and Kaspersky installed. I also bought a new battery for the thing not long ago, because the other one was the original one from three years ago and wouldn't hold a charge.