(Not responding) - and yes, I tried that

Have you tried going into the Startup menu and reducing the programs that start automatically?
Have you tried starting up in Safe Mode? Does the problem persist in safe mode?

That will help give us a good idea if it's software or your HDD giving up the ghost.

I don't have this issue on any of my machines today. And it's time for me to backup my stuff so I'll be back later after I do that.

Thanks for your insight! I mentioned all the things I had read in other people's posts / responses as to what to do with a not responding problem. I have run the registry cleaner, but that was through Norton, so according to what you wrote about Norton, that may not have helped.

Since I've had the laptop 3 years, I'm pretty sure I can't return it to Toshiba. So I think it's time to start shopping for deals.

BTW, do you have a recommendation for a non-albatross antivirus program??

Thanks again for your answer.

I use Avast, primarily because a few years back they invested in writing a scanning engine that was optimized for multi-core CPUs. Most AV companies are still using the same basic scanning engine that they developed a couple decades ago. However, even Avast has jumped the shark and started adding a bunch of features where the protection they offer is dubious at best. They keep piling on the useless garbage to try and convince people there's additional value in newer versions.

But I don't go in for "all in one" solutions like Norton Internet Security. Compromise one program in the suite, and with all that shared code, there's a good chance you can topple the entire suite. It's really not that difficult to keep yourself as safe as one can be in a place like the Internet. Keep up with security updates for Windows and other non-MS programs you have installed, don't use programs which have a long sordid history of security issues like Internet Explorer, don't download files from strange places (torrents, sites dealing in pirated software, etc) and pay attention to the various dialog boxes when installing programs to make sure you don't miss the part where you're agreeing to install some nasty bit of malware bundled with a program. That will make you far more safe online than any suite of programs put out by any AV company and it's all free, it just requires a little time and effort on your part to change a few habits.

Also, there's a lot of misinformation floating around on the Internet about the Windows Firewall. Some claim it's a 1-way firewall (which is not only false, it demonstrates a misunderstanding of what a firewall is and does, not to mention it only applied to XP SP1, and not even really then) others will claim various other things. The simple truth is, what you need to do is fend off automated probes that look for ways into a system. Keeping up with security patches is about 90% of the job, so the Windows Firewall is perfectly adequate for handling the remaining 10%. If you ever attract the attention of a real live human hacker, it doesn't matter what software firewall you may be running, the only way you're keeping them out is to sever your connection to the Internet. If you have a router, odds are it has a firewall built into it and you can even skip the Windows Firewall. One of the better things I've found about Windows 8 (I forget if it was also this way in 7) is that you can configure things so that if you're on your home network, with a router based firewall, you can turn off the Windows Firewall, but if you're on some random network like at a coffee shop, it'll be on.

So try disabling Spybot's teatimer component, see if that helps. If not, you can try the factory restore like Bob suggested... If that fails, you're probably looking at a HDD on its way out. So if you didn't create restore media at any point since you've owned the laptop, now would be an excellent time to do so.

In other parts of the real world, overlap is a GOOD thing! I know that Norton would tell me that I could only use THEIR program, but I'd still sneak and use others. Typically, I'd run something like spybot, then uninstall the program.

I've got a Surface tablet which I love, but not for heavy duty typing (like in my genealogy programs).

So I'm guessing that either I go crazy, or buy a new laptop. (flipping coin)

Thanks for your reply!

Spybot's old real time component would inspect a file on open.
Norton would notice Spybot's action and inspect all actions.
Spybot would notice actions on files, scan those to see if safe.
Repeat forever?

This is such an old issue that I may have shortchanged you.
Bob

Thanks for the explanation - - I thought it was just a turf war issue.