Hey ATG,
Jack has some really good advice except for if your computer freezes up b4
you have a chance to do that. I'm not quite sure why it's freezing up but it
is most likely not the programs unless your computer freezes up while your
opening then, running them, or closing them. Try what Jack said unless your
computer freezes up b4 you have a chance to do it, in that case the only
advice I have is reinstall windows because there is a bug that may be your
problem and the only way to fix is is reinstall windows. :-( As for the
restore points windows deletes them after a certain period of time in order
to save space. Also it probably has nothing to do with the ram but you do
want to make sure it is the right kind for your computer and also that it
actually can use 4 gigs of ram. i.e. my laptop can only have a maximum of 2
gigs ram. hope this info helps :-)

--
- It's always Microsoft's fault no matter what your problem is.