Vista Intermittant Hang

Hi, I searched for "Vista hangs" and can't find anything similiar to my problem so I'm trying a new thread.

The Problem: At any time, my computer will hang. Sometimes its when you click into a window. Sometimes its when its in screensaver. Hang = spinning vista busy circle or if screensaver, no response to the keyboard. It seems to be that explorer (windows explorer, I think as the Desktop "app") hangs. It happens both when I'm actively doing things and always when idle after some period of time.

What I have tried:
1. Updating to latest software that I can find.
2. Virus / malware scans (Norton / PC Doctor)
3. Run Task Manager to see what process is at the top when it hangs. Didn't help because even when hung, task manager continues to update processes in the window until I click in that window and then it gets the spinning circle.

My dilemna:
1. I can't isolate this to hardware vs. software
2. It leaves no traces that I can find.
3. The only recourse is to kill the power and reboot.
4. I don't know what to do to find the problem.

My System:
Windows Vista Home Premium 64 bit
Dell Studio XPS 435MT (Intel Core i7 CPU)
6 GB Ram
Raid 0, 1.14 TB (2xdrives)

Anyone have any ideas?

Will upgrading to Windows 7 have a high probability of resolving this?

Thanks!

Welcome

Here are my solutions to freezing, and an excellent article, which I hope is of some help
Go to search type device manager and look for any yellow warning markers
Download and run malwarebytes, a full scan after you update
Run antivirus scan
Check memory with memtest86
Make sure that you are not over heating.
Try in safe mode; report back if it works properly.
Try a clean boot
Make sure PSU is working properly
If overclocking, restore to original
Test hard drive at company website.
Test in safe mode, does it still happen?
Try with clean boot..
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135

http://www.geekstogo.com/forum/topic...ing-memtest86/
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135
http://malwarebytes.org/
http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php

http://ezinearticles.com/?Troublesho...blems&id=39981

If it is a hardware problem, it will be the same with Seven.