MacBook pro 13 locking

I have tried a search but didn't find anything to fit, so here is my situation

The machine is 2 years old and running OSx 10.6.8. Earlier today it suddenly stopped typing in an answer to an e-mail. The cursor moves both the with the bluetooth mouse and the trackpad and will scroll up and down with both.

A 4 finger down swipe gives the icons for the running programmes but clicking on any of them there is no response. Press the power button briefly and the power down, etc window appears, but nothing operates on it when clicked. If the dock is accessed there is no response and it doesn't 'hide' when the cursor is taken to a different part of the screen.

When it was powered up one time I opened and ran iAntiVirus. It ran clean in about 2 hours running the normal scan. I then opened Firefox and that ran fine and i was able to change screens, refresh and open new tabs OK.

The only way to power it down is to press and hold the power button.

If anyone has any ideas please I would be very grateful. This is being typed on our iMac as the MacBook would probably have failed by now?

Nearly forgot. There hasn't been any updates for ages now.

A.
From what you've told us this is a one time occurrence and you haven't shut it down yet?

It happens - hold the power button until it shuts down and then restart it

B.
You've already done that and it doesn't boot?
Or locks up again immediately?

First, remove that iAntiVirus software. It's not needed or necessary.

I would then try an SMC reset:
Intel-based Macs: Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC)

And if that doesn't help, boot the Mac in Safe Mode and see if you're still experiencing those issues.

bobtomay said:

A.
From what you've told us this is a one time occurrence and you haven't shut it down yet?

It happens - hold the power button until it shuts down and then restart it

B.
You've already done that and it doesn't boot?
Or locks up again immediately?

Click to expand...

Unfortunately it isn't a one time problem Bob. I had already tried shuting it down by all the normal ways, Power button briefly then enter and as I said the shut down window appears but none of the buttons a accessable. Same with the Apple logo top left, click on it and no response. At the moment I'm using the MacBook to type this so it isn't a keyboard problem either.

I ran both the quick and the normal hardware tests, Power on and press the 'd' key, last evening and they both ran clean.

Chris, I have ditched iAntiVirus and from what I have read I have already done all of the first part, "Before Resetting the SMC".

Before I do the SMC Reset I will try using Mail again and try to finish the e-mail to my son. That is where the problem first occurred. If it fails again I will do the reset and return here and let you know what happens.

Edit : -
OK. I have now finished the e-mail with no problems at all !!! So it would 'seem' as if my problem has departed ? Time will tell and I will keep the printouts for the hardware test and theSMC reset.

Thank you for your replies folks

I believe that I have found the problem?

After a while of using it today the MacBook froze again, but this time I had been using my Logitec bluetooth mouse. I was moving an e-mail into the correct mailbox and it wouldn't drop it whatever I did.

I tried all the other things like power button and select power off to no avail. Then I switched the mouse off and instantly everything went back to normal again.

When the problem first occured I was using the mouse, but I just didn't link it to the problem. I have checked the mouse batteries and they were down and have now been changed.

Once again, thank you for your assistance. I am a bit older and a bit wiser now!!