Mac Freezes randomly

Hello;
Recently, my MacBook Pro froze in the middle of watching a downloaded video. It completly froze, i couldn't even use or access force quit. So, i manually turned my macbook of by using the hard turn off button. The problem started to reoccur, more and more often, not only in movies but also while doing other random stuff like surfing or playing music. I figured out a way to deal with it, by simply closing my computer and than opening it a few minutes later, which makes my computer continue normally for a few minutes. I thought that a lack of RAM might be the problem, but it occurs even when i use less than 5% of it. My second thought was that my computer would get to hot or wouldn't fan properly, but after downloading the app smc fancontroll i learned that everything regarding my computers temperature is normal too.
Can someone please help me?

PS: I use a 2009 or 2010 15' Mac Book pro with 2,66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor. I got 4GM 1067MHz of RAM and more than 200GB free on my startup disk. I still use snow leopard (is that the problem, is my OS too old?) , but might upgrade to mavericks soon.

Thank you,

Oskar

dewolf said:

Hello;
Recently, my MacBook Pro froze in the middle of watching a downloaded video. It completly froze, i couldn't even use or access force quit. So, i manually turned my macbook of by using the hard turn off button. The problem started to reoccur, more and more often, not only in movies but also while doing other random stuff like surfing or playing music. I figured out a way to deal with it, by simply closing my computer and than opening it a few minutes later, which makes my computer continue normally for a few minutes. I thought that a lack of RAM might be the problem, but it occurs even when i use less than 5% of it. My second thought was that my computer would get to hot or wouldn't fan properly, but after downloading the app smc fancontroll i learned that everything regarding my computers temperature is normal too.
Can someone please help me?

PS: I use a 2009 or 2010 15' Mac Book pro with 2,66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor. I got 4GM 1067MHz of RAM and more than 200GB free on my startup disk. I still use snow leopard (is that the problem, is my OS too old?) , but might upgrade to mavericks soon.

Click to expand...

The random freezes could be a result of a bad kernel extension; hardware failing; or maybe something running in the background (use any AV software or anything like MacKeeper?). Your specs seem fine for daily use. Snow Leopard itself wouldn't be the problem. I would start by running the Apple Hardware Test. If that checks out, look harder at the hard drive. I have a tutorial for that. One possibility would be a heavily fragmented hard drive.

Quite honestly, given the age of your MacBook, my top culprit would be an aging hard drive that is in the early stage of failing. I would seriously consider replacing it, no matter what the test results. If you don't have a backup system in place, make a backup pronto! I would then look at installing Mavericks clean to a new hard drive, then migrate your user data/accounts back to the new drive off a good, current backup.

Thanks for replying that rapidly,
what is a kernel extension and how can i improve it? I got to admit that i'm not that good with computers I'm hoping that my hard drive isn't the problem...

dewolf said:

Thanks for replying that rapidly,
what is a kernel extension and how can i improve it? I got to admit that i'm not that good with computers I'm hoping that my hard drive isn't the problem...

Click to expand...

I guess I can describe a kernel extension as basically a driver. Here's a good explanation:
What are Kernel Extensions?

It's hard to say if that in particular is your problem. We'd need to know a lot more about what's installed on your Mac (see prior reply for examples) to even begin to suggest where to start. Here's one way to list all 3rd party kernel extensions (kext files):
List all third party kernel extensions | OSXDaily

I still think the drive is my top suspect, but you'll have to do some testing if you want to avoid replacing it.

There's nothing wrong with using Snow Leopard if you don't need any later OS X stuff and I'd agree with lifeisabeach, (and I just love that name!!!) that the hard drive may be failing.

But if it's a 2010 MBPro, just hope it isn't its graphic card(s) that's going goofy as just happened to a friends 2010 MBPro. A common and expensive fix and Apple's extended warranty has since expired.