actually even worse... when I enter any website, I have to keep the mouse moving or the screen freezes

Does that happen in Firefox safe mode? It could be an extension causing problems.

thanks for your reply finitarry yes it still happens in safe mode but with a subtle difference. the movement of the mouse doesn't have to be so frequent.

ie: in 'normal mode' i have to move the mouse continuously to enable page to load or video to play. in safe mode i need to move the mouse about every 5 seconds to enable activity. this is so frustrating i'm sure i'm not the only one. i hope you can help

touching any key also unfreezes!

with videos actually sound continues to play but not vision

tried so many things ...given up & gone to google chrome - sorry

You could try disabling hardware acceleration and checking for malware.

• http://www.trishtech.com/internet/disable_hardware_acceleration_in_firefox_4.php

List of malware removers:

• SuperAntispyware - http://www.superantispyware.com/
• AdwCleaner - http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/adwcleaner/
• Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware - https://www.malwarebytes.org/
• Spybot Search & Destroy - http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html
• Kasperky Free Security Scan - http://www.kaspersky.com/security-scan
• Windows Defender - http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/using-defender

If these don't find it or can't clear it, post in one of these forums for specialized malware removal help:

• http://www.spywarewarrior.com/index.php
• http://www.spywareinfoforum.com/
• http://bleepingcomputer.com/
• http://www.thespykiller.co.uk/index.php?board=3.0
• http://forums.whatthetech.com/index.php?showforum=27ßß

If you like Mozilla browsers better, you might like SeaMonkey. Its interface is a bit different from that of Firefox.

• http://www.seamonkey-project.org/releases/

Boot the computer in Windows Safe mode with network support (press F8 on the boot screen) as a test to see if that helps.

• http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/how-to-start-windows-in-safe-mode/