Computer Woes

I'm having problems with my laptop and hope it's not dying. I mostly noticed the problem when I was playing Spider Solitaire that came already on the computer. The screen would freeze, and I'd have to manually turn off the computer which it doesn't like. I have Vista and read online that others had the same problem, so I followed some instructions and after wandering around the internet found a site where I could scan and download updates for drivers. This took quite a while. I haven't tried playing Spider Solitaire again yet, but the screen went black while ago when I was on Twitter. I keep several tabs open all the time - my blog, FB, iGoogle, and Twitter. They are set to come on when I open Firefox. Generally I'll open a few articles I find on Twitter that look interesting and other blogs I read (one at a time).

So now what? Guess I'll have to take it to someone who knows what to do. I'd rather not have to buy a new one or pay a fortune to get it fixed.