Random and frequent lockups

My problem thread in the software section

I don't think this is a malware problem but since my knowledge of computers is only intermediate, I'll take direction from those who know better.

I've never had a problem like this on any of the computers I've ever owned. I've owned my current build for more than a year, and before the April 15th update, I've never had a problem like this one, and issues with the rig in general have been minimal. This problem occurred suddenly, and does not appear to have built up over time.

The only way I can imagine this is a malware issue is if the April 15th update was a security update and it somehow allowed my computer to get infected. But I really have no idea. Can anyone say how likely/unlikely or possible/improbable that is?

Surprisingly enough to me, Malwarebytes did indeed catch some 11 problems on a quick scan, but I don't really think the problem is cured. It does seem though, that there have been some improvements, but it's definitely still much slower than it should be. Could it be because I'm running msconfig in normal now and all the extra old programs being on are slowing my computer down? Should I do a full scan with Malwarebytes? Something else?

Help?