Freezing problem, Seagate/McAfee conflict?

[chewzall]

I am having a problem with computer freezes, and I suspect it may be related to a conflict between Seagate autobackup and McAfee as it seems to occur while I am at work and the backup is scheduled to run. It requires a hard shutdown and sometimes will lock up again on the reboot.
The machine is running Vista Ultimate 32 bit SP2, McAfee Security Center, also has Malwarebytes anti-malware.
Suggestions for eliminating this, other than "get rid of McAfee"?
Thanks!

 

[Tmagic650]

Yes, for test purposes uninstall McAfee and install free Microsoft Security Essentials using Windows Update