Can it be that OS 10 and Flash don't work well together? Internet browsers are freezing up

Question

I started this discussion on the macbook pro forum but no one has figured this out and I'm beginning to think this could be an OS 10 problem, so I'm posting here.  No matter what browser I use (Safari or Firefox), after a little bit of surfing, the browser freezes and I get the spinning circle of death. Only thing that works to fix it is to reboot. But then the cycle repeats. I've found discussions of other fixes for this but nothing has worked. So far I have:
Added open source DNSs
Updated all software
Scanned for malware with Sophos (none found)
Cleared browser caches
Run disk utility and repaired all permissions
Reset Flash settings to disable hardware acceleration
Moved large files to an external hard drive to free up more disk space
Checked to see if I have a bad Shockwave plug-in that was the culprit for others (didn't have it)
Called Mac support and was advised to use disk utility
None of this has worked. In other cases, people felt the problem had to do with flash. For them, changing the hardware acceleration setting (as I did) or removing the bad plug-in fixed the problem. This has not helped me, and I'm at a loss of what to try next. Of note, nearly every other instance I turned up about this involved SLeopard 10.6.6. That's what I was using. I updated to 10.6.8, but it didn't help. Any suggestions?
I'm on a Macbook pro with 10.6.8, 4GB of ram and a 320GB hard drive showing 120GB free.

Answer 1

First level Console messages are usually too general. Those are kind of generic and I'm not seeing anything related there to your problem. You need to open Console and navigate inside to system.log.
This really needs fine some tooth troubleshooting. It could be so many things causing the problem. I'd call Apple back and get on the phone with a senior tech who can take the time to walk you through everything that needs to be looked at. Sounds like the tech you got either wasn't too skilled or ready to do that.
One of the first things to try is to create a new admin user and test for this there. The Apple tech should have suggested this. If it doesn't happen there, you know it's specific to your regular account and not system wide.
You could take a shotgun approach and throw Applejack at it. Make sure you do the underlined steps as well.
Download:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/applejack/
Article on using:
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-10334620-263.html?tag=mfiredir
It runs in single user mode, where it runs more safely than other maintenance/cleaning programs because there is less chance of interference from the OS. After installing (you won't see it in the Applications Folder) hold CMD-S at startup. You will get a black screen with MS-DOS like text. Just follow the prompts: type in "applejack AUTO" and it will run through the following:
Correct any Disk problems.
Repair Permissions.
Clear out Cache Files.
Repair/check several plist files.
Dump the VM files for a fresh start.
Trash old Log files.
You can also run tasks selectively and for specific users by typing in "applejack." After running in "AUTO,"  you can go back and run it again as "applejack," steps 3 & 4 only, for your user.
The first reboot will take much longer than usual, as it rebuilds caches. It may take several restarts to see the benefits. Because of the deep cache cleaning in AUTO mode some applications may tell you they are being opened for the first time.
NOT YET UPDATED FOR LION (although it is reported by some that it is working)
(Adapted from post by BDAqua)