Windows 7 Pro 64 bit randomly freezes and has to do hard shutdown

Have you checked your event viewer to see if anything is reported there?
Any recent updates that you could roll back to see if they are the cause of your headaches?
Have you tested your Mem and HD?

This issue could be a hardware problem.... such the power supply, memory or harddrive or bad drivers can cause this problem

Usually this is an indication of failing hard drive. Or you got infected by botnet for mining.

I would guess failing memory if it is a freeze. Or...

Also, my Windows 7 was freezing due to a faulty graphics card.  Do you see any noise, lines, or other starnge graphics on the screen when it freezs? This was a major problem on Bootcamped MacBookPros from 2012 to 2015 especially, as the graphics chip would overheat and freeze the machine.

What hardware are you running on?
What has changed recently?

it 's Always good to test ram and disk in such cases, to be sure about the bios
i use the UBCD for this
Hardware diagnostic CD    UBCD
---------------------------------------------------
go to the download page, scroll down to the mirror section, and  click on a mirror to start the download
Download the UBCD and make the cd   <<==on a WORKING PC, and boot the problem PC from it
Here 2 links, one to the general site, and a direct link to the download

since the downloaded file is an ISO file, eg ubcd527.iso - so you need to use an ISO burning tool
if you don't have that software, install cdburnerXP : http://cdburnerxp.se/

If you want also the Ram tested - run memtest86+ at least 1 full pass,  - you should have NO errors!
direct download :  http://www.memtest.org/
 
For disk Diagnostics run the disk diag for your disk brand (eg seagate diag for seagate drive)  from the HDD section -  long or advanced diag !  (runs at least for30 minutes)

http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/      

** you can make a bootable cd - or bootable usb stick
*** note *** for SSD drives  use the tool from the manufacturer, like intel 's toolbox :
https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/18455/Intel-Solid-State-Drive-Toolbox

for completeness -here's how i handle disk problems : https://www.experts-exchange.com/Storage/Hard_Drives/A_3000-The-bad-hard-disk-problem.html

==>>****in order to be able to  boot from CD or usb - you may have to disable secure boot in the bios

if this does not show the problem - proceed by disconnecting all devices not neede for testing, - extra disk, cd, printers, even ram sticks

I agree with Nobus just using a boot up disc to run diags  or just using a boot up disc  ( or usb stick) to see if the computer will freeze when using the disc. This will tell you if it is either an issue with the harddrive or a corrupted operating system on the hard drive. If it freezes when using the bootable usb stick or optical disc then you know that the problem is hardware related.  Then you need to troubleshoot from there by running diag tests found on the bootable device.

Ended up having this issue once anytime i played Fallout 4 back in the day when it was released... it ended up being the drivers for my disk controller...i do not recall but i think they were bundled with the chipset drivers. I updated them and never had an issue again. As other have already mentioned, update all drivers. If that doesn't work...its very likely a hardware incompatibility or defect

Thank you, everyone, for your input, its greatly appreciated

You are very welcome and I was pleased to help you

Seb, what eventually did you discover was wrong?