Issues with updated Linux

I'm new to Linux (i.e., just this past October), and I'm having problems since I downloaded the updates that were released on December 20.

At seemingly random points in time, my mouse will stop working, and won't start working again until I log out or reboot. This problem is most likely to occur (but not necessarily) after I've done a file search or completed a download. It has also happed three times while merely surfing the internet. This problem does not happen when I boot into Windows.

In conjuction with the mouse ceasing to work, sometimes other applications that I'm using will also lock up at the same time. But if I have the command line prompt also running I can usually use that (although this has also locked up a couple of times). Sometimes I can get as far as executing the reboot command, only to have it lock up as it is trying to reboot.

I'm unsure what kind of information I would need to give to get the information I need, and I'm unsure if this is a bug or a user error -- but any help would be good at all. I generally have to reboot about 4-5 times in a day if I'm working on the computer all day.

Here's my laptop and processor:
Toshiba Satellite M45 PSM43U-01700P
1.6 Gz Intel Celeron processor

The mouse is a generic Microsoft **sigh** mouse, which I didn't have any trouble using prior to the upgrade.

Thanks!