Freezing during Loading and PS+ Backup HELP!!!

Alright, so I'll start with this...
Before starting NG+ I was farming and killing off the last NPCs who have drops. I was check out Sen's fortress (which has always been buggy for me), and big mistake... The prims didn't load. I was just stuck in a room that was entirely fog after killing the lizard men. So, I decided I'd exit Sen's and go back to the bonfire in Undead Parish. I rested there, stood, then reloaded. Then, after the game locked during the freeze! :x I WOULD have no problem with restarting, because I know how to do it all with less issues, but this is not only the second character this happened on, dealing with Sen's, but I have too many rare drops and weapons I worked really hard on crafting... You know how that song goes. My biggest point is, it will just happen every time I go to Sen's, and, I have no clue how I passed it the first time.
I already tried cleaning the disk, and I tried deleting all the game data/ patches, but nothing works. I'm always stuck on loading that character, and my other one as well. I looked everywhere online for help, but can't seem to find any. Please give me any ideas if possible.

I'm using a phat ps3, and hear the issue may be my Bluray drive or HDD.


So, my next question is, if I backup my DkS data on the PSN, then replace the HDD or buy a new PS3 will my old files and data still work?

Thanks in advanced for any answers.

Got it to work... Did 3 things...
-Unplugged the system causing a hard reset. So, it started in diskchk (Not recommended at all)
-Gave it some time to cool down (about 1 hour)
-Pressed triangle at character select to go to alternate menu, and loaded. It took longer than usual to load, and my character glitched up a little bit, but other than that, it works fine now! =D But, can I still get some answers on that PS+ Backup thing, or other tips in case this happens again?

Yeah. It's funny. The answers usually range from never heard of it, to it being pretty common. By any chance are you using a slim ps3?
Also... It's happening again. Locked out of my main again. Tried playing as a low level alt, was in darkroot, went nearby Andrei to rest at the bonfire, and the bonfire didn't load. Neither did the entire outside of Sen's and locked out of 3 characters!!! I am getting really PO'd... Scratch that. The third character loaded as I was typing. It took like 10 minutes.

See, I never hear of it occurring on the first models, that are backwards compatible. It's the later fats, that can't run ps2 games. And, I hear slims also don't have this problem. It read it has a little to do with the brand of HDD in each model.

I just freed my main again, but only for a short time. After, the room around me fell apart, then it crashed as I was infinitely falling.

I think I freed him by loading the area on another file, then entering as him.