Fragmented disk, spyware, memory resident programs.
Maybe you haven't logged in...
I mean, hey, I used to be able to go out and party and dance until 2 a.m. and not even suffer the next day at work. Not anymore.
(Maybe your cache needs to be cleaned out?)
I installed SP2 with Norton Internet Protection and had to unistall SP2 because it slowed my computer down.
Norton is a resource hog.
I installed symantic
Ditch Norton and get AVG. Your computer's performance will return immediately.
symantic does slow the computer down.
Also, If you have ANY AOL programs on your computer, Symantic acts as a cover for computer to computer networking.
Also, for good measures, dump temp files, ensure you don't have programs running in the background, do file maintanence and check if Google Tool Bar has installed inself. It launches and runs in the background and you don't even realize it.
Clean your cookies 3-4 x a week and run maintenence on your computer weekly or at least 2 x month.
But then I installed symantic and that slowed it somewhat.
Question asked, question answered. Symantec is system-hogging bloatware that is easily replaced with free programs that are more efficient and less intrusive. Symantec is a blight on any computer it comes into contact with.
Download and install Service Pack 2. Then install Ad Aware and Spybot. Run both one after the other, to remove most of the spyware on your system. Then download and install AVG Personal Edition. Remove Symantec.
Atleast, this was what I was suggested to do, when I too experienced the same problems in my otherwise-smooth PC. It worked for me!
A disk optimization program (aka Crap Cleaner) may be worth a try. I used something similar and it did seem to help.
http://www.ccleaner.com
Also run ad-a-ware to make sure you don't have tracking cookies or some other spyware slowing you down. I run two spyware programs every day because I found the program I bought and installed does not catch certain things that Ad-a-ware does.
My guess is that you need to look at your startup programs, the number of memory resident processes actually running after startup, and also get a good program to maintain your regsitry file. Registry Mechanic or RegCure are both good.
Maintaining a healthy registry file and cleaning out unessential processes is as important as virus, spyware, and hijacking protection, and almost as important as having enough memory and the amount of processing you have. The things I have talked about here drag down what you have and so you need to make sure they are looked at.
There are several things that can cause this.
First, I'd check your hardware...How much RAM do you have? For Windows XP, 1 gig is good, 2 gigs is better, and 512 megs of RAM is simply inadequate. How full is your hard disk drive? In general, hard disks start slowing down when they are about 50% full and really cause a slowdown when they are 80% full.
Then, check the software: clear out your browser cache, uninstall any unused or un-needed programs, run both Spybot and Adaware to scan your system for mal/spywre, and make sure that you have an updated copy of Norton Antivirus running.
From your Start menu, choosen run and enter "msconfig" to see what Windows is loading when it starts.
Finally, if you're recently installed Internet Explorer 7, this tends to slow down Windows XP.
Run disk cleanup and defragmenter.
...and most importantly, next time you buy a computer, make sure it's a Macintosh.
Relativity effects.
It's actually no slower than before, but with the computer exhibiting all that zippiness, you end up aging more than it does. (See Twin Paradox)
Running Linux here....don't have these problems....
Norton certainly is bloatware. It can also be difficult to uninstall. In fact, Symantec offers a removal tool, to help people get the crap off their systems.
This is often used after "un-installing" via Add/Remove program. (E.G. Add/Remove > reboot > use Symantec tool > reboot > install AVG or Avast!).
Good luck.