Could be you have tons of spyware bogging down your computer, too. Let it run during the day or overnight until it has completed (spyware and virus check).
Also, a cheapest way to upgrade and increase performance is to add more memory.
Also, run disk defragmeter under: start...programs...accessories...system tools...Disk Defragmenter.
This takes a while too but will speed up your system if you haven't run it for a while.
Good luck.
Thanks for the tips. I'll run that defragmeter now, and talk to hubby about more memory. Of course, when I talk about more memory, I'll be setting myself up for a wise-crack from him....the joker.