Thanks, I'll write that down too. I'm making a list of things that are being suggested for me to do. I will follow them to the letter.
"Also .. Whenever I delete or add any software - I always run defrag. I've found it makes the transition to new software much easier and less problematic. After I delete the software - I run defrag - then after I reinstall the software - I run defrag."
In addition to that, the later versions of Windows disk cleanup are more powerful than they used to be, and do a pretty good job of ditching junk that can slow the system and hide malware. Ccleaner ( google it ) is more powerful, but be warned, its default clean will get your cookies, so don't run it before unchecking that entry in the options.
Windows registry is notorious for bogging down the system with extraneous entries... there are several registry cleaners that I have used, regseeker ( google again ) my current favorite, but again be warned- if you goof the registry you may have to reinstall everything.
Sometimes it is faster and easier to reformat the drive and reinstall everything.