Why is my computer so slow?

  This could be from one of many reasons, from spyware to standard maintenance.   For now, I will give you a few things to try.

• If you have had you computer for a while (2-4 years), it is probably time to defragment the hard drive.  This is not difficult, but could take some time, so it is best to start this just before bed, or at the end of the work day.  
• Click Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk Defragmenter.   Click Analyze at the bottom left and let it take a look at the hard drive.  If it comes up with a lot of red, click defragment, and come back in a couple of hours when it is complete
  
• Memory - If you have added quite a few programs, your computer is probably memory starved.  To check this, do a Ctrl-Alt-Delete ( Press and hold down the Ctrl key and the Alt key with your left hand, then press the Del key with your right) Click Task Manager, then click the Performance tab.  Under the Physical Memory section, check the Total and the Available.  The available should be at least 20% of the total, or your computer does not have enough memory, and it will be using the hard drive as "swap" memory, slowing it down to a crawl.

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