computer runs very slow

[fmtvthank]

MY COMPUTER IS RUNNING VERY SLOW. CAN YOU HELP ME THROUGH THE PROCESS OF CLEANING IT UP,SO IT WILL RUN LIKE NEW?

[mdklassen]

Measure, measure, measure.

While the system is running, press CTRL-ALT-DELETE, and start the Windows "Task Manager".

Switch to the "Performance" tab.

How much RAM is installed?  How much is "busy"? How much is "free" ?

How many CPUs?  What percentage "busy" is it?

Switch to the "Processes" tab.

Click on the 'CPU' column-heading, to list the active processes in order.

If you see a tiny "pointing-up" triangle about the text 'CPU', click again, to make it a "pointing-down" triangle.

Now, the processes that are using the largest share of the CPU are at the top of the list.

Tell us the "top-five" processes, and what percentage they are using.