Hey everyone,

Recently I have noticed my computer acting slower than usual, so I decided to defrag, check for spyware, etc. But my system is still running on the sluggish side, and I'm not sure why. Programs are loading really slow, then they work smoothly but sort of freeze. Maybe is my RAM going or something? Any help is appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

or you have spyware.

http://spybot.info

Well im not sure if this is an option for you but what I do is have all my main things I want on an external Hard Drive, 2nd hard drive will work as well. and then I just zap my comp about once a month. So I keep everything I like to have like music files ect.. But still 
keep my comp at top performance.

I agree with hierholzer. I don't format once a month, more like once or twice a year, but an external will definitely save you time (and possibly data...as I've forgotten to backup stuff before onto a CD) in the event that you do have to format.

I did, however, accidentally format my external instead of my internal one time when attempting to reinstall Windows. This method is, obviously, not full proof. =)

[quote author=Mangix link=topic=12213.msg120710#msg120710 date=1121368571]
or you have spyware.

http://spybot.info
[/quote]

[quote author=Mitosis link=topic=12213.msg120686#msg120686 date=1121355457]

Recently I have noticed my computer acting slower than usual, so I decided to defrag, check for spyware, etc.[/quote]

Yeah, formatting a couple times a year, or when performance starts to suck, is usually a good idea. 

I got 3 years without formatting with this computer :).