Hi. Just recently my computer has been running unusually slowly and i really dont know where to start to resolve this. By 'running slowly' i mean everything is taking ages to respond, internet is slow, buffering really slow and prone to frequent crashes where im having to turn off without shutting down. Really frustating, hope someone can point me in the right direction! Thanks.

Have you run a virus/spyware/malware scan? Spyware and virus' can slow down your computer quite a bit. If you dont have AntiVirus software I recommend AVG Anti-Virus, its what I personally use. You can download it here http://free.grisoft.com/softw/70free...e_467a1008.exe. Or just run your own personal anti-virus software if you have it. Also run a disk cleanup and disk defrag. To do those go to Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Cleanup/Disk Defrag. Good luck.

I've done all the scans but the problem still persists. When i'm online evrything is mega slow to respond and frequently just doesn't respond at all - everything freezes and i cant even shut down or restart properly when this happens. Sorry i cant give more info about the problem as i really havent a clue why its happening. It has only started happening in the past week.

Have you tried running a registry scan? That can help dramatically, heres the link to good and free one that I use, it's called Abexo Free Registry Cleaner. Abexo Free Registry Cleaner - Free Software Downloads and Software Reviews - Download.com

Thanks for your help. Have downloaded and ran the registry cleaner not quite sure what to do now though - do i delete all the results from registry cleanup?

what is your system setup? CPU, etc. I reccomend opening the case, and cleaging the dust out of the heatsyncs and fans. if you have a pentium 4, and it is overeheating, it will underclock itself. if not... try running the degragmenter. this should help also