I bought my laptop a year ago, and back then it was pretty fast. Not quite good enough to play modern games at their highest graphics settings (not enough RAM), but good enough for the basics (web use, programming etc).
It has 2.6GHz processor, 256 MB RAM (64 MB shared with Graphics card), 40GB partitioned hard drive, WinXP SP2.
Since then, it has slowly deteriorated. Older games such as counterstrike seem to be getting choppier, and basic stuff like loading menus or internet explorer windows is taking longer (often 2-3 seconds to open a menu). I frequently run SpybotSD, adaware, and AVG virusscanner, so doubt it is due to worms or spyware. I also defragment (though it doesn't seem to do a very good job) often.
I was wondering how to fix this problem. In about a month, I intend to reformat it and reinstall windows. Will this fix the problem? Does partitioning help in any way (my computer came partitioned)? What can I do to prevent this deterioration from happening again?
Computer getting sluggish
It will probably fix the problem... but then, in a year or so, it would probably just happen again. Have you tried fixing your registry? Sometimes helpes just an itty-bit. This program does it, and also deletes internet history and crap. www.ccleaner.com - You never know...