Simply open task mgr and see whats running,if in dought about the service
or program,write it down,then run search in my computer to see what it
is.

1. Clean out your cache (IE -> Internet Options -> Temp Int Files ->
Delete Files (incl Offline Content)

2. Disk cleanup (2xclick My Computer -> rt click C drive -> Properties
-> Disk Cleanup, tick *EVERYTHING*, and OK

2a. What programs are set to start up when you turn on? Do you really
need them all running in the background, sucking up resources. Start
-> Run -> msconfig <Enter> -> Startup .. which ones can you untick.
Also check what's in your Startup folder in Start -> Programs. Google
search the ones your unsure of.

3. Compact your email files (procedure varies between OE and Outlook)

4. Run Diskcheck (Tools options in above C drive process) - needs
reboot to complete

5. Run Defragmenation (Tools optios in above C process) - be prepared,
if you haven't done it for a while, it will take hours (e.g. leave it
running overnight). No other activity on computer while it's happening

(Additional reco : When Norton AV expires, *DON'T* renew it - well
documented history of conflicts betwen NAV and XP. Many problems have
been solved after ppl remove NAV from an XP machine! NAV is a resource
(CPU and RAM) hogger, leaving little resources for other software,
consequently your computer will have to work its guts out to do just
the simplest task, like load up.

Ed

An observation. I am not clear whether you have two partitions on one
hard drive or two hard drives. If you only have only one hard drive
place the pagefile on the second partition is contrary to recommended
practice.
http://aumha.org/a/parts.htm

Task Manager is useful but you could look at another freeware utility
Process Explorer, which provides similar information but adds that
little bit extra towards seeing what the running processes represent.

For further information about Process Explorer see here:

http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/freeware/procexp.shtml