Just a little advice
Hi, some of you who have had Windows running on your systems for a while and notice degraded performance may find this useful.
As a tech support rep, first thing we do is "Clean Boot" the computer...it is actually really, really simple and can solve 50% of the problems right off the bat. (this is not a full clean boot, but hey, it is close enough)
Click START go to RUN and type "MSCONFIG" then click OK. You will get a tool called the SYSTEM CONFIGURATION UTILITY. You can use this little jewel to limit what opens automatically when Windows boots up. First, on the general tab just click SELECTIVE STARTUP and then uncheck LOAD STARTUP GROUP ITEMS and then click APPLY and OK. The computer will want to reboot, say YES. The system will come up looking and acting a little differently, but don't fret, you haven't done anything permanent. All you have done is shut down all the non-windows applications that run in the background (firewall, anti-virus, printer software, spyware and even some virus files). You can always select NORMAL STARTUP and that will check everything you may have unchecked.
Use the computer for a while, if the computer performs better, go back into START->RUN->MSCONFIG and click on the STARTUP tab. You will see a list of weird acronyms with check boxes. Recheck the following and you will have those Windows needs: System Tray, Load Power Profile (2 of these), Scan Registry, Task Manager...that is all I can think of right now. Reboot and those items will come on. See how the computer performs, then go back in and under STARTUP try checking a few others, reboot and see how things work. If you don't like what your computer does, uncheck the ones you checked last and go online and find out what they are...if it is something you don't want, leave it unchecked. You won't hurt Windows this way, and you can safely disable software.
If you notice something isn't working (Cable Modem, Printer, some other software) chances are it is one of the things you unchecked.
Anyway, takes a lot of reboots, but it really will help keep software and spyware from robbing all of your system resources.
***Another helpful tip for those still reading, go into DEVICE MANAGER and make a list of what you have listed under every heading (except System, you will never want to mess with them unless you are really sure you know what you are doing). After you have the list, boot to SAFE MODE and go into DEVICE MANAGER and check for ghost devices (stuff that shows up in Safe Mode but not Normal Mode). These are devices that are no longer attached to the system, devices that didn't install correctly or just wacky things the computer installed when it was on some power trip. Anything that shows up in Safe Mode and not Normal Mode isn't really installed and running, but still uses resources. Remove these from the list, then reboot. If you get a New Hardware Wizard pop up, what you removed was actually a real device in your system and needed reinstalled.
Anyway, I hope this helps out a little. Lots of reading, I apologize.
Check under C:\Windows\tempoary internet files" too - that's where my "The-gauge.com" cookie always is, no matter when I was on last - it stays there.