well, this could be multiple things, and I'm going to list the ones I think it could be in no specific order:
1) virus
2) spyware and adware
3) too many running processes
4) not erasing your temporary files much at all
5) Using up most of your disk space (as in, not having much free MB)
6) Hackers using your connection to speed up theirs.
7) Not defragmenting your computer
How to solve these problems:
1) If you don't have a respected anti-virus program, get one. Not something like Avast 4, but something a little more esteemed just to be safe. Something like
www.grisoft.com 's AVG. Or, if you're willing to pay a little cash for a little better quality, buy Norton or Mcafee anti-virus software
2) This is usually common, most people I know have a bunch of adware and spyware and don't know anything about it. If you don't already have something to deal with this, I suggest downloading "Spybot: search and destroy", or Lavasoft's "ad-aware", and if you want, you can use both in conjunction. When I first got these, I hadn't surfed the web that much at all, and I had a ton of spyware and adware already!
3) This actually seems to fit your predicament. Go to control panel. Open administrative tools. Click services. If you have more then 40-50 programs running, then that's about 8-22 too much. Now I'm sure you're thinking "40 programs at one time? what's he talking about?" I'm talking about things which are working background wise. Like firewall, virus-scanning, update searching, remote access, and most things involving connection to others through the internet. You can also immediately see how many programs you have running by using CTRL + ALT + DELETE and clicking the processes tab, the amount of current programs running will be at the bottom, as long as CPU usage, if it's above 25% at any time, you DEFINITELY need to stop some running processes.
4) These things can really build up on your computer if you don't know about them. First, go to internet explorer, click the tools tab, click "internet options" on the drop down menu. A box will pop up. Click "delete cookies" in the temporary internet files section, and then "delete files" in the same section. When you click delete files, it will ask if you also want to delete off line temporary internet files, do so. That's the first step. Go to the start menu. Go to programs. Click "accesories". Click "system tools". Click "disk cleanup" and when it's done calculating possibly unnesecary files, only check the "temporary internet files" box, and the "WebClient" files. Then click ok.
5) Go into my computer. Check the properties of your C drive. if your used disk space is about 80-90% or more, then you need to get rid of some programs and files. Because you have way too much. That would definitely be the cause of your problem if you have 80-90% or more of your hard drive memory used up. Things you can do: A] Delete some files, and unistall some progams. B] on the properties menu of C: check the "compress drive to save disk space" button, click apply and select the button "apply to this folder, all subfolders, and files in them." and press ok.
6) Get a firewall program, I suggest Zone Alarm if you don't want to spend money. For money you can get the Norton and Mcafee ones. This way you can control what goes in to and out of your computer.
7)If you've never done this before, you'll definitely notice the difference after you're done. Go to start, click "all programs", click "accesories", click "system tools", click "defragment". Make sure you don't have any thing going on in the background, like opening, editing, and closing files, or internet activity. Click "defragment"
If there are more then one of these you haven't done, do all of them. Delete temporary internet files and defragment every week, maybe 2 weeks. And scan with your virus and spyware/adware programs often. After you've done a total check-up and cleaning with all these programs, shut down your computer. Then start back up. Just so it can get everything in good order.
Hope this helped
