speeding up an existing PC

[CBFalconer]

If something is consuming the ram then adding more ram wll just
delay the problem slightly.

I thought there might be something of interest in all this so I
untangled the foul top/bottom-posting to make it readable.

If you run Programs/accessories/system tools/system monitor and
leave it operating in a corner, you can set it to watch the things
of interest, such as ram and virtual memory in use. You should see
the memory in use (or available) go up and down as you launch and
kill things. On W98 at any rate. That may give you clues as to
leaking memory.