Why could my system be so slow?

[rhythmcrazy]

Whenever I open anything, whether it is my browser (Opera), email program (Thunderbird), an Ms Word document or Excel workbook, or even Windows Paint (Start/All Programs/Accessories/Paint) - it tells me "Not responding" and then I have to wait several minutes before I can carry on working. Do I have too many applications running at once? I didn't think so. I have enough RAM and also enough hard drive space, to my opinion.

I listed the applications, the startup items, the background programs, as well as specs and other info about my netbook below.

Here goes:-

Netbook: Samsung N150 Plus

Specifications:

HDD's: C (37.8 GB free of 84.9 GB)
D (117 GB free of 127 GB)
OS: Windows 7 Starter 32-bit SP1
PROCESSOR: Intel Atom CPU N450 @1.66GHz 1.67 GHz
RAM: 1GB

Startup items:

Realtek HD Audio Manager
ELAN Smart Pad
Canon Printer
Adobe Reader and Acrobat Manager
Kaspersky Anti Virus

Open applications during a typical computer/internet session:

Mozilla Thunderbird (email client)
Opera Mobile (browser, resides on D-drive)
Microsoft Word (1 or 2 docs at a time)
Microsoft Excel (1 workbook at a time)
MTN FastLink Modem (for internet)
PopMan (email notifier)

Programs usually running in background:

Kaspersky Anti Virus
Canon Printer
Windows Explorer
Power manager (battery status)
Networks
Speakers
Clock (Time & Date)
Graphics Driver
Samsung Recovery Solution
ETD Control Center (pointing device)
Realtek HD Audio Manager
Action Center
Media Player
Windows Update

Does anyone have a clue what is happening? I hope so - I spend my time waiting for everything to "respond" instead of being able to get on with my work whenever I use the netbook! Thank you.

[rhythmcrazy]

I defragged yesterday after writing my previous post. Drives C and D were only about 10% fragmented. I also ran a scan with Malwarebytes and the scan found no malware. The netbook remains slow, tho. I'll have to think about upgrading the RAM and processor, like some of you suggested.

[trapti11]

Hello,
There may me a lot of reasons for slow working of your PC. The following may be the reasons you can check out for :-
1. May be it is running to long without any reboot.
2. Not have enough hard drive space.
3. Hard drive corrupted or fragmented.
4. To many background programs.
5. Viruses in the system.
6. Different versions of different software computers may be out of date or not compatible with system configurations.
7. Processor overheating.
8. Memory upgrade requirement.
9. Hardware failure.