Why Is My Computer Running Slow

I have one-year-old Toshiba laptop with over 25 GB of free space. I have scanned the computer with two different anit-virus programs (checking for viruses, ad-ware, and spyware. I defragmented the hard drive about three weeks ago. I have a high speed cable internet.

Any ideas on why my computer is still very slow to load programs? The only thing that I can think of that changed about the time that the computer begin slowing down is that I downloaded the URGE updage for Widows Media Player. Has anyone else had similar problems with this update? If so, how do I get rid of URGE and go back to my originial Windows Media Player?

Thanks.
Processor: Intel (R), Celeron (R) M,
1.5 GHz
248 MB of Ram

I do have about six or seven icons next to the clock so I will go through those.

The computer did not used to be this slow. It’s still not extremely slow when it boots up. It is mainly when programs are starting up and occasionally when they are loading while already in progress.

i dont care about any other viruses other then the ones that will slow your computer down and are untracable. what are some top sites.