long wait after mouse click

Why does my PC take 10-20 seconds after a right mouse click for the menu to appear, and also same for dialogue box to appear when delete key is pressed to delete a file???
I know it is getting old and may need replaced soon, but is there anyways to speed these up?

 

The most obvious that comes immediately to mind is the PC is full of junk and that is slowing it to a crawl.

If you run Ccleaner and let it clean all it finds then let it clean the registry it may help.

http://majorgeeks.com/CCleaner_Slim_No_Yahoo_Toolbar_English_d4191.html

 

That and the fact that you have 512 MB of RAM. Not exactly a lot of memory to work with.

Probably run Disk Cleanup in Windows and also look at defragging your HD.

 

I actually have 960 RAM, but haven't been able to update my sig for years as they disagree with them here now, even though I suggested that allow an initial one to show PC spec. on first post where necessary - a great idea, but binned as usual!

Have ccleaner, will try it, and also a defrag, thanks.

 

And Startupcpl, from HERE works good for managing the XP startup programs.

Disable itunes, adobe, quicktime and just about anything else, except your antivirus. Do a few at a time, then time how long a full reboot takes, should see improvement fast.

 

Cleanup/disable some items from your right click menu, using this http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/shexview.html
note the right click is slow. This will solve that problem, usually.