Computer Slight lag

Hey, i posted recently in the malware removal forums as my pc had begun to slow down and i wasnt sure wether the problem was malware or software related. I decided to reformat which annoyed me and then shortly after i did that i experienced a problem with adobe reader when viewing websites as i had been tinkering about installing programs i rushed to conclusions thinking id installed a dodgy program so i panicked and tryed system restore to solve my problem which i now regret as it failed to load when my pc booted up so i had to shut it down i am a fool sometimes. After it loaded again my pc had several error messages including a problem with help and support which was failing to load. So i decided i would repair my windows installation which i did from my recovery disc at this time it was approaching 10:30 over here so i had to vacate my downstairs pc so i had no choice but to shut down the pc whilst it was in the process of repairing. The next day i thought id attempt to continue where i left off and to cut a long story short i had to reformat again as xp wouldnt load. My problem is now my pc is up and running again ive noticed a performance drop ie xp hangs when im moving through programs/closing programs so i decided to perform your basic matienance guide but im unsure wether this was neccessary due to me reformatting only several days ago. I apologise for this long essay and was wondering if any of you have any spare time to help me out with this i really would appreciate it its not massively lagging but it is noticeable and annoying in general usage of my pc.

Thanks people and any help is really appreciated

 

have you made sure that all of the proper drivers are installed?

 

The only ones i had to install were the graphics and sound card/ usb controller and printer all of the others were installed automatically.

 

Hmm, only other thing I can think of is chipset drivers. Were those installed automatically before when your system was faster? Just because generic drivers were installed, it does not mean that the best were installed. Maybe check your system maker's site?

 

Hey, im just going to check the manufacturers sight is this the driver for the motherboard? i think this is the only hardware driver you need to update as there is no such thing as a processor driver ive heard. I will report back with the results :major thanks for your help so far guys.

 

Have you defragged recently? Also run Sysinternals defragger from Microsoft - this could be a damaged pagefile. Link: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897426.aspx