Fresh XP install running slow....what gives?

Hi all, I was unable to recover from my last infection and ended up doing a complete system recovery using the supplied restore disc that came with my computer. Now almost everything my computer does is slow, especially web browsing.

XP SP3 with all the updates. I've got far less software loaded then I did before, but the main differences in my setup are:

I'm running IE explorer 8(was using 6 before), using AdAware free(used Spybot before, but things were slow before I installed it) and am running Panda Antivirus Pro 2010.

Could someone recommend a starting point in finding out whats going on?

 

What type of system?
What type of connection?
Have you updated your drivers?
Have you checked your Start-up list for unneeded programs?
Usually a GOOD defrag is needed after a re-install or restore operation.

 

The problem seems to be tied to Internet Explorer 8. Whenever things look really sluggish, task manager shows multiple IE processes running even it I have no browser open.....gonna try to roll it back to see what happens. I don't care for it anyway, most sites I visit need to be run in compatibility mode.

 

Whenever I install IE8, I always choose the custom install and then say no or decline all features that are offered, you can always turn one or more of them on later if you want.
Say no to everything and I have had 100% success with IE8, and I've seen a lot of problems with the standard install.