slow compputer - no malware found

My girlfirend is having issues with her computer . She has an old computer that was pieced together by a friend of hers some years ago . It has an older Duron processor, and (only) 118 megs RAM. Until the last week or so, the computer worked just fine for what she uses it for - web surfing, e-mail, simple games, text files - nothing that really requires any heavy-duty processing . Over the last couple of weeks, the computer began running EVERYTHING horribly, PAINFULLY slow . I ran the entire "read and run first" tutorial from the malware forum here (which i have done many times on various other computers) and did not turn up a single TRACE of malware . I did all the scans, updated some of the software, removed unnecessary programs, etc. etc. The computer still runs terribly slow. I suspect that a complete reformat and full system restore is in order. Before doing this, i would like to get the opinion of the pros here on MG as to what else i might try before doing a complete restore .

Also, if i wind up having to do the format/restore, i would like to know exactly HOW this could be done on that computer. There is no restore partition, and because the computer was not a commercial/retail package, we dont have restore disks.
Her computer has been runninig XP . I do have the restore disks from MY computer which was purchased in 2004 (much newer than hers) - it is also an AMD processor, but an Athlon instead of the Duron she has . I was wondering if i could use the restore disks that came with MY computer, but am concerned that the CPU driver (and other drivers) would not be compatible .

How should i go about conducting a succesful format/restore in this situation ?
:confused

 

Did you defrag?

 

See what process are running in the background. Also check your start-ups.

"startup inspector" is a good place to start. They may have that program here or google it. Its easy enough to find.

 

The computer was purchased for $300 in either 1991 or 1992 . It had NEVER been cleaned internally, so i open the case and cleaned it out with a can of compressed air . It was very dirty inside . The original C: drive is only a 10 gig, with a second internal 40 gig in the F: slot . Windows is resident on C: .There is just under 500mb free on C: drive, so windows dfefrag would not run. I used IObit to defrag, and killed about 20 or so unecessary services using "administrative tools" . Startups have been reduced to bare minimum using msconfig (although i understand that msconfig is not a proper long-term solution) . The computer seems to be running better .
Btw - the computer has 256mb ram - i have no idea where i came up with '118' in the original post .
It still runs slow, compared to my computer, but if my GF is happy with it, so am i .
I have researched reinstalling windows, and it seems like a complicated affair, since i have no disk resource for restore/recovery .
I still welcome any advice on (free) steps i can take to enhance performance.

 

Have you given CCleaner a go?

http://www.ccleaner.com/

 

While I agree with with the back up I with all due respect do not agree with acronis. That software has failed me time and time again. The only one I use is nortons ghost 2003. Never failed me once. Goodness knows It has saved my behind more times than not.

No more expensive than harddrives and ram are, maybe a nice surpirse would be some ram and a new harddrive. They are both super cheep. I just bought a 250 gig harddrive at wallmart for 60 bucks.

 

Yeh she really doesnt want to spend any money on it .
I would personally rather see her just buy a new computer than spend any on this old one. Yes, she does use CCLeaner .
If i do the HD switch, the computer will then boot from F: ?

 

Yeah, thats probably the best thing to do . .