Need help with Ned's computer. Is is S - L - O - W

I ned help with fixing Ned's computer & I'm not a guru by any sense of the word.

He has a XP Compaq Presario & the C: Drive has a capacity of 32G. 22.5G is used (On what I have no idea) with 9.5G available & needless to say it runs extremely slow.

When I click on an icon such as "my computer, it takes 30 seconds to a minute to pop-up. It's also very slow when I right click on an icon in the task bar.

Right clicking to do a "copy" so I can paste is even very slow.

I've removed a few unnecessary programs, ran aAAware, did a disk clean & ran the defragmenter twice. Currently I'm compressing old files via "Disk Cleanup".

I've even ran msconfig & turned all the "startup" icons off & rebooted. It runs a little faster that way, but nothing like a XP should.

Any ideas how I can make it run normal again? I do not want to perform a system restore if I can help it.

Any ideas of what could be using all the disk space up? He doesn't have Norton system works or any big hog like that or any other antivirus programs.

[size=14pt]Any help would be appreciated [/size] & please make it in laymans terms as I've said before, I'm not a computer "guru" but have some knowledge & can work my way around.

Any good "freeware" out there that will trouble-shoot windows, find & fix problems like Norton System Works does.
Where can I find it if there is one? Perhaps Majorgeeks.com?

I'm guessing he may have some registry problems also.

We'll post more once I can get his PC in a more normal operating condition. Right now it takes forever to do the most simplest of tasks.

tomorrw maybe I can remote in and take a peek.

Not sure, you could try hijack this:

http://www.majorgeeks.com/download3155.html

singer, I use reg cleaner to clean up the registry. Get it here: http://www.majorgeeks.com/download460.html

careful with automate reg cleaners...

I only use it to remove things I know are from programs no longer on my computer.

I finally got my computer going again by the way. Had a trojan! I have SpyDoctor, Norton Internet Security, and one slipped through! SpyBot Search and Destroy has been re-installed! I never have trouble with it running! ;D

Hang what Norton says!

try a virus scan. this is free and works for me. it always finds stuff.

http://www.pandasoftware.com/products/activescan.htm

i use spybot search and destroy for spyware and it does wonders.

My limited IT understanding makes me think the computer is loaded up with adware/spyware, etc.
Listen to Webby, it's his line of work.

Tell him to quit surfing the PORN sites!!!!
LOL