Computer is really slow
I'm not exactly sure when exactly it started happening, but my computer now is extremely slow.
Originally, I have been using this computer for all sorts of stuff: Photoshop, web design/development, movies and even some light (Warcraft 3) gaming. I have been running it with Windows XP
But now it is very, very slow, and I don't know how, why or when this happened. After I noticed the slowness, I removed Windows XP and installed Windows 7 on it, but it is still very slow. Now watching videos is unbearable at full screen (slow frame rates, audio out of sync) and painful when made smaller.
Why would this happen? What would cause this? I am starting to think it is a hardware problem (the CPU has died or something), but I don't even know if that is possible.
The PC is running with 1GB of RAM, three hard drives (all up, something like 400 GB) and I think a 1.6GHz processor
Solution 1:
Checking the CPU temperatures is a good idea (RealTemp).
Don't forget the other common factor, harddisk state (HDTune).
And, yes (Ivo) graphics should also be checked (FurMark)
Alternatively, try running a USB Booting Ubuntu for a while...
PS: since you do not declare mysterious stalls and crashes,
I am ruling out memory problems for now.
Solution 2:
CPUs are fairly robust. In my years of servicing laptops I have had only one where I had to change the CPU. The typical symptom of a faulty CPU (information handed down from my boss) is that the computer will simply fail to POST.
Most CPUs slow right down when they get too hot. It could mean that the heat is not dissipating efficiently enough from the CPU to the heatsink, and it may require a reapplication of thermal conductivity grease or a new fan (or simply a clean).
If your hard drives are faulty it may take a long time to swap from memory to the hard drive. If the hard drive is faulty it will usually show up in the SMART log (self-monitoring analysis and reporting technology) which all modern hard drives have. If your hard drive has a bad sector, it will automatically mark it as bad and remap it to an available backup sector, but this is usually a sign that your hard drive has had it. The SMART logs will show this as "reallocated sector count", but also if your hard drives show big numbers for read or write errors, then it means your hard drive has had it.
Solution 3:
Have you tried cleaning out any grills/other vent outlets? When collected dust clogs up fans and grills your components (mainly CPU & GPU) will overheat and run at a lower pace.
Just power down your pc and carefully vacuum any grills/brush any fans.