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All of us have gotten frustrated at some point and thought, "Why is this computer so slow?" But most people never take the time to try and answer that question. Listed below are some common (and not so common) problems that may be causing your computer to act sluggish, as well as the fixes that will hopefully have you computing at top speed in no time. All of the suggested solutions are for Windows XP, because that's probably the operating system most of you are using, but applying them to an older version of Windows (or Vista) should only be a matter of finding the comparable commands.

- A fragmented hard drive

Your computer stores all of your permanent data (documents, music, videos, pictures, etc.) on your hard drive. Through the process of deleting files and saving new files, the data eventually gets fragmented or broken up. When your computer tries to access fragmented files, it takes a little longer because it has to piece the file back together in order to load it.

Defragmenting the hard drive is one of the easiest fixes you can do. In Windows XP, simply click on Start Menu > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter. Select the volume you wish to defragment (this will usually be the C: drive) and choose "Analyze" for Windows to determine if the disk needs to be defragmented. If you haven't run the defragmenter in the past month or so, chances are it will need to be defragmented. Click "Defragment" and let Windows do the rest. Defragmenting can take a while, so run it at a time when you plan to be away from the computer. Any programs you open while the defragmenter is running could cause it to start over again halfway through.

- Startup programs

Windows keeps a list of all the programs it's supposed to load every time it boots up. These programs are called startup programs, and many of them are probably programs you're unaware of. To access the list of startup programs in Windows XP, click on Start Menu > Run, and type in "msconfig." Once you hit Enter, Windows will launch the System Configuration Utility. Go to the Startup tab and take a look at that long list. Each of those files is a program that Windows loads every time you turn on your computer. Many of them are system files that are necessary for the operating system to run, but I'd be willing to bet there are at least a few unnecessary programs you could remove from this list (by unchecking them). The less files on this list, the less time it will take Windows to

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