All applications / software take 2-3 minutes to start and during this time slow down the PC.?

e.g. when I start Internet Explorer or MSN or Googletalk or MS Office or any other application, it takes 2 to 3 minutes to start and during this time it also slows down the system. Once these applications start the there is no problem. I can even have several applications running simulteneously without any problem.

I feel memory is not a constraint as I have not added any new applications. This problem has started only recently.

I have run chkdsk, chkdsk /f, defragmentation, anti-spyware/adware, full system scan through NAV2006, disk cleanup, deleted all temporary files through Internet Explorer Options, etc. but the problem continues.

I would appreciate recommendations to resolve the problem, before I reformat the disk and load all my stuff again.

There are some softwares you can download to speed up your computer.
First,You should Fix Corruption and Errors within your registry.The registry is a main part of your computer's Operating System. With time, as you use Windows and install and uninstall programs, your registry will get congested and full of errors. So your computer could slow down. So, if you can clean it up this problem can be solved.Sometimes you can speed computer up by 300%. To clean up registry,You can download a software called regsitry cleaner---Clean registry,remnant,corrupt files and temp files,history,cookies,etc.. This site:
http://computer-speed.info
lists top 5 registry cleaner,you can download and scan for free.
Second,Get rid of spyware/adware in your computer.spyware/adware hamper your computer's performance.It use system resources and slow your computer down.

So, to speed up your slow computer, use a registry cleaner software and clean your registry files first. It will make all the difference, and provide you with the immediate fix you need for your slow computer.Then,download a good anti-spyware to get rid of spyware/adware in your computer.

You may have aps running in the background that you don't need that are taking up resources. Look in Task Manager to see what is running that you can turn off. Also look in services: Start>> Run >> msconfig, Services tab & Start Up tab.

Is your hard drive getting too full? This will slow down response time.

Do you have a ton of restore points? They can take up alot of space after awhile. You only need one good restore point, you can remove the others.

If those steps don't give improvement, then you need more RAM. It's fairly cheap nowadays & will give you a big boost in speed

IObit SmartDefrag is a smart tool to maintain your system performance, speed and stability for no cost at all."it works!
http://www.iobit.com/iobitsmartdefrag.ht...