Computer freezes every single time I try to do something

I don't know what else to say that isn't in the subject. Trying to do anything at all, even just clicking on the start menu, causes the computer to lock up for like 15 seconds. I've tried doing anti-virus and spyware scans already and neither of them did the job, and I checked task manager and everything seems to be working fine.

Am I going to have to system restore, or is there a way to get out of this?

 

That sounds like a badly fragmented hdd.. Try a disk cleanup and defrag (drive-properties-tools)

 

It sounds like the rest of my family is saying that it's better now, though I'll still do what you suggested in case it acts up again.

 

Would that really cause that much lag

That is crazy!!!

 

Depends how full of junk and fragmented the drive is.. OP didn't give any system specs.. If it's a 400MHz p3 with 128 ram those times are quite normal and a better OS should be investigated

It's always my first procedure with any windows machine which seems on the slow side before investigating other well known hog processes.

 

Thanks for that bit of info, I never knew

I defrag all drives in my house frequently, and sometimes get a bollocking from my dad because he thinks I'm messing with his laptop ,and does help keep a pc running smoothly

 

I lied! It's working terrible again, so I'm open to suggestions.

I'm really stupid with computers in regards to anything that isn't browsing the internet or listening to music, basically, so I didn't think of posting my specs. Here they are;

- Intel Penium 4 CPU 2.50GHz
- 504 RAM

Is that good/bad? Should I give more info?

Plus I don't know if this is a related problem, but my clicks aren't recorded half the time. I don't think it's my mouse.

 

Did you defagment the drive, like varnull said??

 

Yes

 

Not too sure,
Which anti-virus/spyware programs did you use when you scanned your pc??
Were they fully updated

 

I suggest that you backup all your files and format your hard drive following a clean install of windows xp.

 

But make sure you have all drivers that you will need beforehand, for your GPU, mobo etc.

 

I didn't want to have to do that but I guess I will.

To the guy who asked, I used Avira Anti-Virus and Ad-Aware.

 

The format should do the trick, but as I said above make sure you have all the drivers you will need for all your hardware

 

Very true.Make sure that you safely store all your drivers.