I'm currently running a Compaq, Intel Celeron CPU with 1200 MHz, 256 MB RAM. I've had this computer for about a year now, but after a while, even with extensive maintenance,the quality of it's performance starts to suck until you can click on things from the desktop and they refuse to run, you get constant errors, whatever.

I constantly run AV software, have a personal firewall, they are configured properly, I don't think that's the problem. I do disk cleanups and defrags routinely, but after some time, things just don't want to work anymore. I try to limit the amount of data I store on the computer by saving as much little stuff as I can to floppy or CD. I thought it may have been too much embedded information in my computer, something like that, and downloaded Evidence Eliminator to clean any junk floating around in my computer. I've tweaked my startup resources so that there aren't too many things running, I don't know what the problem can be, but it eventually gets to the point where I have to completely restore the computer back to factory settings, and I'm getting tired of doing this just to have a computer that works. There has to be something that I'm doing wrong, but I can't for the life of me figure it out. It just gets extremely slow after a while, programs don't want to run...etc. Any ideas? If you need anymore information, feel free to ask.

Thanks in advance.

EDIT: I also want to add that I'm using Windows XP Home Edition, if that makes any difference. And when I uninstall anything, I'm sure to use the add/delete programs and I go through and clean up any fragments left over manually if I have to, and the Evidence Eliminator worked great to rid my computer of any additional fragments, very old old deleted files, and other various junk. I'm getting worried, because it's about due to happen again, almost as if my computer is on some kind of timer to get slow again and I'll have to start all over. I've partitioned my harddrive and am also running the newest version of RH, sort of a learning thing as I learn to program and such. I'm afraid that everything will be lost. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!