Computer Slow to open windows (even offline)

I have noticed this getting worse over the past month or so. I ran anti-virus and spy ware programs and found nothing. I found a link to help turn off some of the services that run. After I did that (didn't make a back-up or restore point) it didn't help and has either contributed to the issue or it has just gotten worse on it's own.

I blew out the dust and cleaned up the pc thinking maybe heat was the issue. This helped my frame rate while gaming but didn't help with the offline window opening thing.

I was looking around for some Windows Optimization programs and wasn't sure if they were legit or not. I was wondering if anyone here can comment on "TuneUp Utilities 2006" or any other programs that may help with my particular problem.

I have minimal things starting up and nothing in my start-up file (through program files). I have used "MSCONFIG" and have disabled everything in the start-up area and services that didn't look important. Currently in "Task Manager" I have only 23 instances running. When I started this process long ago it was more like 32.

So...any info on these programs as to their actual working or not and which one would best help me would be very much appreciated.

Thanks

hit ctrl-alt-del and see what processe(s) are taking up all the cpu time when you are trying to do something. Let us know what they are. If the computer is always running slow then something has to be using the cpu at like 70 to 80 percent constantly.