So here's my problem:

My computer is a 2.4 ghz with 512 MB RAM.
Ever since I got it, it seems to run at less of a speed than my old 400mhz machine.

I ran a test and it said that the CPU was in good health and working like it should be.

However. When I boot up my machine it sometimes takes it more than 15 minutes to complete the process. And the only thing that is set to load on startup is Norton Anti Virus and Personal Firewall.

Then when I get into using my computer, most programs take anywhere from 2-5 minutes to load. Netscape mail and AIM tend to take the longest. While everything else takes it's sweet time as well.

I've tried everything I know. I've ran adaware and spybot several hundred times (though as I said it's been doing this since I got the computer so it's not that), I've installed 4 extra cooling fans in the case to keep everything nice and cool (i could seriously store food in my case for later consumption), I've even defragged a few times.

Anybody have any idea why my computer is running this slow?

Oh, I forgot to mention that sometimes when I boot my computer up, my Norton AV or Personal firewall may not load at all.
I have left it sitting for several hours before and neither one have loaded.
Usually it's one and not the other. But sometimes it's both.

Not sure if this will help but have your tried doing away with the Nortons and the Firewall - I found particularly that Norton's Anti-Spam slowed my PC down so much as to make it unusable. If that doesn't work - try to format the drive and re-install Windows - otherwise you have a dud machine and should take it back.

Regards