Computer slow? CPU and PF Usage high?

My computer is running slower than it should.
I have run a virus scanner, spyware/adware scanner, registry cleaner and defragmented my system.

Booting up and running programs load slower than it should, shutting down the computer is slow as well.

I am running 27 proccess and PF usage is unnecessarily higher than 1Gig. Sometimes Firefox, and Internet explorer take up 200 + MB of ram each. CPU usage also spikes high as well. I compared this to computers I use at school, and I use the same programs, go to the same websites, except the computers at school run about 80 processes and the PF usage does not even exceed 1 Gig and no CPU spikes.

My machine has a quad 2 core cpu 2.4ghz and 3gig ram in comparsion to school computers with a 3.0ghz xeon and 2 gig ram.

Putting aside the debate of which system is better, my computer should'nt be running as slow as it should. Can someone give some help or advice?

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