Applications/File Start Up

[Rosalie Black]

I installed the following configurationabout 2 months
ago:-

XP Home V2002 SP1
AMD Athlon XP 2000+
1.67 GHz
512 Mb RAM

Until about a couple of weeks ago it was running fine,
but has become very slow indeed to start up desktop
applications (double-clicked shortcuts) and
documents/workbooks double-clicked in Windows Explorer.

I have downloaded and installed Windows updates and can
only assume that something like that is the underlying
cause for the severely downgraded performance I am now
getting.

Can someone please advise the possible reason for this
and how to fix?

Thanks, Rosalie