restart time 258 seconds

I have just run the restart time checker coz i'm seeing my sony vaio 6mth old pc getting slower and slower plus getting probs with start up from(fresh) and also shut down. My restart time is 258 seconds is this ok? i don't think so?? I Have run all sony diagnostics plus i have mcafee securty no bugs, virus etc; ALL SAY NO PROBLEMS however i see in event viewer performance/diagnostics that since day 1 (that is to say purchased date) there has been the same notices? slow shut down slow boot either warning or critical EVERY DAY So I either do nothing. Or do a complete system restore to factory settings; BUT I AM WORRIED that i might be over reacting to these event notices
P.S. i have also had my pc turn off and blue screens i am a novice but will greatly appreciate any advice/help
nana58 thank you all

Thank you Logicearth for your reply :) I have mcafee I.S. free with my sky subs' so if I unistall it (mcafee) which I.S. would you recommend .Pref free, but not essential is microsoft security essential any good? or the free version of avg. In the past i 've had Kaspersky (i didn't really like) also Norton.

Thanking All you Helpers coz without you i and other novices will not learn
Nana58



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Definitely get shot of McAfee and use Microsoft Security Essentials alongside Malwarebytes Anti-Malware - Free software downloads and software reviews - CNET Downloads.

You mention blue screens, which suggests something else may be going on.

After you install Malwarebytes boot into Safe Mode and run a virus scan.

Sounds like you still have the factory preinstalled bloatware clogging your Win7.

Here's how to clean it up: Clean up factory bloatware

In particular you want to uncheck everything in msconfig>Startup except MSE and gadgets, then after several reboots check back to see what writes itself back in, turn it off in its Program Preferences or Uninstall.

Next in msconfig>Services choose "Hide all MS services" to see what is running without your knowledge, uncheck it, after reboots turn off anything that writes itself back in in Prefs or Uninstall.

:) THANK YOU tews/ seavixen and especially gregrocker i took your advice and got rid of a few!!!! bloatware progs plus i downloaded puran defrag and just did a fresh restart time run of 117secs THATS less than half the time So thankx a lot to all you teachers who share your knowledge and explain it so we newbys can understand and learn. am continuing to see what unwanted/unnecessary progs are slowing my pc
nana58

You're very welcome and I'm very pleased you've made some good progress.

Don't hesitate to post back if you need further help, it's only by asking questions that we ALL learn.

In my opinion, I think Avast and Norton are good antivirus/internet security programs. I use Norton 360 Premier Edition alongside with Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware PRO. I used avast in the past and it was pretty good, but you need another program running with it, like Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware, to get good results.

Edit: Also, if you want your computer to be fast as the day you got it, you can always do a Factory Restore. It deletes ALL THE DATA on your computer, and resets your Windows to default settings, so make sure to backup the important files on your PC onto a USB, an External Hard Drive, or some other device that you can save the files on. Also, I think the drivers stay as they are because my cousin did a Factory Restore on his Vista Home Premium x64 OEM, and all his drivers were already installed and working right after he did that. The only thing that changed was all his files were deleted, and his Windows Vista was in the condition as he got it on the first day.