Various programs keep "not responding" as well as the OS itself

Oh boy, that's going to take awhile. Well, I'll get right on that. Anyway, I can confirm that Microsoft security client is the only item checked on that list.

Edit: Are the number of items on there abnormal to you? I can only name five programs that I ever use..Windows Media Player, VLC(If WMP refuses to play songs), Steam, Firefox, and Skype. Do you think I should do some cleaning up?

There's no telling what you have done that you don't recall doing.

Dell's should have a way of restoring to factory specs. I've never heard of one that didn't.

That's probably what I'd do if I wasn't satisfied with performance after trying to remove stuff bit by bit.

You could even do a clean install, which would eliminate all the questionable stuff Dell may have put on the PC at the Dell factory that you don't care about or will never use.

You'd have to back up your stuff first or else lose it entirely and start over just as you did the day you bought the machine.

And then develop some good habits so you don't find yourself in the same situation.

Just use Windows own utilities, plus possibly CCleaner and Malwarebytes.

Ah, crap. Wait a minute. You showed me the startup tab, which I only have Microsoft Security Client checked. However, on services, I have 23 checked items, with "Hide All Microsoft Services" checked.

Acrobat Active File Monitor V8
Adobe Acrobat Update Service
Adobe Flash Player Update service
Dock Login Service
FLEXnet licensing Service
GoToAssist
Google Update Service(gupdate)
Google Update Service(gupdatem)
HTCMonitorService
InstallDriver Table Manager
Mozilla Maintenance Service
NVIDIA Display Driver Service.
Internet Pass-Through Service
RealNetworks Downloader Resolver Service
RealPlayer Cloud Service
RealPlayer Update Service
SetupARservice
SoftThinks Agent Service
Skype Updater
SupportSoft Sprocket Service (Dellcoms)
SupportSoft Sprocket service(DellSupportCenter)
Steam Client Service(Which I frequently use)
UMVPFSrv

I apologize profusely for the confusion.

Edit: I knew it would come to this. It's going to be frustrating to backup everything, considering pictures and music are all over the place. Then I have to manage all my bookmarks on Firefox, as well as my saved games on Steam. I'm open to the idea, however..I just need to figure out how I'll go about it. It'd be a lot easier if I had a restore point from before this problem began, but of course I don't.

CycloneDash said:

Edit: I knew it would come to this. It's going to be frustrating to backup everything, considering pictures and music are all over the place. Then I have to manage all my bookmarks on Firefox, as well as my saved games on Steam. I'm open to the idea, however..I just need to figure out how I'll go about it. .

Well you don't have to do it if you are satisfied with performance after trying to fix things.

But you've apparently got some bad habits and may soon enough find yourself back in the same situation.

If you did a clean install or a restore to factory specs, you might foul that up over time also. The way out of that would be to develop good habits and some knowledge, or be willing to periodically do fresh installs, or to use an imaging application that could restore you to some particular point in time when things were fine.

If you are going to start over, you'd need to get some type of backup drive if you want to keep your steam stuff, pictures, etc. I have no idea how large that stuff is combined or how disorganized and difficult it would be to locate.

This isn't exactly an easy choice. Also, I don't think I'll be willing to risk fouling it up. I have everything I need, right now. Steam, Skype, Firefox, and WMP to listen to music. I'm done tampering with my system after this mess. I started up Terraria, a game on Steam which usually stops responding about every three minutes. However, I have noticed no such hanging except for when the game was loading.

But I've still thought about restoring it to factory settings. But I'd like a step by step guide on how exactly I can do that, before I attempt anything.

Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7

above is a tutorial on doing a clean install.

Clean Up Factory Bloatware

above may help you clean stuff up without a clean install

How to restore your Windows 7 computer to factory settings | Dell US

above is dell instructions on doing a factory restore

Don't you think maybe this is a little extreme? I may be irresponsible, but not to the extent that you're assuming I am. I honestly don't download much. Of anything, really. Uniblue was a result of trying to remedy the hanging myself, as it was suggested that one of my drivers could be out of date, and that could be the result of hanging. My computer is running greater now than it has in the past few months, since I've followed your instructions. It's not as if I download 40 things a month. Hell, the last thing I ever even downloaded was Java so that I could run Minecraft, and that was last week. Most of everything else is either music, or JPEGs.

I'm certainly looking for any reason not to do a full system restore. But if that's the only option that I have at this point, then I guess I'll prepare.