win 7 slow and not responding i3 530 processor

[primal]

my computer is very slow and often hangs with non responding. Am I right that given the specs the pc should have no problem with having several programs open, surfing /email etc. i t should not be short on memory or cpu? I have check memory/cpu/diskcheck/scannow

Defragged. There is no virus or malware. Scans with Norton Anti Virus and Malwarebytes and several others including online scans are clean.

There is an issue with NAV and Malwarebytes but I have put the exclusion for each other in each program. Is this just a windows 7 thing? I have seen many threads on the win 7 non responding issue

 

[Ztruker]

How does it behave if you boot to Safe Mode with Networking? If better then something is starting at boot that is causing the problem.

Advanced startup options - XP
Advanced startup options - Vista
Advanced startup options - Windows 7

Use msconfig to determine what is causing the problem

These are good tutorials on using msconfig in XP, Vista or Windows 7:
How to use msconfig in Windows XP
How to use msconfig in Windows Vista
How to use msconfig in Windows 7

Click on Start then Run, type msconfig and press Enter.
Click on the Startup tab, record what is currently starting then click the Disable All button.
Reboot and see if it runs better.
If yes then use msconfig to enable several items at a time till you find the culprit.

If no, start msconfig and click on the Services tab.
Check the Hide All Microsoft Services box, record what is currently starting then click the Disable All button.
Again, do a regular boot, see if it runs normal.
If yes then use msconfig to enable services till you find the culprit.

Once you've found the culprit, uninstall it or find out how to eliminate it from your system. Simply disabling it in msconfig is a temporary fix at best.
Enable everything else you disabled.