To err is human, but to really foul things up requires a computer.  - Farmers' Almanac, 1978

I am about to throw this blasted contraption out the window.

Since I got a new tower in January, my computer has been a sheer joy. The thing ran faster, smoother, and better than ever before. But alas, I think the honeymoon is over. In the last few days this computer has been running so flipping slow. I used to be able to double-click Trillian, ITunes and Internet Explorer in rapid succession and have them all open with ease in a fairly short time, but those times seem to be a thing of the past. Now when I try open those programs quickly, my poor computer has a horrific freak-out and one or more programs doesn't open properly or takes forever to get started.

At this point I'm very frustrated with this machine. All I know about the problem is that it started 1) about the same time all of my Microsoft Works programs started freaking out and displaying a window titled "End User License Agreement" and calling you to "agree" or "disagree" to the terms and 2)  around the time my dad started using this computer often to look at a golfing and exercise website. I have a feeling either that website has some evil pop-up that infected the computer, or Works is corrupting it.

So, if anyone could help me with my computer's (hopefully) temporary mental retardation, it would be appreciated.

Edit: 8:44 PM

Well, the problem seems to have solved itself. I ran ad-aware and restarted and everything seems to be fine now.