Originally Posted by cwa107

I'll bet it's AV-related. I've noticed that nearly all of the major AV packages are so convoluted and bloated, they can drag even the fastest of systems to their knees, let alone a budget box.

Things get much worse when the Windows machine is running a more comprehensive security suite. I've found that in many cases, the program has so many nannies and co-opts so many facets of the OS that it does more harm than good.

As far as Windows 7 goes, I think it's certainly the best Windows version in recent memory. If they'd just fix UAC to work properly, those all-encompassing security suites would have little reason to exist.