What actually makes a computer slower over time?

Malware, having a lot of processes and services starting up at boot and login and antivirus software are the three main reasons computers appear to slow down over time in my experience.

Winrot/pointing the finger at the registry is so blown out of proportion it's ridiculous.
 
I beg to differ about registry bloat and problems...ccleaner has resolved a few issues for me, Adobe reader for one, and CS4 to CS5 upgrade that didn't work until ccleaner cleared out some registry entries.
 
90% of the pc's i fix it comes down to start-up programs and the registry. i good bit of free software is Ccleaner http://www.piriform.com/CCLEANER

As you install more and more programs the all fight for your attention and add themselves to the start up, google stuff, itunes, adobe products, kies from your samsung GSII will add 5 seconds! use ccleaner to remove all the startup entries (or use msconfig) googles ones you don't know and breed new life in your pc.
 
Am I the only one who doesn't have this problem?

If anything, my PC works better after a few months than it did with a freshly installed OS. It's just more functional.

If your HDD degenerates over time, buy an SSD for a system drive. It will solve a lot of problems in the long term.

With that said, my Spinpoint F3 was going strong for almost 2 years.

The only time I need to do a fresh install is when I upgrade major components of my PC, replace my main drive or upgrade the OS.

Keep it clean, use PC condoms, stay safe and everything will be fine. Regular checks also help and make sure that you don't bloat your PC with unnecessary crap.

There's only a handful of programs you have to use to keep your PC clean on regular basis and defragment your HDD every now and then.

Oh yes, and check your start-up regularly, as Jimlad suggested, it is often full of useless stuff that you don't need running every time you start your PC up. CCleaner has a tab for it, you can use MSConfig too.
 
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Am I the only one who doesn't have this problem?

If anything, my PC works better after a few months than it did with a freshly installed OS. It's just more functional.

If your HDD degenerates over time, buy an SSD for a system drive. It will solve a lot of problems in the long term.

With that said, my Spinpoint F3 was going strong for almost 2 years.

The only time I need to do a fresh install is when I upgrade major components of my PC, replace my main drive or upgrade the OS.

Keep it clean, use PC condoms, stay safe and everything will be fine. Regular checks also help and make sure that you don't bloat your PC with unnecessary crap.

There's only a handful of programs you have to use to keep your PC clean on regular basis and defragment your HDD every now and then.

Oh yes, and check your start-up regularly, as Jimlad suggested, it is often full of useless stuff that you don't need running every time you start your PC up. CCleaner has a tab for it, you can use MSConfig too.

+1
 
Hard disk getting more full, becoming more fragmented, seek time of hard disk increases. Registry increases in size. Installing and uninstalling leaves behind registry values, files, folders and other stuff such as ActiveX components and drivers.
It's a good idea to do a clean install every 6 months to ensure everything isn't too cluttered.
or learn how to perform a bit of maintainence

its not hard to clean up left behind folders , destroy old registry values , defrag a registry etc.

most of it is just as easy as defragging
 
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