RE: Programs using a lot of memory
how long has it been since you reformatted?
That will speed your pc alot, you should do it every few months just to keep it clean and healthy.
One thing you can try it take your ram out let it wait a little bit and put the ram back in, this will flush the cach, and help speed up a tiny bit as ram is memory and memory gets full sometimes and then moves over to your hard drive.
It also could be a windows update.