See Why the Slow Boots? for more information. Any number of programs you’ve installed may have inserted a piece of themselves into Windows’ Startup list, and could thus be slowing you down.
Your security programs probably aren’t the only ones that load automatically each time you boot and stay in memory, although they may be the only ones that should. See Can You Trust Free Antivirus Software? and What Free Security Programs Can Protect My PC? for product suggestions. The Panda Antivirus free security software is very good for slow computers and compatible with the Windows OS. Bitdefender is one of the best value for Windows PC protection and it comes with different programs for PCs, Macs, iOS, and Android devices. Consider switching to smaller, sleeker (and often free) alternatives. Which antivirus slows down computer the least Bitdefender Total Security. They can seriously slow down an older PC. Major security suites like Norton and McAfee use a lot of resources, and keep using more with each major upgrade.
You can avoid upgrading Office and Photoshop, but you have to keep your security software up to date or you risk infection. (I attended a programming conference once where Bill Gates advised programmers to write for the most powerful PC currently available, because that would match a normal PC when their product was released.) So if you keep buying the latest office suite or photo editor, performance will suffer. Software has a way of cancelling out Moore’s Law–as hardware gets faster, software gets slower.
