May, if your computer's still slow, have you defragmented the disk lately? (If you don't know what that is, go to Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools/Disk Defragmenter and run it. It may take a few hours, but it basically organizes the files on your hard drive so the contents of each file are together rather than strewn all over the disk. That can speed your computer up.)
I'm thinking I'll check around for a local tech. The thing is, I'm leery because I won't know the person, and I can't afford a ton of money for diagnostics. I'm trying to find out how to do those myself.