I have some quick questions for anyone. My home PC is a HP and is nearly 5 years old. It is running slow with Windows 7. Would upgrading it to Windows 8.1 make it any faster, or slow it down further? When I power on my computer, it seems to boot slower and slower. Even worse, when I go to open a web browser, it often takes 1-2 minutes after clicking for Chrome or Firefox to open.

Are there are any malware or other free/inexpensive software packages that speed up a PC? I have defragged and run a registry cleaner, but neither seem to have done much good.

I use AVG as my virus protection and have never had an issue.

Am I just facing forced obsolescence, or should I be able to get more life out of the pc? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.