Well I saw the thread header, and since it wasn't posted in tech, my dirty mind thought you were having an issue with something else... hee hee

But since it's a simple Q, here's my suggestion:

Go into Start- Run- msconfig and you will see all the other shit that your computer has running in the background every time you start up. Most of it is not necessary. You can turn it all off except for the mouse/touchpad driver ('pointer' might appear in the name) and your virus protection. Things should speed up significantly, and your crash problem should REALLY improve.