That computer looks to be fairly dated, the hard drive could simply be wearing out (if your computer takes long to start, both itself and programs, this is most likely the problem, try replacing the hard drive; at least run a benchmark on it with crystalmark)
Also check your CPU temp, just because the fan is working doesn't mean that the CPU is being cooled properly (if the coolant between the CPU and heatsink dries up enough, the heatsink might as well not be there, same with the fan, but overheats would likely result in crashes so I don't think this is happening)
If I'm not wrong, the computer has a decent graphics card (GeForce 9000 series right?) so it should handle Aero, but just in case try disabling it.
Finally, make sure all drivers are installed. This is not an official link but seems like it could do the trick, make sure at least the chipset and storage drivers are installed (as well as of course the GPU drivers, if you have the card I think you do, you'd be best off downloading it from Nvidia's site.)
That's about all that could be wrong.
If all of this pans out, it's very likely that the laptop was always this slow, but at the time you used it it felt fast because it was for it's time, but it isn't for today, so if you've been using a faster computer it wouldn't be strange for you to perceive this laptop as slower than you did last time you used it.
If you want speed, and aren't going to be using the laptop for anything windows specific, you can try installing Linux on it. I would recommend Xubuntu for that laptop. Despite it's age, it should be blazing fast on that. If you're interested just ask and I'll give you an overview (the transition should be very easy, xfce (xubuntu's interface) is known to be very familiar for windows users, it's comparable to that of windows xp, but a bit less ugly) you can install google-chrome, firefox, libreoffice and vlc for your basic desktop needs (there are also better players than vlc, but libreoffice is the best available office pack).
Please elaborate on the hardware of the laptop. – kyze – 2016-01-29T13:52:31.017
1Is it possible it just seems slow because what you are using now, and are accustom to, is much faster? I have experienced this when resurrecting old PCs. – CharlieRB – 2016-01-29T13:54:50.313
2Alright, the hardware isnt overwhelming, can you add a screenshot of the resource-monitor ? (resmon.exe) – kyze – 2016-01-29T13:58:38.483
Run a SMART tool incase the hard drive is dead! Or, the hardware is worn out! – Dave – 2016-01-29T14:07:14.130
And update the drivers – Dave – 2016-01-29T14:19:07.507
Try using a spare working hard drive to eliminate one of the possible causes of the problem. – snaks20 – 2016-01-29T17:56:42.867
In Resource Monitor check your memory usage and hard faults. If memory is mostly in use and you see lots of hard faults, they could be virtual memory errors. Either increase physical memory or (what I did) switch to Linux. – user3169 – 2016-01-30T05:25:33.527
run this tool http://crystalmark.info/software/CrystalDiskInfo/index-e.html and check for SMART errors. A failing HDD (pending sectors) can cause such slowness.
– magicandre1981 – 2016-01-30T07:45:42.707