Extremely Slow MBP 15" (Erase and Restore?)

[SeaOtter]

I've got a MBP Core Duo 15" w 2 Gig ram that runs extremely slowly for even the simplest tasks (searching for a song in iTunes, opening an email, etc).

I'm fairly comfortable with what i need to back up from my user directory, but would pretty much just like to blow the thing away and start from scratch in hopes of regaining some of the speed I enjoyed when i first got the thing.

Is there anything outside of documents, photos, itunes music, and the like that I need to be aware of and back up before proceding with my plan?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Hellhammer]

Just copy the files you may need in future to external storage and wipe the HD and install OS X. Then move the files back. Only you know the files you need

 

[SeaOtter]

Thanks. Was just curious if there were any hurdles that I might not be thinking of.

And I realize there's no way for other to devine which files (of mine) that I need.

 

[jdechko]

Why not back everything up via Time Machine or Carbon Copy Cloner (or SuperDuper!). That way everything is backed up and if, in a day/week/month you realize you didn't think of everything, you'll at least have a backup somewhere. A 500GB is pretty cheap, especially if your data is, or may be, valuable to you.