How to restore my MbP to its former glory?

[csf]

I have my 15" MbP for 1&1/2yrs(its my first mac), got 2g ram and was delighted with the speed when new. But it got slower and slower over time and now is at the point where i want to kill it. Start up take 5-15mins, apps take minutes to open and frequently crash. Even if i'm just on the web(with no other open apps) clicking a link or switch tabs freezes and spinny-wheel appears(sometimes for minutes).

I've done all the maintenance things I know about, tried many things.
Is it normal for a machine to deteriorate this much over time?

What can I do to restore my mac to its former glory?

 

[SthrnCmfrtr]

That's very odd. You might try an archive & install. If that doesn't solve the issue, then it's likely your hard drive.

 

[csf]

How do I archive & install? Do I need disks?

What if its the HD? Do you mean it may be damaged?

 

[Gibson88]

I was just about to post the same thing. If a restore doesn't do it then it's gonna more than likely be your HDD. It may have bad sectors on it.

Use the disks that came with the Macbook, throw anything you want kept on a external HDD and then wipe your Mac clean.

 

[csf]

how do i wipe the machine and re-install? Does anyone know somewhere i can find a walk-through for this?

Also if it is a HDD problem does this mean replacing? Cause I would'nt mind getting a bigger one. Is it difficult to replace?

Thanks for the advice

 

[GaseousPlatypus]

how do i wipe the machine and re-install? Does anyone know somewhere i can find a walk-through for this?

Also if it is a HDD problem does this mean replacing? Cause I would'nt mind getting a bigger one. Is it difficult to replace?

Thanks for the advice

Boot from the original disks that came with your mac (by restarting, then immediately holding the C key until the menu comes up) and choose erase and install.

If it's an HDD problem, then it usually means replacing and the HDD is a bitch to replace (unless they've changed the design since the PowerBook days)