MacBook Pro 2 yrs old has always run extremely slowly

[EllyMayH]

I own a MacBook Pro 2.2 GHz intel core 2 duo running OSX 10.5.8 with 2GB RAM. This computer runs so slowly that I have even wished for PC. I love Macs however, and I think there must be something I can do. Do you think I am running too many programs? I've had this notebook for at least two years and my AppleCare has expired. I've taken it back to the Apple Store 4 times over these two years, but the problem persists. So I'm wondering if I have too many programs running in the background of which I am unaware? How can I check/modify the programs which load at start up? It also RUNS HOT!

 

[techound1]

Use Activity Monitor (Applications>Utilities) to see what's running.