BF, I would try a few things before taking it to an expert,
CCleaner (find it at
http://www.filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/) will rid the hard drive of unnecessary files, may help speed things up.
FreeRamXP (find at
http://www.yourwaresolutions.com/) is invaluable in keeping RAM available, doesnt sound like your problem but might be of assistance.
Try using Firefox instead of IE, see if it makes any difference?