Help me speed up a year old computer

[Vurnakes]

To start I'll put up the specs of my first computer build:
Motherboard: Asus P5W DH Delux
Processor: Intel E6600 @2400 MHz
Ram: 2 Gigs
Video: Nvidia GeForce 7950 GT
Hard Drive: 320 Gig and External 400 Gig
Sound: Sound Blaster X-Fi
Case: Cooler Master Cavalier 3

I built this computer over a year ago and I'm running XP on it. Over time it seems like it has just been getting slower and slower. So here are my questions:
1. What should I do to make XP run faster? I have read the other threads on here about speeding up XP but I was wondering if it would run faster if I just completely wiped out everything and started over again. I have a external hard drive so I could save and games files that I want to keep. I also have a laptop in case I screw up somewhere. Would this be the best thing to do?

2. Also I want to start learning some Linux, maby Ubuntu. Should I buy a second hard drive for that? Only reason I ask is that I have a HUGE media library on my computer with music and movies and I want everything to run as fast as possible, hence the possible need for a second hard drive?

3. I'm very new to computer, should I consider over clocking at all?

Wow that was alot of stuff but thanks for any help and comments.

 

[_-..zKiLLA..-_]

what i would do is reinstall WinXP. then after that run a disk defrag. and it should be almost as fast as new.

and u could definitely consider OCing
what kinda cooling u on? stock Heatsink fan?

 

[Vurnakes]

for cooling I was running the stock one for about a year but this christmas I got a artic cooler cpu cooler. It took me awhile to get the huge thing in but I finally got it. When I started everything up, it gave me a cpu fan error on startup. I shut it off and made sure everything was hooked up and secure but it keeps giving me the error. The system seems to be running fine, not too hot I think though. PC Wizard 2008 (don't know how accurate) tells me Processor Temp is 38.5 with Core 1 at 54 and Core 2 at 55. Is that normal?

 

[_-..zKiLLA..-_]

so u did get it in and no errors? and the temps sounds about right. but after market cooler temps will vary more then stock. do u still have the asus cd?? if so pop it in and see if it has PC Probe II.

and if u do diside to do a fresh intall of windows. then id recomend get hijackthis. and get a list of ur programs. so then u know exactley what u have installed. its great.

 

[Vurnakes]

yeah i just realized that I have pc probe II, i started it up and it gave me a few errors unfortunately: MB temp is 47; CPU fan is 888 RPM; and Power 2 fan (?) is 3026 RPM. what should I do for these errors?

 

[_-..zKiLLA..-_]

wow dude. um ok well it will probably give u some errors. if u have open cpu fan connectors. but ur CPU fan is at 888 RPM thats reall really low. my fan speed is usually idled around 2500 RPM. can u give me a link to ur CPU cooler on newegg or something

and ur temp is pretty high. im guessing thats idled unless ur were just playing a game or something

 

[Vurnakes]

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16835186134
ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler

I haven't been playing any games for awhile now either so something is wrong

 

[_-..zKiLLA..-_]

specs " RPM 900 - 2500 RPM(PWM) " and ur in the 800's. so somethings wrong here. id recomend getting some arctic silver 5 and put on ur stock heatsink. cuz somethings wrong with ur current heatsink/fan

 

[worshipme]

Do you have ASUS Q-Fan in silent mode?

 

[Vurnakes]

yeah i'll run down to tiger and get some... will that boost up my MB temp? also... what could be making the cpu fan's rpms that slow?

about the ASUS Q-Fan... I haven't put it on silent mode but... I haven't changed any of the settings before. Where would I go to check that out?