Laptop completely lagging

[malcolm.wright.flash.127]

Audio pops and crackles, everything is slow, cursor movement is choppy and disk usage is always around 90%, even with no applications running. I've tried disabling services in command prompt and still nothing has changed. I suspect it may be a hardware issue as at one point the fan sounded like something was in it and stopped working overall for a little bit. I opened it up and now it seems as if it is overworking itself. I have a HP Notebook, not sure of all of the specs but if someone thinks they could help I can post them. Help?

 

[webworkings]

I would try checking the system for viruses and malware, just to be sure. Then, when was the last time you cleaned out the insides of dust, debris, etc.? If it isn't under warranty anymore (I say that because if it is you don't want to open it up yourself) then you can open it up and clean out all the junk. It could be overheating which will kill the hardware over time and cause things like slowness, freezing, etc.