Vista becoming slower

[duppie]

All,
My PC (see below for config) is nearly 3 years old. Over time I have seen a degradation of performance (likely because of the additional software I installed over time, registry entries, etc.). It is specifically noticeable at start up; and when opening Firefox. Besides websurfing, I use this machine for 3D gaming, iTunes, Word, etc.


Question: I want to restore the performance to near new specs. With the ultimate goal of getting another 3+ years of life out of this PC, before buying a new one.

What is my best and simplest option?
1. Re-installing Vista. I think this would basically create a new image, where I would have to re-install all software after the initial re-install of Vista
2. Go to Windows 7 32-bit. This is considered a simple upgrade, but will it do anything to improve the machines performance by cleaning up leftover 'junk', removing invalid registry entries, etc.?
3. Go to Windows 7 64-bit. This is similar to option 1, but it might disable my sparingly used scanner and printer.
4. Any other options that anyone can think of to improve performance


Any feedback is highly appreciated


Config:
Dell XPS 9100
E 6600 (Dual Core @ 2.66GHz)
2 GB Ram (in the process of being upgraded to 4 GB Ram)
EVGA GTX 265 216 core

 

[The_Prophecy]

Before wiping out the OS, I would consider trying to clean up the existing install. Try running things like CCleaner, defrag your hard drive, use the Autoruns utility from Sysinternals to stop unnecessary programs from starting when Windows boots.