emachines el1360g running windows 7 inexplicably slow

I currently use an emachines el1360g desktop. Full specs here:
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit pre-installed w/CoA
AMD Fusion Dual-Core E-300 1.3 GHz "Zacate" (40 nm) processor
2 x 512 KB L2 cache
AMD A45 Fusion chipset
2 GB DDR3 RAM (8 GB maximum)
250 GB SATA hard drive
DVD±RW SuperMulti drive
Integrated AMD Radeon HD6310 graphics
Integrated audio
Integrated 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet LAN
Multi-in-one digital media card reader


I bought this off someone who had purchased a week prior,but sold it cheap to pay rent-I live in a college type area and this happens now and again. Everything was in great condition and all I added was a new litescribe dvd burner. Since the first time I started it up, it has run incredibly slow. While I am aware its processor is nothing fantastic, it had specs loads better than my old desktop yet runs much slower. My main use is simple web browsing and word processing, using mainly chrome and ms office. Any more than 4 tabs open on chrome with no other programs up and it starts to crawl. If I have multiple programs open,say chrome with office, it goes even slower, I've run the diagnostics windows includes and everything looks fine but yet it still goes incredibly slow.
I ran the repair disk to no effect, and my next step was to reinstall 7, or drop down to either vista or xp. Any solutions would be greatly appreciated. Let me know if more info is needed!

EDIT: Also ran several malware/virus scans using malwarebytes, avst, norton, etc. All scans came back clean

 

Have you turned off all the bells and whistles and stopped to many things from running in the background when booting up?

Cleaned out cookies etc, Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\System and then click on advanced system settings, or look at msconfig and turn off some software from running in the background when booting up, (don’t touch anything you don’t know what it is,) don’t stop things like antivirus running etc but things like adobe, Microsoft Office etc do not need to run in the background till you open them.

 

What happens if you uninstall the light scribe software & disconnect the power & data cables from the light scribe? THEN, use a system restore point before the light scribe was installed.

If improvement occurs, connect the data & power cables. Wait before re-installing any software.

Edit:
Welcome to Tech Guy.
end edit.

RF123

 

I added the dvd burner in place of the existing burner about 2 months into owning it. Before that it was still running just as slow so the dvd burner should be ok.

Every time it hits a heavy lag, I ran task manager, yet nothing hit higher than usual in cpu usage. Ran msconfig,turned off what could be turned off,got rid of the pretty effects and appearances, still left with a lag

 

1. Disconnect the power & data from the light scribe drive, when the computer is shut down. Use electrostatic precautions.

2. Try clean boot trouble shooting.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135

3. Consider using Process Monitor and / or Process Explorer.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb795533.aspx

RF123