My old computer was a Vista 32 bit with 2 GB of Ram with a dual core and adding another Gig made a pretty good difference.

The computer I’m using now is a Windows 7 64 bit with 8 GB of Ram with a quad core and it flies!!!

As Joe said,any more than 3GB can’t be used by a 32 bit OS.

To the OP,

Consider using a program called Spywareblaster, It uses no resources and adds another layer of protection.

http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/index.html