I re-installed Windows. Seems to be working faster again. Closing a Word file doesn't take 2 seconds anymore. Loading AV/firewall after bootup is still a little slow.
my 160GB Maxtor EIDE died. could be coincidence (now that I have put it in my external enclosure).
*click of death*
i'm gonna do some more testing. then i will delete all files, wich could take about a day or longer. on USB 2.0 it takes 12 hours. dont know how long it will take on USB1.1 (gonna use MMX to erase it so i dont have to keep my computer running).
I already requested RMA at Maxtor's website