Computer Suddenly Acting Very Slow

It's been a lot slower than normal recently. Like it would work normal, then suddenly start hanging and then continue a few minutes later. The biggest issue I see is sometimes when i close the lid on the laptop, and then when i come back to use it, it's extremely lagging, and I'd have to restart or wait it out because I dont want to lose any information I had at the time. What info, programs you need me to run, let me know I will report back asap. Thanks!

Edit: I'm running Windows 7, and it seems to be the OS. I'm not sure. I think this might actually belong in Malware help. Sorry.