This is a pretty funny thread. Naturally de-fragging is nearly mandatory unless you have a self defragmenting file system.
Hard drives may get slower over time... the reason is simple. Mechanical wear and magnetic anomalies on the platter surfaces potentially mean multiple seeks trying to locate data... ever try to read a worn or lightly scratched cd? Yeah it takes longer as it keeps re-seeking missed attempts. Really depends on the quality of the drive I guess.
CPU's don't slow down. An external crystal drives the cpu... it either works or it doesn't at the speed it's running at.
It suppose it's possible that they could become flaky and need to be slowed down to run smoothly. If that happens then most likely the cpu was slightly overclocked to begin with.
The speed rating of a cpu is hit and miss and based on tests after production. They make the cpus and then speed test them. Some end up running well at 1ghz and some are only stable at 800mhz. Rather than throw away the 800mhz cpu they are sold as such accordingly. It's possible that a 1ghz cpu may just barely run at 1ghz and runs better at 800mhz..
So thats my 2 cents, and it's worth what you paid for it
