HP Pavilion vz5000 Laptop Running Slow

Hello,

I have a HP Pavilion laptop (with AMD Athlon 64 processor) that is about 5 years old. About a year ago, the computer started running half speed (797 MHz vs. 1.8 GHz). If I go into the "Power Options" and apply the "Alway On" setting, I can get the computer to run full speed. I must do this each time that I boot up. There is no indication that it is loosing it's settings. However, to get this to work I must click on another setting (i.e. "Home/Office Desk") and apply it. I then click on the "Always On" setting and apply it. Upon rebooting, the computer runs full speed. The computer retains this setting if I go to standby. However, if I turn off the computer I must go through the aforementioned procedure. This is a real pain. Any ideas on what might be causing this would be much appreciated.

Regards, ericjimdor