I am so senior that learning new tricks (new computer programs) are getting out of reach for me. I love my computer, a PC I've had for years... AOL is
Giving me problems... so I emptied almost all my mail from the last five years.
I want a laptop. I have Windows 7. I want one with Windows 7 not 8. I
Read 8 is very different so I really don't it.

By the way, emptying all my sent mail, read mail, old mail didn't work
so I bought AOL program to clean it up and had someone go through the steps.
That didn't work either. I already shut down this computer twice and started
over..

You can still get PCs with Windows 7 on it. But generally you have to buy direct from the manufacturer. Most retail stores will only stock Win 8 computers.

However, Win 8.1 is not that different if you boot to the desktop.

It's unlikely that the amount of email stuff in your account has anything to do with the PC getting slow. That stuff is stored at AOL not on your PC so you should look for your issue at home. You could have browser issues with tool bars or addons in your browser. One way to test that would be to use a different browser (install one if you have just one) and try that. Other reasons for slow downs are too many programs installed, highly fragmented drive, your internet cache is full, etc.. Also there is a small possibility your drive is failing, that can cause slow down issues too. Try doing a basic cleanup. Uninstall programs and tool bars you don't need, defrag the drive and use a cleaning program like Ccleaner to cleanup the trash.

It's unlikely that the amount of email stuff in your account has anything to do with the PC getting slow. That stuff is stored at AOL not on your PC so you should look for your issue at home. You could have browser issues with tool bars or addons in your browser. One way to test that would be to use a different browser (install one if you have just one) and try that. Other reasons for slow downs are too many programs installed, highly fragmented drive, your internet cache is full, etc.. Also there is a small possibility your drive is failing, that can cause slow down issues too. Try doing a basic cleanup. Uninstall programs and tool bars you don't need, defrag the drive and use a cleaning program like Ccleaner to cleanup the trash.

I just want to thank you so much for your suggestions. A friend told me also to
Do a clean up so I'm paying for the AOL cleanup... and I do have a lot on toolbar and so I will get rid of most of those... I have the option of two other browsers.
We're (she actually) will go over your response and help me further because I am so backward I don't even know what defrag is, but she does. Again, thank you for taking the time to not only give a reply, but a thoughtful, detailed one as well.