Spinning Beach Balls, Slow, slow, slow, locks up every day

Question

is my macbook nearing the end of its life? is there some sort of tune up that can be done? it was suggested on a forum to run a etrecheck which i did and i will post the results below. wasn't sure where to post them. here there are, if any of you smart people can help me or give me some advice i would appreciate it!
Hardware Information:
          MacBook (13-inch Late 2007)
          MacBook - model: MacBook3,1
          1 2.2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU: 2 cores
          1 GB RAM
Video Information:
          GMA X3100 - VRAM: 144 MB
Startup Items:
          HP IO - Path: /Library/StartupItems/HP IO
System Software:
          Mac OS X 10.6.8 (10K549) - Uptime: 9 days 3:53:19
Disk Information:
          TOSHIBA MK1655GSXF disk0 : (149.05 GB)
                    (null) (disk0s1) <not mounted>: 200 MB
                    Macintosh HD (disk0s2) /: 148.73 GB (10.69 GB free)
USB Information:
          Micron Built-in iSight
          Apple Computer Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad
          Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver
          Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller
FireWire Information:
Thunderbolt Information:
Kernel Extensions:
          com.symantec.kext.internetSecurity          (1.3.2f5)
          com.symantec.kext.ips          (3.2f8)
          com.symantec.kext.pf          (4.2.1f7)
          com.symantec.kext.SymAPComm          (11.2.2f3)
          com.symantec.kext.fw          (1.0.3f5)
Problem System Launch Daemons:
          [failed] com.apple.suhelperd.plist
          [not loaded] org.samba.winbindd.plist
Problem System Launch Agents:
          [failed] com.apple.Kerberos.renew.plist
Launch Daemons:
          [loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist
          [loaded] com.symantec.avscandaemon.plist
          [loaded] com.symantec.deepsight-extractor.plist
          [loaded] com.symantec.diskMountNotify.plist
          [loaded] com.symantec.MissedTasks.plist
          [loaded] com.symantec.navapd.plist
          [loaded] com.symantec.navapdaemonsl.plist
          [loaded] com.symantec.Sched503-1.plist
          [loaded] com.symantec.sharedsettings.plist
          [loaded] com.symantec.symdaemon.plist
          [loaded] com.symantec.symSchedDaemon.plist
Launch Agents:
          [loaded] com.flipvideo.FlipShare.AutoRun.plist
          [loaded] com.symantec.uiagent.application.plist
User Launch Agents:
          [loaded] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist
          [loaded] com.facebook.videochat.[redacted].plist
          [loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist
User Login Items:
          iTunesHelper
          NikePlusUtil
          Dropbox
          HP Scheduler
          SymSecondaryLaunch
3rd Party Preference Panes:
          3ivx MPEG-4
          Flash Player
          Flip4Mac WMV
          Norton\nQuickMenu
Internet Plug-ins:
          AdobePDFViewer.plugin
          AdobePDFViewerNPAPI.plugin
          CouponPrinter-FireFox_v2.plugin
          DirectorShockwave.plugin
          Flash Player.plugin
          FlashPlayer-10.6.plugin
          Flip4Mac WMV Plugin.plugin
          Google Earth Web Plug-in.plugin
          iPhotoPhotocast.plugin
          JavaAppletPlugin.plugin
          QuickTime Plugin.plugin
          Silverlight.plugin
          ToontownBundleManager.plugin
User Internet Plug-ins:
          Move_Media_Player.plugin
Bad Fonts:
          None
Time Machine:
          Information not available
Top Processes by CPU:
               3%          WindowServer
               3%          EtreCheck
               1%          ps
               0%          NortonAutoProtect
               0%          fontd
               0%          NikePlusUtil
               0%          blued
Top Processes by Memory:
          93 MB              Mail
          50 MB              Google Chrome
          39 MB              Google Chrome Helper
          29 MB              mds
          20 MB              NortonAutoProtect
          19 MB              WindowServer
          18 MB              Dropbox
          17 MB              EtreCheck
          16 MB              Finder
          14 MB              mdworker
Virtual Memory Statistics:
          24 MB              Free RAM
          494 MB             Active RAM
          227 MB             Inactive RAM
          277 MB             Wired RAM
          8.21 GB            Page-ins
          3.20 GB            Page-outs

Answer 1

Good. A Mac with only 1 GB RAM will easily be pushed to its limits of performance, and Norton will bring any Mac to its knees. Google Chrome is another notorious resource hog that runs poorly on even newer Macs.
Installing more memory is almost always beneficial, and is the most effective way of extending a Mac's economic life. You MacBook can actually address as much as 6 GB though 4 GB will certainly be sufficient. Purchase memory from a vendor known to supply RAM that meets Apple's stringent specifications. At present there are only two I have used and can recommend: Crucial and OWC / MacSales.