Yes it will make the programs run faster..There are alot of programs out today that are memory hogs...To help keep my machine running smooth..I always empty history & do a clean disk daily..I run a spyware check every day too...I also defrag my machine atleast every 2 weeks..
My father had a pc that he had never defrag for over year and he was running real slow...It took several attempts to get it to defrag because it so bog down. with everything .It took almost all day to run a complete defrag
My dh has help a few people with this problem and it is shocking on how many people doesn't do maintance on their pc..Our neighbor ws so bog down from not defragging it was pitful than dh finally got it fixed