storage? is that the exact terminology its using? because that usually refers to hard drive storage.
Might want to check the hard drive's fill level. If its over 80%, that ain't good. Usually heavy fragmentation ensues when the drive is at 80+%
Barring any hard drive issues, and if you're 100% sure its the RAM, tell us how much you have, And what OS you're running. I assume since you're using a Dell, it runs either Windows XP or Vista.