Prepping my Mini for Boot Camp W7 install

[The Pontificator]

I have an Intel Mini w/ a 1.83ghz processor and 1gb RAM
Purchased in 2007

I have some concerns I'd like to address before installing W7 on it.

1. The current amount of RAM. Is it enough? If it isn't enough is it preferable to upgrade it before...or after the BC-W7 install?

2. Performance issues with Snow Leopard.

Since installing snow leopard I've noticed a decrease in speed when accessing certain portions of my machine:

right clicking on dock icons often causes them to 'hang' or 'freeze' before I can do anything with them. (simply holding the click key on a dock icon works great, though)

changing desktop background: takes long time to load all wallpapers I've saved.

iTunes has slowed down mainly when accessing the media (150+ gigs) located on an external HDD (Newertech Ministack).

and just a general slower performance.

I understand that SL has been reported to run slower than it's predecessor but these 'hangs' and wait times get annoying. IS THIS AN INSUFFICIENT RAM ISSUE or SHOULD I CONSIDER DOING A COMPLETE REINSTALL OF LEOPARD AND SNOW LEOPARD? My recollection was that installing SL took an awful lot of time...too long and my Mini's HDD doesn't have all that much on it. OSX, apps, and files are only eating up 20gb of a 120gb drive.

Any advice? If I decide to let the Apple Store do a clean reinstall for me will they charge me for it given the issues I'm experiencing? (I do have Apple Care).

[DonCarlos]

Echo....Echoo.....Echooo....echoooo
_________________
'08 MacMini C2D/2.0/RAM4GB
HD:Hitachi 7200/16MB/500GB
OS:LION 10.7/WIN-7
Apple wireless keyboard and Magic Magic mouse .
EXT. HD:Lacie D2Quadra-1TB. Firewire.
Monitors: SONY Bravia 32" and
Dell Ultrasharp 2007WFP (Dell makes something right).