Help please! MBP 13in 2010 running slow with new RAM

Ok, so, a little backstory. Last week, my 3 year old MacBook Pro running ML 10.8.4 decided to freeze on me, causing me to force a shut down. When I started it back up, I got stuck on the startup screen. Tried a safe boot, didn't work. Did a PRAM reset, didn't work. Went into recovery, used the disc utility and it said everything was a-ok. still stuck. So I Went into single user mode, and found that there was an input/output error on the hard drive. Ugh. So, I had to create a boot disc through recovery and recover any remaining files I hadn't backed up, which thank god, weren't many. Then did a complete wipe and started with a fresh OS X install. Things were going well until I installed iLife. Finder was constantly freezing and crashing, and the dock went missing. Then it crashed again. Did everything over, again. Somehow, I got it up and running again.

Because I only had 4gb of RAM, I decided it was time for an upgrade anyhow. I went with Kingston 8gb 1067 DDR3, which had pretty good reviews. I installed it last night, and I see no difference in performance. I actually couldn't open up programs, like Google Chrome, Microsoft Office, Skype...so I then did a PRAM reset and safe boot, and still the problems ensued. So, I went back down to the 4gb and am still having the same issues.

Guys, I'm at a loss. Any help would be appreciated!!!!