by JGZinv 6/4/2009, 12:00 am
Not to sound mean, but from this end it sounds like a mix of potential virus, malware, too many/hogging programs, user inexperience in maintenance, outdated software, and aging hardware.
IE the classic "personal confuser royal flush." Each can be fixed, but it takes patience.
Booting into safe mode might be worth while, at least get an idea of how fast it can boot with minimum load. If we're talking "oh my gosh that was way different than usual!" rather than "yeah it was faster, big whoop" then more than likely you've got some programs at startup eating a butt load of resources.
Heck I go into the msconfig just after installing a rig, and end up turning off about 15 things that are not needed. Much less bloat at boot. After years of using a system without a reformat/wipe, I'd imagine she's on her last legs.
Add on the other problems and you might as well forget about doing much in any time frame.