And what about a firewall?
Since Safe Mode is quicker to startup I would assume that this is not an impending hardware failure problem, but I would hope that your friend has backups of all their personal files, photos, documents, videos, music etc, just in case.
I would reduce startup files to the bare minimum. Open the Run command, (Start then search for Run), and type in MSCONFIG then click OK. In the System Configuration Editor window that displays, go to the Startup tab, and remove the tick for all but the basic needs, eg leave alone any 3rd party firewall, any anti-virus and any Microsoft entries.Google will help you decide about the others. Reducing what starts when you boot up can greatly increase startup times and reduce the use of RAM.
Then I would scan with the anti-virus, and then install, update and perform full scans with the following anti-malware utilities; Malwarebytes' Anti-malware and SUPERAntiSpyware.
That's a start. There may be other options after those.
Mark
I am helping a friend with their computer. The HP Compaq Vista Home Basic is one of those $400 HP packages one gets from Office Depot. The PC has worked fine for 3 years but recently booting can take over an hour. Some times clicking on applications will take 15 - 30 minutes to come back to a functioning screen. Task manager went non-responsive. Starting a new Task Manager took 5 to 10 minutes to come up. Tried booting in Safe Mode. Start up was faster but the same unresponsiveness and delays.
It is very difficult to diagnose and try things because when it goes off to never never land for 10, 15, 30 minutes it is hard to make observations and changes.
Any ideas about where I can focus to try to regain some control to get this system functioning again.
Forgot... I tried system restore and none of the last 3 restore points would work... came back with error.
Thanks

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