UPON START UP - Error message saying Nero Home is not responding and causing a freeze - I haven't ever added this program!

Nero probably came pre-installed for free on your system - part of the software provided by the manufacturer that they didn't even tell you about.

Do you know when this problem began?  Try a System Restore to a point in time BEFORE the problem began.  Here's the procedure: http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/using-windows-vista-system-restore/.  Be sure to check the box to show more than 5 days of restore points.  If the first attempt fails, then try an earlier point or two.  NOTE: You will have to re-install any software and updates you installed between now and the restore point, but you can use Windows Update for the updates.

If the System Restore doesn't work, do a Startup Repair by booting to the genuine Windows Vista Installation Disk (or one you can borrow from ANYONE) or from a Recovery Disk.  Here's the procedure: http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/tutorial148.html.  To boot to the CD you may need to change the BIOS to make the CD-drive first in the boot sequence.  To do that, wait for the screen that tells you the F key to push to access the boot menu or boot setup.  Push it quickly. Make the changes, save your work, and exit.  Put the CD in the drive and reboot.  When prompted, push any key to boot from the CD.

If you don't have either disk, you can make a bootable Recovery Disk using http://neosmart.net/blog/2008/windows-vista-recovery-disc-download/ along with burning software like: http://www.snapfiles.com/get/active-isoburner.html and, of course, a blank CD.

If that doesn't work, try to boot into safe mode (repeatedly click the F8 key while booting and go to safe mode with networking).  Then let's check some of your system files:

Go to Start / All Programs / Accessories / Command prompt and right click on command prompt and click run as Administrator.

Type sfc /scannow and enter and let it run.  It will scan and try to fix some of your system files.  Hopefully it will complete with no corruption it could not repair (if there is such corruption post back here or try to analyze it to find the problem file(s) using http://support.microsoft.com/kb/928228.

While in Command Prompt, type chkdsk /f /r and enter and let it run.  It will scan and try to fix any corruption or bad sectors on your hard drive and mostly remove that as a cause.

If that doesn't work, then please post any repeating error messages from the Event Viewer concerning startup (Start / Control Panel / Administrative Tools / Event Viewer).  Here's how to use Event Viewer: http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/topic40108.html.

If that doesn't work, we'll need to do a system repair/upgrade using the genuine Windows Vista Installation Disk (one you own or one you can borrow from ANYONE).  Here's the procedure: http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/88236-repair-install-vista.html along with the upgrade from an earlier version of Windows section of the following: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/918884.  Although this will not affect your data, settings, or programs, you should still backup your data before starting just to be on the safe side. If the other procedures don't work, THIS one is almost certain to work.  You may have a lot of updates to re-install (including any service packs you had to remove).  If the version on the system cane with SP1 or SP2 pre-installed and the disk is an earlier version, then you'll need to make a slipstream disk as follows: http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/151606-vista-sp1-slipstream-installation-dvd.html.  

Hopefully one of these procedures will resolve your problem.  If not, post back and we'll try something else.  Post back in any case so we'll know how it turned out.

Good luck!

P.S. You say your system is running slow.  A great many things influence the speed and performance of your system - mostly the existence of various files and what's loaded on the system.  There are ways to handle this in Vista (and you should follow all the suggestions) - and of course the amount and type of RAM and the speed of your processor and motherboard (but I'm just going to discuss software solutions here - you can go to your computer vendor/manufacturer for hardware solutions if any are available (I, for example, am maxed out at 2GB RAM by my motherboard and there is no better motherboard available for my model of laptop).

To improve your speed, do Disk Cleanup using: http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/76073-disk-cleanup.html.

Also do an Optimization: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/Optimize-Windows-Vista-for-better-performance.

Go to Start / Search options and type in msconfig and enter and then double click on the program icon that appears.  Go to the startup tab and uncheck any program that you don't need starting at startup.  That will probably be the majority of items there - if not most of them (some are needed like the AV program but most are there to make opening the source programs faster and make you think they're more efficient).  This will free up a lot of RAM and help a lot in making your system faster (though perhaps not so much that you'll be able to notice the difference - but maybe depending on how much unnecessary stuff is loading at startup).

You can accomplish some of these tasks (and more that aren't entirely related) by using http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/default.htm (which also searches for malware).  I do this on a monthly basis just as a part of normal maintenance and I suggest you do the same.  Make sure you select a full scan - it will take a few hours (mine can take around 5-6) but can work in the background so start it when it has enough time to complete.

You also want to have good AV and AS programs on your system (so no malware is operating in the background draining resources).  Windows Defender is a good AS program.  The new, free Microsoft Security Essentials http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/default.aspx is an excellent AV/AM program that has one of the least impacts on system performance and resources according to reliable sources and it does the job very well.  If you're using MSE, you don't really need Defender (but you would with any other AV program).  I would also suggest downloading http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php and running it monthly to catch anything that MSE/Defender might miss.

If you follow this advice and do it periodically (at least monthly) then I believe you will have as fast a machine as it is capable of going given the hardware.

Lorien - One - MCSE/MCSA/Network+/A+