George,
I just started using Chrome after FireFox 4 and IE9 proved to be unstable for me. I do IT security for a living and my testing has proved Microsoft Security Essentials to work, it's free and you don't need all of that other stuff (Anti-spy, anti-virus, ZoneAlarm, etc...)as MSE really performs all of the functions you really need.

I tried to download and use MS Essentials and it wouldn't load or run.

Why yes, yes I am. Could that be the source of my problem?

I'm running Noroton 360. It's due to run out in about 3 weeks, so I was thinking of something that wasn't such a resource hog.

You can see from my pix that a ton of programs are running. Don't ask me what they are, as I have no idea.

54 processes running under Vista is not bad. My advice, even though it usually is ignored, is to check the HD to see if it's failing. A failing HD can cause pc's to slow.

How do I do that?

Yeah, what Dave said. For a good freeware HDD utility check out CrystalDiskInfo: Software

I like this one:

Downloads

Grab the ISO, burn the image to CD, boot the CD and follow the instructions.

I also use this from time to time to burn ISO images.
Freeware MagicISO Virtual CD/DVD-ROM(MagicDisc) Overview

Thanks guys. As soon as it finishes backing up later tonight, I'll do some more work it tomorrow am.

I have an HP laptop as well (dv9000). It's around 4 years old with Vista. For the past year it would freeze up and run generally slow. I tried re-store , and defrag several times. It would be o/k for a couple of weeks then it would act up again.
Two weeks ago it froze and I got the dreaded blue screen. Long story short the hard drive was pooched. I had an extended warranty with Best Buy and they had the hard drive replaced in 4 days.

Same symptoms for me. Sluggish to start and locks up lately. Maybe the updates took it over the edge.

If the HD is toast, where would I get a new one, Newegg? What do they run?

Newegg is always good, also Pricewatch. They cost based on size, speed and brand. A 500GB 7200 RPM Seagate is about $40.

Thats bigger and faster than I have now. I'd like to get more RAM as well, but I want to say the laptop has a max capacity of 3 Gb/RAM.

Sorry missed the "laptop" part, it's about $45 for 250GB @ 7200 RPM. 2.5" drives sometimes run a bit more.

Why you guys put up with this chit is beyond me.

Why do people put up with bad hard drives? Or why do they put up with OS patching?

Mediocrity.

Well, all midrange systems fit into the "mediocrity" bucket. I can't think of any modern OS or hardware platforms that don't suffer from the same exact maladies. You or I have the same exact chance of losing a hard drive, or getting patched, as the OP.

Hardware issue has yet to be determined.

If the last couple of weeks of pleas for help on this board alone are any indication of having the same exact chance, uhm, far from it.