PC SLOW, Quicktime Errors, Etc.

Hi! This post if for my mom's computer. It has :cry taken my last nerve and has caused me to wonder if I know anything at all about computers.

First, this computer takes FOREVER to boot. I went through the steps provided at your site for optimizing the computer a while back but didn't see much improvement.

Now Quicktime has decided not to work. I get the Q with ? inside of it. I have contacted Apple for support with this but have heard nothing from them. From the comments on their support page, I am not the only one with problem. I have uninstalled and reinstalled Quicktime but to no avail. (Having a similar problem with her laptop but will worry with one computer at a time.)

Could you help me speed this machine at least a little bit and then get quicktime working? Also, in the process of doing this, if you determine anything else should be done, please tell me.

Thank you so much for your help.