[Wooly]

Yes you need at least 2 gigs of RAM to run Vista 32, but what is more interesting in your post is the problems you are having.
You need to do a full Anti-Virus scan, An ADware Scan and a Rootkit scan as it sounds like you have a bunch of junk on there. Additionally you probably have a bunch of what are called TSRs running in the background. These are programs like Adobe reader speed launch, Java Updater, One Note, and other programs that start up and then stay running in the background.
If you need any of the scanners I mentioned, you can get them free at http://www.techsupportalert.com/

[aft_lizard]

There is a much easier solution to try first. He can launch IE with add-ons disabled first. If it launches there is his problem.

[parsifal]

Thank you for your help. I went to the site and ran the superspyware. One cookie found. is this the same thing as an antiviral?

parsy, the semi-computerilliterate