Vista boots extremely slow

Hey, I’m a Mac guy and I’ve got a friend who’s Vista machine is booting really, really slow. I’m thinking hours.

It’s a pretty fast laptop so, hardware isn’t the issue. I imagine it’s spyware or a virus. Is there any tips on booting without any extensions loading or some sort of safe boot mode that may speed up the processes to get in and poke around?

Also if you know any simple fixes/causes for this symptom besides spyware/viruses that’d be really helpful. Thanks!