I am plagued by frequent hang ups when trying to open a program or getting it to run properly. I have done the regular maintenance like defragging, virus checking, etc. Still it frequently freezes. What should I do? How are your startup PROGRAMS?

Go to Start --> Run --> msconfig and press Enter.
Head over to the Startup tab and uncheck as MANY programs as you can (accept your antivirus)
Note: Any programs unchecked can still be run after startup.

Then I suggest downloading and installing CCleaner.
When you run it, you can uncheck everything if you WANT except System --> Temporary Files
Run the cleaner.
Now go over to the Registry section in CCleaner and run the scanner and removal a few times.

See what happens after that.

Hangs can also be caused by other reasons. If this is a recent PROBLEM, it might be fixed by this. Then again, it might not.
I guess, some computer INFO is needed.Yeah I held off that on purpose.

RAM and Processor would be useful.Along with Windows version, hard drive size/free space.Ok you caught me. Well, we just need to cooperate, that's all....hehehe