I tried almost everything listed in the form!
Finally, I determined the "hanging" on startup was caused by Kaspersky Internet Security. Once my Thinkpad was running, it would run forever, but Kaspersky in my task bar was always blinking (scanning) too much! When it didn't hang on startup, programs and even Thunderbird took significantly LONGER to load. Super annoying!!!
My solution was to uninstall Kaspersky 2012 and reinstall version 11.0.2.556 which is still available on the Kaspersky web site. (I wonder why) This was a pain to uninstall, as all Internet Security Programs seem to be.
What a difference, - my life has returned to normal and I haven't had a single hang in days. Computer working much faster again!
Respectfully,
JohnnieBush