Windows Vista Internet Connection Slow Down

I'm working on a Vista laptop with an extremely slow connection process. This thing takes forever to connect & download anything. I'm currently checking for malware, etc. but even getting out to the download sites takes forever.

While I'm waiting for this to happen, are there any suggestions for other possible causes of this problem?

 

Steve,
The laptop had 40 updates waiting to be downloaded when I got a hold of it. I had decided to eliminate the obvious & take care of the updates before going further (other than to ask a few questions here on windowsbbs). Once the updates finally down loaded & installed themselves, connecting to the net following the obligatory reboot was a breeze. I've been banging on the machine all day & have connected to two other networks with nary a problem. Obviously, the updates fixed something somewhere and the laptop can go back to its owner tomorrow morning.

I went out to speedtest.net and the times looked reasonable.

Thanks for your help!