Automatic Windows Services not Starting

My client has Windows XP Home on a Gateway desktop that “suddenly” will not start automatic windows services (key among them are: Network, Print and Audio services.) System also “suddenly started” booting extremely slow, on the order of minutes, not seconds. After the system finally gets to a usable desktop, one can start the automatic services manually without any problems.

The errant services show “automatic” and nothing appears amiss, but something obviously is wrong. Restore points do not work. Has anyone else ever experienced this problem? Any ideas what may have caused it? Anyone know a solution for repair besides fdisk, reformat and reinstall?