I'm pretty new to using Inkscape, but what I've experienced so far with it I've enjoyed...until today, when I tried to vectorize an image and the entire thing crashed. Well, I figured it was just a one-off thing, so I tried again with success, but then the program got sooooo slow that it took minutes to move the image an inch or two. What I'm working on was in no way complex--no filters or anything, and I only had about three graphics total, yet the entire thing is going at a snail's pace. It's not my computer, so it must be Inkscape. Is there anyway I can get Inkscape to run faster so I can actually use it? As of right now it completely halts and is unusable.

Depends on what leads you to the slowdown.
High node number, like 30000+ nodes per path can make it slow, depending on your cpu.
A "solution" for that is hiding those parts in a layer you are not working on -toggling off its rendering.

Snapping option can also result in unwanted hangs if you zoom out and try to move objects around;
switching it off (%) can help it.


Or it's a known bug, depending on your machine/version, that can be helped by switching off the rulers (Ctrl+R).

Or you could simplify the result / use a smaller image for vectorizing / use different settings to vectorize your images, depending on the amount of detail you need. Click on one of them with the node tool to see how much detail it has, and compare to what you really need.