I am having problems with my windows startup. I understand windows xp
was designed for a quick boot but thats not the way its going ? I have
no idea whats causing it. Even when i boot with a selective startup
same thing happens. I've also tryed clearing the registry, scanning
for possible viruses. Same. And I have a decent amount of ram 1GB. So
i dont think thats the problem. Find me a solution please ! Thanks.

try a google search... slow windows startup XP

I did ..

OK, first of all, remove those programs from your startup which u feel
are unnessecary... for that, either you go to the preferences of each
program that runs on start up and tweak the settings accordingly.

Secondly, remove the useless programs from the startup folder, which
is under the prorams in the start menu.

Thirdly, u defragment your computer using the disk defragmentor, which
can be found int the system tools area of the accessories.

Further, you could optimise your registry by using programs such as
registry mechanic which are easily available on download.com

If all of these dont work, i would recommend you to take a backup and
reformat your computer... There;s nothing more satisfactory

Thanks alot that should help. I'll give it a go.

Please be advised that there's no such thing as a FAST windows startup!

Maybe your right as a no 'fast' windows startup, But it shouldnt take
that long when the windows logo appears and its starting to load.
Maybe i needed to clarify that. Its when the windows logo os shown it
takes way too long.  Or at least longer than it used to take.

So, do I get the 2 dollars?

Didnt work though ..

Try making your paging file bigger...

>> Right click "My Computer" and go down and click "Properties"
>> Click the "Advanced" tab
>> In the "Performance" area, click the "settings" button
>> Click the "advanced" tab
>> At the bottom in the "Virtual Memory" section, click "Change"
>> Select the biggest drive on your system (if applicable) and enter a
bigger number, such as something about 3 times the ammount of RAM
installed on your computer (make sure you have enough disk space), you
will select the drive first and then in the "Custom Size" options, put
the initial size (MB) in the text box and the MAX size, in which it
will not exceed this amount of space. you must click the "Set" button,
or your options will not be saved.
>> make sure that if you have selected a different drive that you
select the old drive that still has the old paging file and delete the
paging file for that drive.  to do this just select the old drive and
click the radio option button called "No Paging File". and then again,
click "Set" to make sure the changes are applied.
>> click ok until you are done.

>> Go to Start-> Run and type msconfig
>>click on Startup Tab
>>Click on disable all or u can select the applications u dont want on startup
** Even if u disable all, it works best 'coz its windows XP
>>click Apply and Restart 
>>When computer reboots Check the box Dont show this msg again and click ok

Comp wil work better

I hv worked with Hewlett Packard and that is why giving u this advice
u can contact me for any further assistance - natidada123@yahoo.com

Hi,
As, you already know about startup programs, as per other conversations.
There are some services too that start at windows loading. Say, if you
have Oracel installed, Oracle service will start up and so on...
Try changing all the unwanted services from automatic to manaul.
To do this, go to control panel>administrative tools>services.
This will show a big list of services, disable whatever you don't
want. Note: Whatever service you don't know, don't change it.

Have a nice day!

Your slow startup could be the result of an error in the Windows XP
registry. It's a result of the *.*avi property handler, and has
something to do with having large avi files, like divx movies on your
system.

Here's how to fix it:
Go to: start/run
Type in regedit, hit <enter>
Go to: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT/SystemFileAssociations/.avi/shellex/PropertyHandler
Click on the value in the right frame and hit <delete>
If the system asks you if you're ok with deleting the value, confirm with yes
Exit the registry

If you feel insecure about editing the registry, google on how to back it up.
However, i did this tweak a 1000 times, and it never gave me any trouble.
Good luck!