Slow startup of some programs after boot

Is the hard disk working a lot during those 2 minutes?

No... There is no noticable delay in using programs that do load normally (for example Explorer)

Darko

I have the same issue with my XP build but I know mine is down to the fact I have Zonealarm (free) and eTrust AV loading and they hog all the resources until the services startup.

Its mainly down to eTrust but Zonealarm is noticably slower than my others.

Alternativly if I let the services start before I log in the symptoms disappear. Not much I can do with mine, maybe its similar with you :-(

There is no noticeable CPU usage (0-3%) during this 'period'

Darko

is this computer on a network or standalone?

It's on a network and internet (two NICs)...

if you have access, try checking the login script, for example, we use a program called MVPCinfo that is a fantastic inventory program, but it sometimes does not close right away.

another option might be that the profile for windows is going corrupt, you may have to rebuild your windows profile.

I don't use a login script...

Is there any easy way of rebuilding my profile?

Darko

Look through the running processes on the task manager and look in the following registry key:
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

See if there is anything out of the ordinary that is loading on boot.

adamdrayer: that was the first thing I checked... :)

I'll now try to recreate my profile and see what happens

Darko

ping both of the DNS servers you are using to make sure that they are both reachable.  

type "net use" at a command prompt to make sure you're machine is not trying to access a network device that is no longer accessible.

Check the event logs in Control Panel -> Administrative Tools, and see if there is any error messages.

Well I also thought this has something to do with network, but I didn't have time to investigate it... anyway, here is what is in the event logs (and is probably causing this problem)

DHCP and DNS servers are reachable immediately after startup... Oh one more thing, I also have ICS enabled..

Event Type:      Error
Event Source:      ipnathlp
Event Category:      None
Event ID:      30013
Date:            13.8.2004
Time:            12:43:16
User:            N/A
Computer:      KENDA1
Description:
The DHCP allocator has disabled itself on IP address 10.0.0.2, since the IP address is outside the 192.168.0.0/255.255.255.0 scope from which addresses are being allocated to DHCP clients. To enable the DHCP allocator on this IP address, please change the scope to include the IP address, or change the IP address to fall within the scope.


----------------- 3 minutes later:

Event Type:      Warning
Event Source:      dnscache
Event Category:      None
Event ID:      11050
Date:            13.8.2004
Time:            12:46:14
User:            N/A
Computer:      KENDA1
Description:
The DNS Client service could not contact any DNS servers for a repeated number of attempts. For the next 30 seconds the DNS Client service will not use the network to avoid further network performance problems. It will resume its normal behavior after that. If this problem persists, verify your TCP/IP configuration, specifically check that you have a preferred (and possibly an alternate) DNS server configured. If the problem continues, verify network conditions to these DNS servers or contact your network administrator.
Data:
0000: b4 05 00 00               ´...    


Event Type:      Warning
Event Source:      Dhcp
Event Category:      None
Event ID:      1003
Date:            13.8.2004
Time:            12:46:56
User:            N/A
Computer:      KENDA1
Description:
Your computer was not able to renew its address from the network (from the DHCP Server) for the Network Card with network address 000D8739EE2B.  The following error occured:
The semaphore timeout period has expired. . Your computer will continue to try and obtain an address on its own from the network address (DHCP) server.
Data:
0000: 79 00 00 00               y...    


Darko