Windows XP slow to load at Background Screen

splash screen...
are you referring to the Welcome screen?

No, it's after that. It's when I see my background wallpaper but the system tray, desktop icons, etc...haven't loaded yet. All I see is my background for like 3+ minutes.

remove the background and see if yourlogin speeds up. if it does, save the backgroud as a smaller file / differnet format and test again.

you might also want to check the windows event viewer for any potential problems; start menu --> run --> eventvwr

doh, you can see the image, but the rest wont load; check just the windows event viewer.

Are you connecting up to a network - if you are connecting to a domain it may be that you profile is sored remotely or you machine is waiting for some server side information regarding your profile (roaming profile) and the delay may be caused by that. If the machine is standalone (ie no doamin) I agree with the other contributors. However one other thing to check would be if you are connecting to any networks - particularly if you have more than one adaptor (lan and wi-fi for instance) try disbaling one or more of them and see if that means faster boot.

I've been doing some search on my own over google and I did upgrade to Windows XP, service pack 2 and installed a bunch of their hot fixes, I wonder if that could be it.

I didn't see this problem until after I upgraded to service pack 2.

Maybe I should just run msconfig and disable each startup program one by one and see which one is the culprit.

that could do it, you can also disable some windows services from starting up as well if you don' need them - they can take some time to startup.
also, do you have 2 HDDs - i heard that this can slow down the boot up and shutdown process expecially wen you have a lot of junk installed
try defrag'ing your HDD (start menu-programs-accesories-system tools-Defragmenter
if your pc spports it you can use hibernation  - - http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,9022,00.asp

I have defragged my laptop and it is still very slow when loading up.

In safe mode, it boots fine. I've turned off most of the programs in the msconfig startup menu just to see if that helps and so far no luck.

Not sure what the problem is.

Right now I've just use Hibernate mode as a temporarily fix...if anyone has any other suggestions, feel free to post.

hibernate is great - boot up in 10-15 secs - just remember to restart every now and then - like once a week to keep things up to date and don't change hardware in the box while your hibernated (usb devices ok though)

Yep, thats what I've been doing and it works fine...It's just annoying I can't figure out why it doesn't load like it usually did when I restart.

you been on holidays or something? had to re-read this whole q.
have you installed any new devices that might take a while to load drivers - otherwise i must be services, or startup apps slowing you down - check for spyware/viruses using your appropriate scanner

unsure if inital problem was solved, but there are still good ideas here and a workaround was established for now... (until Borath formats pc and starts again)

Close, no points refunded (keep Q in archives)