Long pause during XP boot-up

[Boreas]

I have an annoying issue when I boot my computer, where after the windows desktop first appears, but before any icons are loaded, it just sits there for a minute or two. Not frozen, I can still move my mouse and everything, but no hard drive activity for nearly two minutes. What is it and how can I fix it? Thank you very much!

 

[nerp]

Likely network, wireless, bluetooth or USB device related.

 

[Boreas]

I have no idea whats causing it. It happens to both XP boxes at home, so its most likely something with XP. I do have a home network.

 

[Boreas]

It seems as though that this is a common problem that no one knows how to fix...

 

[Arkaign]

To narrow it down, disable the network device in the bios, reboot, test. If that is not it, re-enable it and then unplug all non-critical USB devices, reboot, test. If that's not it, see if safe mode takes the same ridiculous amount of time to boot.

Fwiw, one time I ran into a similar problem, and deleting the contents of C:\windows\prefetch did the trick, guess something in there was borked.

good luck, and post back with results, please