Slow booting

[BP]

My wife has a Compaq laptop with the XP Home Edition on it. It has just
started to boot VERY SLOOWLY - maybe taking several minutes - during which
the "welcome" screen stays on. I don't even know how to troubleshoot it.
Any ideas?

 

[Malke]

My wife has a Compaq laptop with the XP Home Edition on it. It has
just started to boot VERY SLOOWLY - maybe taking several minutes -
during which
the "welcome" screen stays on. I don't even know how to troubleshoot
it. Any ideas?

1) scan with current antivirus using updated definitions - note that
"current" means a version not older than 2002; 2) remove spyware with
tools such as Spybot S&D (www.security.kolla.de) and/or Ad-aware
(www.lavasoftusa.com) - note that it is a good idea to do virus and
spyware scans in Safe Mode; 3) delete temporary and Temporary Internet
Files; 4) stop unnecessary services/programs from running at startup
(see www.blackviper.com for a listing of services). Also, look in Event
Viewer for clues.

Malke