This is normal *if* you have a lot of things loading up when you boot. For
example, does the area near the clock look like an aisle at Walmart? Do you
have virus software? A firewall? Add-ons, such as desktop managers, programs
that load a part of themselves in order to start up faster? Office (any
version)?
Every one of those items must be loaded into your system before you get
access. Additionally, every one of those things takes up memory. (Check out
http://www.blackviper.com/ for more info.)
Microsoft used to offer a program called BootVis that would let you see what
programs are delaying your boot, however, they stopped offering it. You may
be able to find it on the net somewhere.
I would suggest that you start by finding the programs that start, that you
don't need. An example I have is Mozilla (a web browser). It has an option
to load a part of the program to speed up starting. If I chose that option,
it would extend my boot-up (to load the start-up module into memory.)
Also, check out your Start Up folder. All programs in there will start
everytime you start XP. (Another place would be the system registry, but
mess that up and XP won't start at all.)
Finally, check out Black Viper's site. You will probably get some help
there.
HTH
Courtney