XP doesn't see contents of My Computer after startup -- delay

[H.S.]

Hello,

After I start my laptop, running fully updates XP, the computer takes
around 3 minutes *after log on* to show contents of My Computer.
Meanwhile, I can open the command prompt and can ping outside ip
addresses and I can also open Firefox browser and can browse websites.
To debug this, I have uninstalled Zone Alarm for now (I am behind a
firewall), incase it was preventing some program from contacting the
internet which in turn was preventing some services from starting up.
Looks like this is not case, the behaviour is the same with or without
zone alarm installed.

How do I find out what is causing this delay? I recall that this was not
so a few months ago. Why aren't contents of My Computer folder shown
right after I get my desktop?

thanks,
->HS

 

[Annomonus]

ZA is not a good program it will slow everything down for some reason

 

[Uncle Grumpy]

ZA is not a good program it will slow everything down for some reason

That is an absolutely irresponsible reply... and it doesn't answer the
question.

 

[Guest]

Not sure about your problem, haven't seen this, but I can second the motion
by "Annomonus" (I wonder if that's a region-specific spelling of Anonymous,
just as 'behaviour' is of 'behavior' [just kidding]) regarding Zone Alarm. I
was a ZA proponent for several years, until I, too, noticed that things
weren't as fast as they used to be. So I uninstalled ZA and everything took
off like the proverbial bat our of Hades. Pity, because I used to like the
notifications of what was trying to do what. Now I place myself entirely in
the hands of the Microsoft Firewall and, so far (touch wood), no problems at
all. Of course I am a firm believer in "if you don't do anything you are
ashamed of, who cares who sees?"

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

ZA is not a good program it will slow everything down for some reason

I don't agree at all. It's far from my experience on the many machines I've
installed it on.

 

[H.S.]

Not sure about your problem, haven't seen this, but I can second the motion
by "Annomonus" (I wonder if that's a region-specific spelling of Anonymous,
just as 'behaviour' is of 'behavior' [just kidding]) regarding Zone Alarm. I
was a ZA proponent for several years, until I, too, noticed that things
weren't as fast as they used to be. So I uninstalled ZA and everything took
off like the proverbial bat our of Hades. Pity, because I used to like the
notifications of what was trying to do what. Now I place myself entirely in
the hands of the Microsoft Firewall and, so far (touch wood), no problems at
all. Of course I am a firm believer in "if you don't do anything you are
ashamed of, who cares who sees?"

Update: I uninstalled most of the peripheral programs and started
re-installing them one by one. The problem turned out to be the wireless
card somehow. Disabling it gets me the desktop and My Computer contents
in around 1min and 45secs -- with zone alarm and Symantec antivirus
installed; not bad.

When I reinstalled Zone Alarm, I did not notice any big delay in booting
and getting my desktop and running applications by the way. The biggest
slowdown in booting came from Symantec Antivirus, and even that was only
around 20 seconds.

->HS

 

[H.S.]

Hello,

After I start my laptop, running fully updates XP, the computer takes
around 3 minutes *after log on* to show contents of My Computer.
Meanwhile, I can open the command prompt and can ping outside ip
addresses and I can also open Firefox browser and can browse websites.
To debug this, I have uninstalled Zone Alarm for now (I am behind a
firewall), incase it was preventing some program from contacting the
internet which in turn was preventing some services from starting up.
Looks like this is not case, the behaviour is the same with or without
zone alarm installed.

How do I find out what is causing this delay? I recall that this was not
so a few months ago. Why aren't contents of My Computer folder shown
right after I get my desktop?

thanks,
->HS

Update: if I disable the wireless card, the problem disappears. I get
the folder contents in around 1 min and 45 sec after booting.

This is on a Dell 5160 Inspiron which uses a Broadcom wireless card (BCM
1440 min pci I think). Any idea what would be causing this problem? The
wireless driver is also update, from MS updates. What is the wireless
card waiting for in those 3 or so minutes?

->HS