rebooting has slowed down

[BarryC]

Okay, this is just weird. Whatever the problem is, it started suddenly, sometime last year, maybe during the Spring or something.
When I reboot the computer, the rebooting process stops temporarily. It happens when the white bootscreen is up. That's the one with the Windows 2000 logo in the middle, and the little red progress bar near the bottom. As the progress bar moves from left to right, the booting process stops when the progress bar is about halfway across. Then after maybe 3 to 5 minutes everything finishes up.
I went the last 7 or 8 months without my Panda Antivirus being updated, so I figured maybe viruses caused the problem. But when I updated and did a full scan, and found viruses, they were disinfected, but the problem still exists. The computer is free of viruses and spyware, so the problem must be elsewhere. I'm at a loss. Gone are the days of doing a quick reboot. That 3 to 5 minute stop in the middle ruins it.
Thanks,
Barry

[DoctorDoom]

I went the last 7 or 8 months without my Panda Antivirus being updated ...That's playing Russian Roulette with an Uzi. Unfortunately, it's very common out there in Puterland. That's why viruses/worms spread.

To the problem: it sounds like there may be a corrupted driver or a hardware issue. Did you install or delete any hardware or software just prior to the appearance of the problem?

Suggestion: try booting into Safe Mode (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/202485) and see what happens. This starts Windows with a minimum configuration. It may take a few minutes, but if it boots without the delay, it might well be a driver issue.

If that doesn't help, try the bootlog.

In order to create a boot log in Windows 2000, simply press F8 during the initial part of the system boot. This appears as an option when the screen is black, and there is a line of squares across the bottom. After pressing F8, a menu will appear offering several boot options, such as Safe Mode, Safe Mode with Networking, Safe Mode with Command Prompt, Enable Boot Logging, Enable VGA Mode, and more. Choose Enable Boot Logging, and Windows 2000 will continue to boot as normal, but will also log the results.Boot Logging (http://windows.about.com/od/diskspace/l/aa041600a.htm)

This records the whole boot sequence for study.

If no joy ...

Use Ctrl-Alt-Delete to see what's running in Processes when the bootup completes. If there's a scrollbar on the right, you have too much crap starting at bootup.

Fetch Startup Control Panel (http://www.mlin.net/StartupCPL.shtml). It runs on any Windows version, and is much more user-friendly than MSCONFIG. It's very useful for turning off programs that start at bootup. If none of them reduce the boot time, go to Plan B.

For a more thorough analysis, download HijackThis (http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/downloads.html), run "Do a system scan and save a logfile", and then post the complete logfile here.

Another useful program on the same page is StartupList. It's a geek tool, but it's very informative.

[BarryC]

Thanks for all your suggestions. All that sounds complicated, and sounds like something I'm afraid to get into. I dunno. Maybe if I'm ambitious. Thanks again.

[Rhino]

Try the Startup Control Panel suggestion. It's simple to download and run, and it gives great information. You can post screenshots from it here and we can advise you further.