Whatever u do make sure the hard disk activity light isn't on, or any noise coming from the harddisk, otherwise a reboot will shag ur ccomputer royally. It may simply be really slow at startup on occasions, I get this sometimes, leave it for 10 mins.

Try scandisk, see if there's any physical errors on the disk. Then run virus check, as mentioned above. Could be any number of reasons, virus or just clogged up arteries.

Try booting up in safemode with bootlog. Open up c:\bootlog.txt, check the lastenteries. Problem most likley here.

If it persists, backup, format, scandisk then install xp again. Then scandisk n defrag on a weekly basis. Boring n tedious, yes, but essential to running a smooth computer. Scandisk on a friday night, go out, mullet out in bed then wake up, job done with minimal down time. :lol: