ive been experiencing a problem and i dont know how to figure out whats
causing it.
i am using XP HOME. it is up to date with windows updates.
i have very little in this computer so its not maxxed out in any way.
i have spysweeper, pestpatrol, avg anti-virus, windows defender, spybot,
zone alarm. (none of which scan on boot up or set to scan when programs start
up.)  ive run scans and have found nothing that would cause this problem.

the problem occurred first with an image editing program. (its a top name so
its not a concern) when opening the program, my computer became halting and
freezing. the program was attempting to open but it was slowed to a
staggering creep. it doesnt happen every time just once in a while. i usually
have to shut windows down manually since the program starting up freezes
everything and doesnt open. ive uninstalled the program and reinstalled it
several times but it still happens occassionally. now the same problem has
begun happening when i boot up windows. when my desktop is loading as
programs are starting up. once it fully loads the computer seems to be ok and
so far i havent had to shut it down manually during startup (i wont do that)
but it causes my desktop to take up to 40 minutes to load.  i want to try to
find out whats causing this and correct it if possible.
again, it doesnt happen all the time, but now its happened twice with my
desktop startup so im getting concerned.
thanx in advance.