Not sure what the problem could be but, go to www.blackviper.com & you will find a lot of advice on how to tweak XP.

Thanks for the help guys! With a little help I managed to locate the problem. I disabled “startup type” in: (Right click my computer) manage / services and applications / services / workstation. Which fixed the problem - However I don’t think I will be able to go onto a network with this setting disabled. So I put the setting back to Automatic. I thought if this is a network problem maybe its got something to do with my crossover cable being attached (As the network is not yet set up). Sure enough when I disconnected the crossover cable the problem is solved. In my mind I am thinking that the 60sec delay is the pc looking for a pc to network to & because the network is not set up it keeps searching before doing any other processes - (Just a theory please do correct me here). Does any one know if I have completely fixed the problem? I mean will I be able to hook up the network & not get the startup delay?

you could re-install your windows xp, or system restore back to when it was fine. Also you should have a antivirus installed on your computer if you already dont. That happened to my computer a while ago, it isnt fun,lol. I just went to task manager, and started a new task (startup). Then i re-installed xp and it fixed it fine. hope we helped, l8r