Ok, I've backed up the system, updated the BIOS (to the most current version), and disabled several of the startup programs. All of your suggestions has knocked over 30 seconds off of the boot time. Here are the timings:
Boot up timings after BIOS upgrade (numbers are in seconds from when the power was turned on):
POST screen: 12
IDE Detect screen: 20
Windows XP Logo: 33
Blue screen (Windows Starting?): 62
Desktop appears: 83
All apps up: 150
The BIOS upgrade has shaved 7 seconds off the boot time. Note that the BIOS upgrade re-enabled SMART (which originally shaved 30 seconds off the boot time - prior to my starting this thread).
Boot up timings after BIOS upgrade and disabling unneccary services (numbers are in seconds from when the power was turned on):
POST screen: 11
IDE Detect screen: 19
Windows XP Logo: 35
Blue screen (Windows Starting?): 62
Desktop appears: 85
All apps up: 124
Disabling unncessary services shaved another 26 seconds off of the boot time. FYI - I did researched the sevices LeeJend said could be disabled and found that most shouldn't be. The ones I disabled are:
Adobe Reader Speed Launch
ITunesHelper
Mimboot
Msmsgs
Nkvmon.exe
PhotoShow Deluxe Media Manager
QD FastAndSafe
QuickTime Task
RemoteControl
SunJavaUpdateSched
TkBellExe
Yahoo! Pager
With the wonderful help of the OSNN members, I've reduced the boot time of this system by 33 seconds.
From Steevo's post - I already run Adaware and SpyBot on a weekly basis, Microsoft AntiSpyware daily (deep scan), and NAV daily (full scan). I defrag regularly and fix file system errors monthly. Instead of running Crap Cleaner I delete all temp files and browser files about every other month. The system has been slow like this since I built it. I appreciate your comments and don't mean this to be a slight to you. :nervous: I will investigate changing the services you listed to 'manual' startup. I think I may have already done this for a few of them.
Another question for you all. I was reading about the Seagate SATA drive having AHCI capabilities. Can I change the BIOS setting from Standard IDE to AHCI without having to reformat & reinstall the system? Supposedly, AHCI allows the drive to reorder commands to speed up I/O's. Is it worth changing this setting?