logging in on laptop

[deb]

for some unknown reason on my husband's laptop when he first boots up the computer hangs on the desktop waiting for things to load. he will ctrl, alt, del and log off, then the log on screen will come up and he'll click ok, and then the desktop loads along with everything else very quickly. How can this be resolved? Don't even know what would have started this in the first place. It was fine until a couple of weeks ago.

I did try going into the registry and editing the default log on info but didn't make the changes I had hoped for.

[flanzig1]

Do a scan for spyware/viruses. Sounds like something new/unwanted is trying to load at start up. Check in MSCONFIG to see what is in the start-up tab. Defrag HD. Check to see how full the HD is.

[deb]

thanks for the reply flanzig.... I've gone into msconfig and cannot see anything out of ordinary starting up. The only thing new was installing the zonealarm firewall/antivirus, just wondering now if that thing is the culprit. Will be turning it off and seeing if the computer boots up normal. Usually doesn't have to log in at all ....