I have a Dell XPS pentium 4 w/HT 2MB cache and 1 gig of ram. I'm running Windows XP Home edition with Nortorn Security with AntiSpyware edition. My computer loads ok and my desktop looks find. I select my desktop icons and nothing happens. About 3-5 minutes later, all the programs will start running. This really bugs me. I know when I select the Icons on my desktop, it will start the programs minutes later. What's up with this? Why the slow reaction time?
Try doing some general housekeeping first such as Disk CLEANUP from My Computer and DEFRAG from Start/Accessories /system tools...
When done with that Update your virus definitions thru Norton's and run a full system scan...
Re-boot and SEE if things are any better, if not we'll need more info...

patio. Download start-up or hijack this to see what is happening......>http://www.merijn.org/downloads.html

Any spelling mistakes,may be due unable to edit/post.....ok..Remove Norton.I have been using DiskDefrag and it does't solve the problem. I know Norton has issues. My settings are possibly causing the slow reaction.
I can remove Norton, but it's to important not to have a
antivirus protection these days.
MAYBE Nortons firewall and virus protection settings need to be tweeked. I am sure Norton is doing its job,
but I still have no idea why it takes so long for the computer to react?

Run these 3 online scans to be sure you're clean.

Online Virus Scan and Spyware Scans
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

Highly recommended second Online Malware Scan
http://www.ewido.net/en/Disable real time scanning. You probably only need to scan files when downloaded or WRITTEN to, especially if you do regular scans. Real time scanning scans every program and every file when it is opened, consuming almost 100% of the CPU cycles. That is why you get the delay.Check the speed in Safe Mode