Hum,
Sounds like he need to turn off a `service` that is causing the system to wait...
Try CodeStuff Starter to prune those start-up programs as well...
I’ve been testing `Advanced system optimiser` for about a year now; and would recommend that to anyone without the skill to delve into regedit.
Optimises the registry safely and does all the usual system tidying (like get rid of cookies and zero length files) as well as giving you the option to tweak your system with just one click of the mouse.)
Another more advanced (prefetch) option is to set up (use `bootvis`) to preload only the most needed files...
But my xp pro sp2 is still slow at 20 - 30 seconds with all the programs running...