Ok guys, I'm completely networking illiterate, so help me out here.
I have an external DSL modem connected to my machine via network adapter card. What happens is that when my computer starts it is completely idle, e.g. I can move the mouse cursor and open folders, even start simple applications like Notepad or Calculator, but the rest of the applications don't function until certain period of time passes. For example, when I try to open Control Panel, it doesn't show any icons in it, and when I go to My Computer -> Properties, there's nothing under CPU information, when I click on IE shortcut, the browser window doesn't launch. Then, after about two or three minutes, all of these start at the same time. So if I clicked on IE shortcut a few times, more than one IE browser instances will start. This is how my machine is idle EVERY time I restart it. None of the startup application work either until this mysterious delay period is over.
Now, I noticed that if I unplug my DSL modem before restarting the PC, the machine restarts just fine and all applications work immediately after I log in, just as they should. After I plug the cable back in, I'm also able to connect to the Internet just fine.
The, conclusion, therefore, is as follows:
1) Restart + Network Cable connected => 2-3 minutes idle period;
2) Restart + Network Cable unplugged, then plugged back in after login => normal operation
This is caused by the damn DSL modem that I have, or by the network settings. I'm saying this because I tried it after a fresh windows reinstallation, and it was like that (e.g. no additional applications were installed that might have caused this problem).
Please help me. 2-3 minutes doesn't sound like much, but I have to wait this long AFTER EVERY goddamn reboot. That's at least 10 minutes every day. And imagine what happens when I install new drivers or tweak the settings, and the machine needs to be rebooted repeatedly.
In case you're wondering, my DSL modem's model is Westell WireSpeed, it came from Verizon bundled with some crap software of theirs. I installed their software once, before I reinstalled windows a couple of times, and it always was scanning my system on the start, to "make sure" I was ready to connect to the net. I never installed that s--- again, and just use the modem and my Verizon user id and password with normal custom internet connection.
