help!! win xp too long to start up and shutdown

Do u use anti- spyware? It dould be some spywares though I can't be sure. Try running an anti-spyware scan if you haven't done so.

Check Your Norton Antivirus settings.
Try Uninstalling that.
Update your virus definition, Download and install spy sweeper.
Maybe all this can solve the problem.
Use tweking utilitis like tweak ui and WinXP Manager to tweak windows to boot fast.
And delete all temp files too.
I heard that most of the spyware hide there.

well if r sure tht ur software is not prob ...

then tweak a bit with ur bios
check for hard disk pre-delays and stuff !!!

and do a disk check on all drives

clean ur registry

use the microsoft bootvis utility to find the exact happenings in ur bootup!!!

generally it takes takes about 30 secs to start and 15 secs to shutdown

and even ur processor is on the slower side compared to mine so it might be a touch slower in ur case !!!!

This wouldn't have been the case when u bought your new comp or reformatted it. As mentioned above, those are the many things that cause slow bootups. Here's one tweak you can make
1.Run SYSEDIT.EXE from the Run command.
2. Expand the system.ini file window.
3. Scroll down almost to the end of the file till you find a line called [386enh].
4. Press Enter to make one blank line, and in that line type
Irq14=4096
5. Click on the File menu, then choose Save.
Close SYSEDIT and reboot your computer.
This will increase your readup speeds on rebooting.
You could also try disabling diskette drives or CD drive as bootdevice if you dont use them for booting as it takes some time for checking them.

Try this out as well:
1. Start Registry Editor (Regedit.exe).
2. Locate the following key in the registry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SessionManager\MemoryManagement\PrefetchParameters
On the EnablePrefetcher value, change the setting from 3 to 5 (decimal).
Reboot & check your bootups by Bootvis or any other ultility.
It should give u a 3-4 second boost!

try these to have faster boot ups:
1.)right click Mycomputer
a) goto advanced>performance settings and choose adjust for best performance.
2.) refer to digits previous issues and turn off unnecessary services like help and suppot , etc (by typing services.msc in run command then doing the cahnges)
3.)type msconfig in run command and goto start up and deselect everything except your antivirus.
4.)norton is a hell of a resource hungary antivirus go for mcafee or avast instead there decent enough.

these were some basics if still the problem persists go for some tweaking softwares like vijay suggested

unlike wat calvin suggested ,,,

i dont think it is a good idea to compramise on the look of XP for performance

u can still get a good performance with the best of visual appeal

since u have 512 mb

the difference will be like 7 to 10 mb only even if u configure it to the best performance from the best looks ...

it wont effect much ....!!!

Yeah dont compromise look.
But dont install Style XP and Windows Blind as they take almost 18 mbs.