>>Hello,
>>
>>We have a PC running WinNT 4.0 Workstation, and whenever you log in, the machine accesses the harddrive for about 5 minutes - without fail and without any indication of what it is doing.
>>I've looked in the startup boxes, for my user and for the administrator and for all users, there is nothing.
>>We have disabled the virus protection software (Norton antivirus and Norton utilities), in case that was the problem - but it didn't change anything.
>>If I check the task manager, the only thing using the CPU is the IDLE PROCESS.
>>I don't know where else to look - any ideas? Thanks!
>
>I'd start by looking at programs started through registry entries; try HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion and look under the Run and RunServices keys, as well as the StartUp folders you've already examined. You could also see what's running through Task Manager.

I wonder if the virtual memory file is also having problems. Maybe the drive needs defragmenting or has bad sectors so it is struggling to set up the VM file?