Windows 7 - Incredibly long delay from long on to desktop

I just installed a clean version of Win 7 Pro on my Thinkpad X200. Everything is great except for one small problem: there is a 25-30 second wait between the time i enter my logon pw and the time my desktop appears. This is highly unusual for several reasons. First, it doesn't "appear" as though Windows is loading anything in that intermittent time. I have even tried waiting 30-40 seconds to enter my password (presumably, Windows loads stuff during this time assuming you will log in), but I still get the 25-30 second delay before seeing my desktop. Second, I ran the RC for about 6 months and didn't have this issue at all. In fact, log on to desktop was almost instantaneous. It almost seems like there's a mandatory 30 second waiting period. Any thoughts on this?

I may be wrong but I read somewhere that there is about a 30 second delay that allows for choosing which OS you want to load. I was thinking that can be change by entering a lower # than 30. (30 seconds) Is your motherboard Asus? I ask that because I just built my new system and my Asus mb has the 30 second delay that I had to change.