Taskbar graphics and slow startup.

I had this very same issue a month ago. Here is how I diagnosed:

Open Task manager, most probably a service is eating CPU times trying to start. Check if that device is actually working, reinstall may help.

In my case, Creative Audio Service couldn't start (was frozen in starting phase in services) - 20% cpu time in task manager. When I disabled the service, I could log in as usual. Unfortunately, my sound card died and nothing could be done. I hope you are more lucky :)

Hope this helps.

Thanks for your reply!
How can I determine if a device is working?
And where can I find the CPU time of a given process?

Here is the screenshot of the processes in my laptop:

Sorry, I wasn't home and couldn't get back sooner.

Your screenshot is what you want to look at. Click on the CPU header up top to sort them in descending order. Do this as soon as you can open Task Manager upon logging in and take a screenshot. Then take another after 5-10 minutes. Post them both here. Lets look if we can find something.

If this method fails maybe you can diagnose with Troubleshoot Application Conflicts by Performing a Clean Startup.

Hi! I did a full system restore and everything went back to normal. Anyways, thanks for everything!