Windows 7 x64 suddenly slow to startup

All of a sudden today when I went to start up my computer, it took way longer than normal to boot up (three mionutes as opposed to the usual 30sec or less). I have turned it off and reset it and each time I turn it on, the same thing happens.

Something of note: The 'Shut Down' button in the windows tab shows the indication that there are updates to apply, but I've shut down my machine more than once and it says that it's installing the updates, yet when I turn the computer back on, the indicator is still there next to the shut down button. I have attached a snippet of what I'm reffering to just to be clear.

What could this be?

my specs:
System Manufacturer/Model Number Custom OS Windows 7 64bit CPU AMD Phenom II X4 925 Motherboard Gigabyte 890GPA-UD3H Memory 4GB KIT (2X2GB) DDR3 PATRIOT PVS34G1600LLK

this automated fix may solve the problem. it says vista, but it works in win7 too:

How do I reset Windows Update components?

RAWhitelock said:

All of a sudden today when I went to start up my computer, it took way longer than normal to boot up (three mionutes as opposed to the usual 30sec or less). I have turned it off and reset it and each time I turn it on, the same thing happens.

Something of note: The 'Shut Down' button in the windows tab shows the indication that there are updates to apply, but I've shut down my machine more than once and it says that it's installing the updates, yet when I turn the computer back on, the indicator is still there next to the shut down button. I have attached a snippet of what I'm reffering to just to be clear.

What could this be?

my specs:
System Manufacturer/Model Number Custom OS Windows 7 64bit CPU AMD Phenom II X4 925 Motherboard Gigabyte 890GPA-UD3H Memory 4GB KIT (2X2GB) DDR3 PATRIOT PVS34G1600LLK

It often does take much longer to boot if windows has to install updates. Have you tried rebooting to see if the problem exists?

Does it do the same thing when you boot in safe mode (f8)?

Could be that Windows is installing/configuring some updates at startup, causing slower than normal startup. This happens to me from time to time. I would suggest to either disable automatic updates (could be dangerous though if we are talking about security updates) or install updates manually, and see if problem persists.

Okay, guys. So far I have tried clean-boot, and I have restored my system to a week ago to no avail. I'm still having the same problem. I'm also seeing the "!" indication on my shutdown button as if to indicate that there are updates to install. When I shut down the computer, it goes thru the updating proces. This happens every single time I shut it off. It's as if the update is never fully successful. Strange, no? I will try Kword88's suggestion next. Any other suggestions would be great. Thanks, all!

Hey guys. Quick thought - could this have anything to do with a problem with Norton AV? I'm getting an error message from them that I've never seen since I've had this machine.