If this is when you are booting up the computer it is probably running a scan to check the registry. Are you not able to do other things while McAfee is doing "its thing?" How much RAM do you have and what OS are you running--XP or Vista? Joan In a message dated 9/10/2008 10:53:26 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, [email protected] writes: My laptop (Dell Inspiron 6000) is very slow to start up -- even before I start AOL -- sometimes taking 10-15 minutes. The problem seems to lie with AOL's McAfee, which shows as "downloading" something. I've checked the McAfee icon on my desktop, and determined that it is fully updated and that no scan is in progress. Can anyone enlighten me as to what McAfee might be downloading, and how I can stop it? Wilson **************Psssst...Have you heard the news? There's a new fashion blog, plus the latest fall trends and hair styles at StyleList.com. (http://www.stylelist.com/trends?ncid=aolsty00050000000014)