Windows XP - very long/unusual startup

[eck]

Hi, I've only just joined this site & have a Windows XP Home Edition computer.  I'm concerned with how it starts up. A few nights ago, I was on Internet Explorer, Firefox & Windows Media Player at the same time when the computer partially froze in that I couldn't access anything from the taskbar & start menu. Being unable to shut down/restart the computer, I (stupidly) turned it off by the powerpoint. Now, whenever I start up, the Packard Bell logo is immediately on the screen for 2-3 minutes, with the message "Press F2 to enter BIOS" & "Press F12 to system boot" & it won't react when I press either key. Then the screen is black for a short while & then it goes onto the stage where the Windows XP logo is above the moving horizontal bar (which is normal). After going blank for a further 2-3 minutes, the mouse & log-on screen appear & the computer works as normal - no information has been lost.  
My antivirus software eTrust Vet Antivirus has not notified me of any viruses & nothing else is malfunctioning. Someone suggested to me that I needed to remove the battery from the mainboard, install it again & see what happens, but I'm not sure...
I would love to know what caused this weird startup & what can be done, thanks!  

[panboy]

If i were to hazard a guess, i would say it may be a problem with your hard drive, as you say the computer is very slow to start even before windows starts.

I would remove the battery form the Mother Board, this will reset the mother board to default.

I would also try Turing on the computer with the HDD disconnected, if you gets to a Screen that says "no boot device" or such, quickly it would demon straight weather it was the HDD or not

[Raptor]

If it even affected things outside of Windows, I suggest that you do indeed remove the BIOS battery.

However, you should also diagnose the RAM and HDD.