python startup on XP very slow

[Tim Peters]

[christof hoeke]
> for some days now i have problems with python taking a lot of time to
> start up or run programs.

What did you change on your system some days ago?  That is, things were
fine, at some point they got worse, and what changed between those two
times?

> today i installed the python 2.3rc1 but still the same problem.

That's just more evidence that it's got nothing in particular to do with
Python.

> e.g. starting pythonwin 1.53 on winXP (athlon 1200 with 512MB) which
> normally took only a few seconds now takes at least 15-20 seconds.
>
> has anybody had a similar problem or knows where the delay comes from?

I don't, and don't know.  Common culprits for things "like this" include
updates to virus scanners and firewall software -- anything that sticks its
nose into other processes' business.  So you can try killing other
processes, one at a time, and see how that affects Python startup time.