Long delay before files appear in My Computer in Windows XP

When you click Start and then click My Computer, or when you double-click My Computer on
your Windows desktop, Windows may search (a flashlight may appear) for a long time (for
example, 5 minutes) before files appear. To resolve the problem, try this:

Click Start, Run and type Services.msc

In the Services (Local) list, right-click Windows Image Acquisition (WIA), and then click Stop

For more information, and for other workarounds, see Q819017

To accomplish this via command-line:

Click Start, Run and type CMD and press Enter

Run these commands one by one and press Enter:

NET STOP STISVC (This stops the service)

SC CONFIG STISVC START= DISABLED (This sets the Service startup type to disabled)