in a nutshell svchost checks the registry then starts running win2k/xp services in the background.
The time delay means you have got a lot of services running.
try
http://www.blackviper.com/WIN2K/servicecfg.htm
This site gives a list of services as well as advice on which ones are safe to switch off.
Should give you a wee bit of a performance boost as well as speeding up the booting.
I suspect norton is set to run as a service so is linked to svchost in some way.
Cheers
Karlos
If it ain't broke - try harder.
W2K Pro - Geforce2 MX400 64MB - Athlon 900