Ron,
You are running too many programs, thus at shutdown WinXP has to close each one, taking 15 to 20 seconds.
Try this: Start/Run/type MSCONFIG and click OK. Now go to the startup tab and disable/uncheck everything except
your anti-virus program, if Norton, it will start with NAV. Click Apply and OK. Reboot your PC. Now you'll have a "lean, mean machine that will boot faster and shutdown faster. Disabling programs/applications does NOT delete them, it only stops them from starting up at boot time. You can run any application by clicking the icon on your desktop or startup menu.