Finder at Startup

Recently, my iBook has been behaving strangely.

The Finder will not launch immedietly at startup if it my Mac has not had a period of time between shutting down and starting up. I've used the Clam X AV virus scanner, and I've also used the Disk Utility to repair the permissions.

Anything in startup like a network mapping that no longer is there?

No errors come up at startup....

As a noob, I need an explaination of what a network mapping is, but there have been some network fluctuations recently....

To see some of what loads at start up, look in /Library/StartupItems and System Preferences > Accounts (your account)> Login Items

Also try to start up holding down Shift to see if the Finder loads faster. This will start the mac with just the basics to get to the desktop.

It's fine now!

The solution was the fixing of our network or internet connection recently; you were right! Thanks!