By a long time, how long do you mean exactly?
You could tell Windows not to clear the pagefile at shutdown, this would make shutdown times quicker, however for security reasons I wouldn't recommend it (your stored passwords and other unencrypted sensitive information can get caught up in it). If your computer is otherwise electronically and physically safe, and you don't use your computer for banking\buying\shopping online a lot, this may help you.
However this is your call, it depends on how much you care about security.
To do this in registry editor go to;
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management
Change the value of ClearPageFileAtShutdown to 0. Close the Registry and restart your computer. Whenever you turn off XP from now on, the paging file won't be cleared.
Please do not perform this operation unless you are familiar with the registry and regedit. Messing around with the registry carelessly can have undesired effects.
quote:
Originally posted by rav0
I don't know why it works, but it does.
It's because when you are using a program that accesses fonts on your computer, the fonts are loaded into the memory of your computer. On shutdown of your computer it takes longer to deal with all necessary maintenance of the memory if during the cycle it has to deal with tons of unneeded crap. This actually makes a big difference.
Overall, I think clearing the fonts is the option that would be best for yourself, before messing around with when the page file should be cleared.