Yep, hopefully disabling "Resume on PME" should cure you phantom starting up problem.

Go into the My Computer>Tools>Folder Options>View tab, and in there select "Show hidden files and folders", and uncheck "Hide protected operating System files".

Then find the boot.ini file in the root folder of the C: drive, right-click and choose Properties and remove the read-only attribute. Then double-click and it will open in Notepad. A standatd boot ini looks like this:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect

Modify it thus:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional Safemode with Networking" /safeboot:network /sos /bootlog

ie by adding this line:

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional Safemode with Networking" /safeboot:network /sos /bootlog

And then reboot the PC. You should then get an option on each boot to go into normal Windows or Safe Mode.