xp launches about 40 programmes when it boots and it is normal. that number may be diffrent but the idea is the same. if you want you can turn off some programms but do that at your own risk! but there is a great place to look up for a virus that you may have. anything that looks suspicious might be a virus or a sh*tty M$ program. another great place to look for a boorable programes is RegistryEditor (regedit) (press win->run->type regedit and when it opens go:HKEY_LOCALMACHINE->SOFTWARE->Microsoft->Windows->CurrentVersion->Run)
hope this helps