Mostly agree with you and have seen it before. However it happens on all reboots with comodo, remove comodo and put zone alarm back on and the problem goes away.
hmmmmm .....
There's two possibilities - 1)the Comodo install is actually causing this or 2) the Comodo install is creating the environment that allows the XP bug to trigger.
Have you tried installing CPF and then applying the XP system tray fixes?
I would recommend you try this, as the firewall is really brilliant.
Here's a couple of links for possible fixes:
http://www.tech-pro.net/howto_013.htmlhttp://www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/winxp/t1034225301http://winhlp.com/WxSystray.htmMore and more of these possible fixes seem to revolve around UPnP - Universal Plug and Play. Is UPnP enabled? If so, do you run hardware that will only run with a UPnP driver? If not, the Gibson Research site (
www.grc.com) has a free downloadable tool that lets you turn on or off the UPnP service. Their recommendation is to turn it off unless absolutely required and I tend to agree with them. You could downloadthis tool, turn off UPnP, reboot and see if the issue has gone away, or changed in nature. If nothing else, it may give us a pointer of where to look next. I realise a gradual process of elimination is not necessarily the quickest way to find a solution, but it worked for my in-laws!

LOL
If the problem still exists after applying the fixes, please send an email to support[ at ]comodo.com. The tech guys there are among the best I've ever come across and Comodo as a company are particularly responsive.
Hope this helps,
ewen :-)
P.S. If this does fix the issue, can you please post here so everyone else can benefit. Thanks