Hi Patrick
You don't mention which desktop manager this is (GDM, KDM, SDDM,
etc.).
The desktop theme may also have an effect. Also, if home directories are NFS-
mounted that could slow it down. You might try logging in on a console and
running 'top' to see if anything jumps out.
We are running Gnome Desktop Manager with the default theme.
I will check the other things you suggested.
Thanks
David