Win XP and the floppy drive at shutdown.

I am having this problem with this box, where the floppy drive is grinding as if looking for a file, when i try to shut down. Some times it lasts for afew seconds, sometimes it won't stop until i have to manualy shut the box down.
ASUS A7N8X-X MOBO
AMD ATHLON2400 CHIP
512 MB PC400 MEMORY
WESTERN DIGITAL 7200 120 MB HD
ATI ALL IN WONDER 9600 VIDO

I have had this problem on some older boxes, but all i had to do was clear the recently opened documents folder, and everything would be ok.
Does win XP have this feature......can't seem to find it.
Thanks for any help.

Right clight on the start button,select properties,Start menu page,customise and the Clear button should do away with the list.

Also make sure your antivirus is not set to check the floppy drive at shutdown.