Constant Hard Disk Reading and Writing

I have a relatively new computer with 24 gig of ram running - a terabite of hard drive less than half full and when I start my computer from sleep or restart the Resource Monitor indicates 100% disk activity (constant reading and writing by the System and or one of the SVChosts) mostly on my hard drive for upwards of 15 to 37 minutes.  During that time I can do literally nothing with my computer.  I've checked for viruses using Norton 2011, which I'm running, Malware Bytes, and tried the routine with minimizing startup programs and shutting off the indexing.  Does anyone know if there is a Norton file running in the background causing this activity or what's going on.  I don't want to have to re-install Windows 7 and all the programs I have on it as it's a two day ordeal.  Any solutions suggested?  Is this caused by a Norton problem?

Thank you.