Slooooooooow XP Startup

[Ecniv]

My wifes computer has a slow start up. I don't like it cause its making her angry before she even gets to use it.

Now I've gone through the start up msconfig... and turned off things that may slow it but its still slow and it seems to hang whilst loading stuff.

Unfortunately reformating and restarting from scratch is not an option as the Sims 2 is on there with a couple of hours game play etc and EA don't seem to have an easy way to back that up :/
Plus (of course) all the other apps like Outlook are set up just right.

Anyone have any apps to assist clensing/speeding up start up times??


Vince

[dglienna]

just use hibernate mode to shut down. I use it on my laptop as I power down frequently, and hate waiting. I reboot once a week to do virus scanning and things like that.
I have a lot of programs on the laptop, and start-up takes 10 times as long as it did when it was clean (from the factory)

[Xcoder]

run some utilities program to clean up temp files and unwanted registry entries, search for spyware and adware remove manually all other things you dont need like pictures of your mother in law and so....:bigyello:

[Ecniv]

Which utils?


Found out its Norton :/ advchk, ccapp and ccevent - killed those three via msconfig and it shot in. Put those back so slow....

Also changed the timeout part of the msconfig to 10 secs.. but now (of course) it doesn't load them all.

Typical.

[Robbo]

control alt delete and have a look at the programs running? maybe worth stopping if there not needed from there and then keeping it on, so you dont have to wait for boot up

[Ecniv]

ctrl+alt+del.. yeah looked at that
Proggies running - hardly any
However the services look a lot worse.. multiple svchosts on local and server etc... But I messaed about killing them before and if you kill the wrong one, windoze dies... :(

If you happpen to know of any apps that read the services with a help info on them so you'd know which to shut down, or a windoze optimisation site for tweaking the services etc... :)

Links welcome...

[Robbo]

sure if you look at the windows website and search for windows XP hang/slow it will give you reference to which programs which should be running on win 95 it was just explorer and systray everything else could be ended, unsure without look on XP?

[DeadEyes]

You can speed up the boot process by enabling "Rapid Bios Boot" or "Fast/Quick boot".

[plenderj]

Which part of the boot in particular takes long?
Is it getting to the Windows XP Boot Loader, loading into windows, waiting to display the user logon screen, or something after that?

[Robbo]

my xp takes about 10 seconds to the log on screen, then about 10 seconds to boot before i can press the start button

[wossname]

My Firewire external HDD (300 GB :D) sometimes hangs windows when it is connected or when it spins up.

Or sometimes it just slows the machine down a a minute ot two.

[Robbo]

300GB bet that cost u a bucket, bet thats the software, have a check for updates

[dglienna]

after I enter my password for return from hiberanation, it takes over 10 seconds. I see my workspace, but I think that there is a quick scan going on that prevents doing much.

[Avatarp]

YOu should download HijackThis for free. Install it and run. This program is not for average users. Becareful before you remove anything in the list. Research each item in the list. Eventually you should be able to clean up that computer of all unwanted programs. Also run other Spyware detectors such as Adaware 6.0. Make sure that your PC is behind a firewall at all times. Also disconect from the Internet when you are not using your PC.

[Robbo]

what do u do if you have broadband?? or use your PC for file sharing??

[Pirate]

First delete all the files in the temp folder manually . Turn off some windows services . and do some tweaking stuff that you hear around you , you know ...;)

[Pirate]

See if any of these programs help you : http://www.handyarchive.com/free/windows-xp-startup/

[dglienna]

I think that its these programs that are scanning the registry and stuff every time that I re-start.


edit: just killed Index service. I don't know what turned it on.

[Robbo]

cool will have a look at that web site

dont suppose you know why an on board VGA Sis type would clash with a proview Tft monitor do you and show "vga not support", could this cause my PC to freeze?, will have a test this weekend, but cant play DVDs or games, because they change the resolution and it crashes?? using power DVD

[Pirate]

Originally posted by dglienna
I think that its these programs that are scanning the registry and stuff every time that I re-start.

edit: just killed Index service. I don't know what turned it on.
It's important system service and maybe because it's called by some other service to operate properly .

[Ecniv]

Plenderj:
Its going through the bios bit fast.
Windows logo comes on no problem .. takes the average amount of time
Desktop boots up
** Here's where it slows ** the icons appear in the corner, comp appears to hang then suddenly processes all click you made whilst it was hanging. Norton doesn't appear until last, Zonealarm is the one appearing directly after the slowdown.

Using msconfig looked like norton apps were killing it for some reason. Not sure why.


Thanks for the link ppl, I'll take a look later and see if there is useful stuff on them :)

[Robbo]

i would delete any apps you dont want, or at least stop them running on startup?

[alex_read]

It could be the amount of applications & services running on startup, a virus starting on the windows startup or an app trying to connect to the internet at windows startup...

Can you give us a screenshot or 2 for the list of the task manager processes when you've just started the PC/windows?

[dglienna]

Originally posted by Robbo
cool will have a look at that web site

dont suppose you know why an on board VGA Sis type would clash with a proview Tft monitor do you and show "vga not support", could this cause my PC to freeze?, will have a test this weekend, but cant play DVDs or games, because they change the resolution and it crashes?? using power DVD

try the Generic LCD driver. It may work for you.

[Robbo]

do i just select that instead of a plug and play monitor??

at present the PC just constantly re-boots, on for different lengths of time just restarts, havent a clue whats causing it?

ive even re-seated the fan thinking it was a over heating problem, however processor is only at 30 degrees or so now, and some resolutions and the display is distorted cant see have to go into safe mode or VGA mode to sort out

[DaveBo]

Probably totally unrelated to anything mentioned here, but ...
on my WindowsXP system, leaving the SanDisk CompactFlash card reader plugged into the USB without any memory card in it causes the system to stall for 5 to 10 minutes on bootup.

If there's a card in it it's OK.
I leave the thing unplugged now until I actually need it.

[Robbo]

probably its searching and then timeouts, before it continues, thats why the delay, however, back to my problem, Win XP re-booting

[Matt_T_hat]

I've seen this under 2000.

I'd like to bet you are networked.

Disconect the XP PC then boot it.

If I'm right it'll boot much much much quicker.

[Robbo]

its not a networked PC is it??

wish i could swap my problem with yours?

my PC seems freeze or reboot itself, had a large fan blowing on the motherboard this weekend never crashed

its a 1.7 celeron and AS Rock motherboard, with latest bios, AS Rock said this could be a Memory problem??

[Robbo]

please help anyone http://www.vbforums.com/showthread.php?t=311072

[Matt_T_hat]

You say you've done all the standard software tests and if it is true that
its not a networked PC
logicly it sounds like a hardware problem.

Still sounds like a network auth issue / registary job. These are well documented issues to do with some dumb as hell settings from NT technology.

Do not try to do what I say next unless you have at least AV scanned with latest update, Adaware Scan with latest update, Norton WinDoctor (or other recognised PC tune up tool).

Check your BIOS settings are as you would expect them to be. If you find you are unsure leave them alone, I don't want to hear that your PC is dead because you did something rash over what I said (I'd feel bad).

I would find out what the power rating on the PSU is an if it is up to the job.

Then this is what I would do: (With baby steps for the inexpirenced)

(You will need some screwdrivers, lots of room, a few hours, some anti-static bags.)

Get the Dog, Wife, Kids, Alien and beer out of the room.

Now (carefully) open the PC up. (It would help if you were well grounded via a wrist strap but it is not essensial.) Be carefull there are some flippin shap corners inside a case and blood is not a good addative for PCs.

Give the air inside a good snif.

Smell lots of ozone: Hmm dodgy sign...
Smell burning: worse sign - search for burn marks.
How's the PSU? it should smell at best dusty.

Don't breath too deaply or you'll sneaze and splutter in all that dust. If you have an unuswed blusher brush (as wife) and a pipe attachment for the vacume cleaner you might want to think about a gental clean of the inside of the case.

Note any strong odours, blackened areas smashed bits or parts hanging loose.

You may wish to come back here if you find any of the above.

Keep fingures away from the CPU (which should smell hot and dusty) as modern ones have very warm/hot coolent towers on them sometimes.

Remove the sound card (if it is not an onboard), place it on the antistatic bag and check everything else is securely in place.

When removing cards each one should have a screw that holds them to the case edge. Remove this first or you'll break it.

boot.

Listen for problems (beeps) and see what happens. If it gets to XP it may give you a few odd messages don't worry. click next it's just windows adapting to the change.

shut down.

Repeat with each card (although the graphics card should stay for now).

Repeate with each stick of RAM makeing sure you have a stick in slot 0(!)

Reomove the IDE cable and power (just unplug) from your CD/DVD etc drives, secondary HDD etc (NOT THE PRIMARY HDD) there is no need to physicly remove these devices unplugging them should do.

Keep going untill you have nothing left to remove.

Swap in a spare graphics card.

At some point you should have found an improvment (please allow for slower actions under the lower RAM spec). If this is the case start putting things back one by one booting in between. As soon as the fix stops working remove the offending part. Continue untill you have a working PC and a pile of dodgy parts.

If it does not improve with all the hard ware stripped the next test involoves borrowing a basic HDD with enough room for a clean install of something even 98 (but XP would be best).*

If that does not fix the problem then it is your mother board. Reseat the bios if you can.

Still a problem? Get to a service shop as the rest of the diagnostic tools are expensive.**

*The HDD test can be done first if you suspect it is a software issue.
**You can get cards that plug into a slot on the mother board and analyse the thing and tell you all it's hang-up and issues (if any).

[Robbo]

im thinking the problem must be the fan on the heat sink, its spinning however was gonna put another on blowing on the heat sink, remove my large fan and see if that does the trick???