XP startup taking way too long

[Magnum]

My XP startup is taking way too long.

20 seconds.

Nothing in event viewer or windows log files.

Automatic updates is disabled.

Anything else to check ?

I tried Bootvis, but all I could see is a bunch of graphs, but nothing about what programs are running.

I also tried BootRacer.

Thanks,
         Andy

[dedndave]

20 seconds is pretty decent

[KeepingRealBusy]

Question,

Do you have large (gigabyte) external drive plugged in a USB2 port during startup? I always power off or remove them before starting the system (my old XP system, the new Win7 system doesn't seem to be bothered with this problem).

Dave.

[Magnum]

I have a 500 Gb external hard drive.

Boot time did not change when it is not connected.

I disabled this and it should have speeded up boot time, but when it come to Microsoft, it is a box of chocolates..you never know what you get.  :t

http://computerstepbystep.com/windows_presentation_foundation_font_cache_3.0.0.0_service.html

[dedndave]

did you delete the cache ?
i delete mine every now and then

[Magnum]

What cache are you referring to ?

Andy

[Neil]

From the command prompt (in Accessories) run msconfig, in startup (Tab) disable anything that you don't need or should not be running.

[japheth]

20 secs is rather good. Mine takes 15 secs alone until it reaches the XP boot menu - and then another 15 secs until the logon screen appears.

So the first thing to do is to count seconds starting from the boot menu only. If you have no boot menu, you might have to edit file c:\boot.init ( be careful! ).

This is my boot.ini ( XP is on D:, hence partition(2) ):

Code Select Expand


timeout=10
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect /noguiboot /sos
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="XP /3GB" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect /noguiboot /sos /3GB
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="XP /BASEVIDEO" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect /noguiboot /sos /basevideo
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="XP /ONECPU" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect /noguiboot /sos /onecpu
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="XP /DEBUG" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect /noguiboot /sos /debugport=com1 /baudrate=115200 /debug
C:\="MS-DOS"


[Magnum]

I have run startup with minimal drivers and saw to change in boot time.

My system used to take 7 cycles of the blue bar going across the screen until it got to the login screen.

And another 5 seconds from then till the desktop came up.

I will just live with it.

I may enable a boot log and see what it shows.

Andy

[Magnum]

I got my system running right.

Less than 30 seconds from power on till desktop.

I just restored a disk image.

Restoring the MBR did not help.

Another one of those mysteries. 

Andy

[dedndave]

optimizing boot time is a little like optimizing the wrong part of a program
well, unless you plan on spending your day re-booting

[shankle]

Do like I did with Wimdows 7. Start from scratch and do a fresh install.
Loads of fun

[Magnum]

Not necessary to start from scratch.

Andy

[KeepingRealBusy]

Andy,

I wonder. Did you try to defrag the HD. If re-installing from an image, it generally (in essence) re-formats the partition then copies the data directly to the sectors, thus you not only get a clean set of code and tables, you also get a de-fragged partition. A badly fragmented HD can play havoc with disk I/O.

Dave.

[Magnum]

I don't think that is true, because when I used MyDefrag, the hard drive had all kinds of empty holes.

A defrag takes hours while an image restore for me is 10 minutes.

Andy