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Really Bad Bootup Time

post #1 of 46
4/4/06 at 2:56pm
Thread Starter 
Hey all. I am hoping someone might be able to help me here.

I have the laptop in my sig below which I formated and then optimized with the guide found here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/show...53#post1324553

My system is about a month old. When I got it the first thing I did was format it and optimize it the best I could. I have used just about every tweak on the first page of this guide. I cleaned out my startup to only leave the programs I REALLY need. So I have this new Laptop with 2 Gigs of Ram and it's optimized *I THINK* rather well..

However my computer from coldboot til the second the hard drive stops accessing anything and it's all fully loaded takes a rediculous 92 seconds! I have no idea why it's doing this. My bootfiles are regorganized. I even stopped alot of services I don't ever need and it's still taking this long.

I Did notice when my format was first done, but before I did any tweaks (or had installed anything) that the system tended to "hang" on start up. It still does from time to time. Sometimes the blue screen "welcome" Windows XP will stay on for over 10-15. Other times the taskbar it self seems to take a long while to actually graphically load. Often during the blue welcome screen the HDD would not access at all.

Also, since I got this system about 3 isolated times I have gotten "widows could not write the module xx8x8xx8" (Or whatever it says.) a few times... indicating my memory could be bad... right?

I don't see how my optimized computer could be booting so slow. My thought is maybe I got a bad hard drive? Does that sound likely? I just know Dell will give me **** if I want to replace it... they will probably want me to do 1000 meaningless tests just to conclude what I already know. Wish I could get around that! But should I maybe get on a chat with them?

Anyway thoughts or advice appreciated.

Oh and PS... does Mcafee really need the 5-6 things it has in startup? That alone is 1/3 of my startup processes in msconfig...
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post #2 of 46
4/4/06 at 3:16pm
That does seem quite slow. Even non-optomized should be faster on a fresh format. I would try reformating it again if you can. If you get the same results its either the memory or possibly the HDD.

Other ideas, is your ram from Dell or a 3rd party? have you ran any mem/hdd diagnostic tests?
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post #3 of 46
4/4/06 at 3:28pm
My first guess would be memory. You could try using one module at a time and see if one allows your system to boot faster than the other...

There's also tools like memtest86 you can use to check for any problems.
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post #4 of 46
4/4/06 at 3:46pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks guys. I was gonna ask if you could recommend a few programs for memory and HDD tests? I have not ran any tests of that type yet. Don't have the program to.

I thought of trying one memorystick at a time. I will do that. Going temporarily down to 1 Gig wont hurt the boot process?

Oh and Pwain, my ram is just Dell memory. I know the common consensus here is to buy ram elsewhere, which I would of did except my system was bought from a Friend who works at Dell who gave me a discount and it turned out getting 2 Gigs in the system from him was a better deal than going to NewEgg or whatever.

(Of course then again, at least with new Egg I could of chosen my own brand... but too late for that now!)
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post #5 of 46
4/4/06 at 4:08pm
Check out the Ultimate Boot CD. I use it all the time to diagnose all kinds of hardware problems on machines.

http://ubcd.sourceforge.net/download.html
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post #6 of 46
4/4/06 at 4:09pm
I don't think there is any noticable difference between booting with 1 and 2 GB of memory, especially if it is taking that long.

I know it's elementary, but have you eliminated any possibility of spyware? That's the most common reason for long bootup times I've experienced...
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post #7 of 46
4/4/06 at 4:23pm
Thread Starter 
I have not scanned for spyware, I can try that too. My system isn't that old though so that really didn't occur to me. And there is the fact that my system acted iffy when I first formatted it. I wish I would of thought to time the boot up then. I didn't think much of it, thinking it would get faster after I optimized.

I hate to format... again. But I may need to try that. Anyone know how to backup Outlook data? (Inbox, personal folders, etc?)
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post #8 of 46
4/4/06 at 4:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by zeonstar
Oh and Pwain, my ram is just Dell memory. I know the common consensus here is to buy ram elsewhere, which I would of did except my system was bought from a Friend who works at Dell who gave me a discount and it turned out getting 2 Gigs in the system from him was a better deal than going to NewEgg or whatever.

(Of course then again, at least with new Egg I could of chosen my own brand... but too late for that now!)
Well thats good in your case, because if its the ram you can just do a retrun to Dell, it took 2 weeks to get my corsair ram swapped with Newegg.

but yeah, testing a sick at a time wont hurt anything and is a good idea.
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post #9 of 46
4/4/06 at 4:54pm
1.5 min is a little long. but if it aint broke, dont fix it.
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post #10 of 46
4/4/06 at 5:00pm
If you haven't scanned for spyware, and don't run a resident spyware scanner, you definately should check for spyware and trojans, especially if you're using IE. I've seen machines infected literally within minutes of first bootup from a fresh install. Malware is so pervasive, if you don't actively work to prevent it, you're going to end up with some problems.

I use MS anti-spyware as a resident scanner, and usually use hijackthis to help figure out any problems.
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post #11 of 46
4/4/06 at 6:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Coop
I use MS anti-spyware as a resident scanner, and usually use hijackthis to help figure out any problems.
Your in line for serious problems if you trust m$ to protect your system.

MS Anti spyware crap has already allowed several 'partners' products to go unhindered'.

Remember the old saying 'don't let the fox look after the chickens'.

Think about what i'm saying here.

Dougie.
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post #12 of 46
4/4/06 at 6:33pm
Thread Starter 
That's a good expression. Hahah.
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post #13 of 46
4/4/06 at 6:34pm
Thread Starter 
I usually use Ad aware for spyware. Is that good enough or should use another?
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post #14 of 46
4/4/06 at 6:35pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cpt. Jack
Check out the Ultimate Boot CD. I use it all the time to diagnose all kinds of hardware problems on machines.

http://ubcd.sourceforge.net/download.html
What exactly is this anyway? If i just want some memory and HDD tests, is this what I want?
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post #15 of 46
4/4/06 at 6:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by scotland
Your in line for serious problems if you trust m$ to protect your system.

MS Anti spyware crap has already allowed several 'partners' products to go unhindered'.

Remember the old saying 'don't let the fox look after the chickens'.

Think about what i'm saying here.

Dougie.
Link please.

I haven't had any issues using MS Anti-Spyware, and I do routinely check for issues with hijackthis... Been using it for over a year now, and have found it to work as well as ad-aware, and think it is more user friendly.

Each to their own though.
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post #16 of 46
4/4/06 at 7:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Coop
Link please.

I haven't had any issues using MS Anti-Spyware, and I do routinely check for issues with hijackthis... Been using it for over a year now, and have found it to work as well as ad-aware, and think it is more user friendly.

Each to their own though.
http://www.microsoftmonitor.com/archives/005839.html

http://www.varbusiness.com/sections/...leId=180200675

'Coincidentally, Microsoft and Symantec -- longtime partners -- last week took jabs at each other over the former's official entrance into the consumer security market.

Symantec made a point, however, to stress that its consumer titles, including Norton Antivirus and Norton Internet Security, were not affected by the Microsoft mistake.'


Windows It's-Not-Spyware-If-It-Comes-From-One-Of-Our-Partners

Go do some googling please before questioning my worldly wisdom
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post #17 of 46
4/4/06 at 7:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by scotland
Your in line for serious problems if you trust m$ to protect your system.

MS Anti spyware crap has already allowed several 'partners' products to go unhindered'.

Remember the old saying 'don't let the fox look after the chickens'.

Think about what i'm saying here.

Dougie.
Sounds like more oppinion than fact.

I know quite a few people who use it and have had zero problems. I personally use a combo of AVG antivirus and ad-aware just because it works and see no reason to switch.
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post #18 of 46
4/4/06 at 7:21pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by zeonstar
I usually use Ad aware for spyware. Is that good enough or should use another?
A combination of that and spybot won't go amiss (if updated reguarly)

Good idea as well is to get a good (updated) hosts list and put it in \windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts

Basically you can edit this file and add any site (ad sites) as in :-

127.0.0.110money.us
127.0.0.110s.com.br
127.0.0.110xmarketing.112.2o7.net
127.0.0.110xmultistreamincome.112.2o7.net
127.0.0.110xoneminmil.112.2o7.net
127.0.0.110xpowerglide.112.2o7.net
127.0.0.110xx.com
127.0.0.111.rtcode.com
127.0.0.1111.hitbox.com
127.0.0.1111porno.com
127.0.0.1117.235.linkey.ru

This is a small part of 1.7MB hosts file LOL

The addresses all resolve to your own PC. (for the uninitiated)

Dougie.
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post #19 of 46
4/4/06 at 7:22pm
Thread Starter 
How accurate are those registry cleaning programs? I have never used a register cleaner. I'm afraid it's gonig to screw up some file extension i actually NEED.
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post #20 of 46
4/4/06 at 7:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by pwain
Sounds like more oppinion than fact.

I know quite a few people who use it and have had zero problems. I personally use a combo of AVG antivirus and ad-aware just because it works and see no reason to switch.
I bet your 'buddies' still get a ton of crap on their pc. All m$ sponsored.

I can't believe anyone but a complete noobie would trust microsoft with 'ANYTHING' to do with computer security.
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