Super Slow Start-Up

Over the past week or two, my laptop seems to be getting slower and slower when starting up. I was just in the Virus/Spyware/Malware Removal Forum and got the all clear that my system is clean (and they referred me to this Forum), but it still takes an unusually long time to boot-up. Below is the link to my post in that forum:

http://forums.whatthetech.com/index.php?showtopic=117661

I did everything that was mentioned, including defragging and loading the Startup Control Panel, but it's still the same. After I log in, it takes several minutes to load…my virus protection pops up indicating its not enabled (then eventually turns itself on), and even the "microsoft music" that plays when starting up plays about 2-3 minutes later….the lag and slowness is very frustrating.

When starting up -
1) "loading personal settings" takes 2-3 minutes+
2) status bar on bottom of screen takes 3-5 minutes
3) occasionally a toolbar is missing from the status bar - for instance, my virus protection (Microsoft Security Essentials) icon wasn't there for me to turn off to run one of the programs you requested; also, the volume control icon was missing another time…but after re-booting, they are there again.

When when opening Internet Explorer, it takes about 20-30 seconds to open (maybe a little longer)….but once I'm in the browser, it seems to run okay.

In addition, Microsoft Outlook is not working properly…after re-booting, I will get the error message "Enter Network Password" popping up constantly and I cannot receive or send messages. But then after a while (could be an hour or more), the messages will go away and I can send/recieve messages. The strange thing is it seems to happen again later on (I think without a reboot)….I'm not sure if only happens after a re-boot though

Anyway, all these things are quite odd and I'm not sure what is going on….hopefully you will be able to diagnose and help fix. Please let me know what I need to do…

Thanks for your help!

do you know how full your hard drive is? when it gets too full, say less than 10% free space available, this can cause massive slow down of a pc.

I thought of that, but it's only at about 55% capacity…however, the majority of the slowdown is when booting up (and Outlook is running fine at the moment) Local Disk (C:) Properties: Used Space - 57.8 GB Free Space - 53.9 GB Capacity - 111 GB

Hi Have a look in the BIOS make sure you are not trying to boot from a network drive…. or something other than your hard drive or CD/DVD Set the boot priority to 1 Optical drive (CD/DVD) 2 Hard drive 0 3 USB or floppy drive 4 Network drive If you want you can set it to boot from the hard drive as number 1 priority….. but the important thing is not to try to boot from something thats not there! Dont forget to save settings before exiting the BIOS Disconnect your Internet cable from your computer, and make sure you have no discs in the CD drive and no USB drives plugged in and definitely no floppy disc in (If you have such a thing!) now reboot it. is it any quicker? Regards paws

My 2c worth

Hi ShawBuck,
From the Malware thread.

I did everything that was mentioned, including defragging and loading the Startup Control Panel

Did you actually disable any of the items in the startup menu as advised in the Malware thread ? If not, you should now.

I notice from your logs that your PC has lots of Adobe (bloatware with security issues). I'd remove it all and replace it with Foxit Reader.

Uninstall Adobe with the freeware version of Revo Uninstaller.
http://www.revouninstaller.com/revo_uninst…e_download.html
Foxit Reader http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/reader/addons.php

Check out the Startup Services.

Start / Run and type mscofig / OK /click on Sevices tab / tick the box 'hide all microsoft services' / untick all the boxes except your firwall and Antivirus entries / apply / Ok

Reboot your PC and see if there is now a normal startup time. If not, go back to services and tick all the boxes again as there is no service/program causing the slow startup problem.

If there is a marked improvement in startup time, return to 'Services' and tick the first 3 to 5 unticked boxes. Reboot and keep ticking (3 to 5 at a time) unticked services until all are ticked, or until there is a sudden slowdown in startup. If after any reboot there isa a sudden slowdown, one of the last ticked services is causing the problem. Untick them one at a time and reboot to work out which one it is. Untick it in services and disable it in the startup menu.

Cheers,
Lee

How does it behave if you boot to Safe Mode with Networking? If better then something or things is starting at boot that is causing the problem.

Use msconfig to determine what is causing the problem.

These are good tutorials on using msconfig in XP, Vista or Windows 7:
How to use msconfig in Windows XP
How to use msconfig in Windows Vista
How to use msconfig in Windows 7

Click on Start then Run, type msconfig and press Enter.
Click on the Startup tab, record what is currently starting then click the Disable All button.
Reboot and see if it runs normal.
If yes then use msconfig to enable several items at a time till you find the culprit.

If no, boot to Safe Mode again, start msconfig and click on the Services tab.
Check the Hide All Microsoft Services box, record what is currently starting then click the Disable All button.
Again, do a regular boot, see if it runs normal.
If yes then use msconfig to enable services till you find the culprit.

Once you've found the culprit, uninstall it or find out how to eliminate it from your system.
Simply disabling it in msconfig is a temporary fix at best.
Enable everything else you disabled.

Thank you all for your advice. Unfortunately, nothing has worked as of yet. I will address each of your questions/posts below:

PAWS-
My boot priority is currently set to the following:
1) CD/DVD/CD-RW Drive
2) Internal HDD
3) Diskette Drive
4) USB Storage Device
Modular Bay HDD
Cardbus NIC
D/Dock PCI Slot NIC
Onboard NIC

I tried your suggestions, and nothing improved…(in hindsight, the only thing I didn't try is to put the HDD as priority 1 - I'll do it if you think that this will make a difference)


LEE -
1) Using the Startup Control Panel, I disabled everything except for the firewall and virus programs..
2) I need Adobe for my workplace, so I can read, edit, and make PDF files. I'm assuming that the Foxit Reader is a read-only program. Is there another program with the same/similar capabilities that does not have security issues?
3) Using msconfig, I unticked ALL boxes (I didn't see entries for the firewall and antivirus programs)…still very long start up. Should I start unticking boxes for "microsoft services"?


Ztruker-
It did seem to open a LITTLE faster in "Safe Mode with Networking"…but not much…and clearly not to the speed that it was opening a week ago.
I tried you suggestions using msconfig (startup tab and services tab), and to difference in startup speed.


However, I have a question for you all. Would it make a difference if I used a "restore point" from last week or earlier? I'm not entirely sure what restore points are or necessarily how to do it, but it seems like if I could use the configuration from when it was working better, it might work….but again, I'm clueless and looking for your advice and suggestions. It still takes about 5-8 minutes to "restart", but once it's going, it seems to run fine….so I don't know what's going on with it…

Maybe the best bet would to take it into a shop to have it looked at? I live in a very small town with only one computer repair shop…so I'm a bit leary since I don't know him, his quality, or how quick he will be.

Definitely worth trying a Restore point created prior to when the slowdown started.

1) Using the Startup Control Panel, I disabled everything except for the firewall and virus programs..
2) I need Adobe for my workplace, so I can read, edit, and make PDF files. I'm assuming that the Foxit Reader is a read-only program. Is there another program with the same/similar capabilities that does not have security issues?
3) Using msconfig, I unticked ALL boxes (I didn't see entries for the firewall and antivirus programs)…still very long start up. Should I start unticking boxes for "microsoft services"?

Foxit will read, edit and make PDF files too (anything Adobe can do). Ther advantage of foxit is it's far smaller resource footprint and it's far less intrusive than Adobe (adobe is a junk program and I'm sure there is not one Tech. here that uses anything but Foxit). Don't try to remove Adobe with 'add and remove programs'.Use Revo uninstaller only.

No, don't start unticking any Microsoft services, you need them. The problem obviously lies elsewhere.

The next thing I would try is:

Go to Start and then to Run
Type in chkdsk /r
Note the space between k and /
Click Enter …It will probably ask if you want to do this on the next reboot…click Y

If the window doesn't shutdown on its own then reboot the system manually. On reboot the system will start the chkdsk operation

Note… there are 5 stages…
It may appear to hang at a certain percent for some time, or even back up and go over the same area…this is normal…
DO NOT SHUT YOUR COMPUTER DOWN WHILE CHKDSK IS RUNNING OR YOU CAN HAVE SEVERE PROBLEMS
This can take some time to complete.
When completed it will boot the system back into Windows.

Let me know if this fixes the problem.

Cheers,
Lee

Thank you again so much for responding. I did a System Restore to a point 2 weeks ago (just to be sure)…and after the 2nd re-boot, it started great! The only lag was the "windows music" when it opens which occured a minute or two after opening. Other than that, it seems to work great! Lee, should I do your advice, or quit while I'm ahead? Please let me know when you get a chance…I'm going to bed now (almost 2am here) and will continue again tomorrow with whatever you guys think, if anything. Thanks again to all of you (Paws, Lee, and Ztruker)!!

Lee, should I do your advice, or quit while I'm ahead? Please let me know when you get a chance…I'm going to bed now (almost 2am here) and will continue again tomorrow with whatever you guys think, if anything.

Do it. It won't hurt a bit. Might even solve a few things we don't even know about that might cause future problems.

Most of all, thank Ztruker for hitting the nail on the head
Sometimes the simplest solution is the first thing to try, while a less experienced Tech like myself, scrambles around for the complex solution.

Cheers,
Lee