Windows takes a long time to load everything after a reboot

This problem has been going on for months so I can't remember when it started or what I may have been doing around the time that may have caused it. When I reboot it takes much longer to load everything than it used to. I've tried making more space on my hardrive, fixing reg entries with a Registry cleaning program, uninstalling programs and loading less programs at startup but none of it has helped. When I log off and then log back on instead of rebooting the process of loading everything is much quicker. I do regular malware scans and since I'm a Senior Class member I have been able to read my HJT logs and they seem clean. So I am almost sure it's not malware related. I'd really appreciate some help.

Does it take a long time to boot into safe mode? What do you have starting at boot? Are you mapping any networked drives?Do you have any external drives attached?Are there any errors listed in Device Manager?What version of Windows?How much RAM?How much free disk space?If you are 100% sure your system is clean of malware, then I would take the system down to bare minimums. That is, disconnect, all extra connected devices, especially external drives and USB devices; set your Firewall, anti-spyware, anti-virus, and any other startup program you have running to NOT load up during boot - then boot and see what happens.

You did not mention you had defragged lately, just a suggestion. I do it every five days.

Every 5 days? If your drives were formatted using the NTFS option, you do not need to defragment anywhere near that often. In fact you may be putting your data at undue risk. A power failure, for example, while your defrag program is moving a critical system file may leave your drive corrupt. If you are installing and uninstalling various sized files all day long, AND you are running low on disk space, you may have to defrag every month or so, otherwise, you should not have to defrag more than once every 6 months or even longer. The basic Windows defrag utility is actually pretty good at recommending if a defrag is necessary or not. Remember, once you have defragged your drives with Windows and all your major applications installed, those files are not going anywhere unless updated, so there's no need to defrag them again. Now if you are still using FAT32, then you may need to defrag more often.

Hi Digerati,

Thanks for sharing all your tips in your last post.

I have followed this maintenance routine for some time with no problems at all. I respect "Crow" greatly, it is such a shame he does not come on here anymore.

Power failure I cannot experience as I run a UPS on both PC and Laptop.

I do not use the Windows Defrag utility, I use Diskeeper lite but alway analyse my C:\ Drive to see if it needs defragging. No, certainly not running low on diskspace.

Do lots of updating and moderate installing and uninstalling but as mentioned I never defrag if it is not advised when analysed.

kind regards,

Power failure I cannot experience as I run a UPS on both PC and Laptop.

Good for you for using an UPS - I am a firm believer, and have been pushing for years for all computers to be on UPSs as surge and spike protectors are barely more than fancy, and expensive, extension cords.

Nevertheless, an UPS will not stop a PSU from failing, or a motherboard regulator circuit from going bad - and if you don't replace the batteries in an UPS every 3 years, then you don't have a reliable battery backup anyway.

As for your link to Crows post, first note that is NOT Crow that said every 5 days, but someone else. Crow simply said, "often" - so I stand by my statement above.

And note too that Diskkeeper is more aggressive the the native Windows version and that means it does a more thorough job of defragging your drive - consequently, you should need to defrag even less! That said, what I said above was that the Windows defrag is "pretty good at recommending if a defrag is necessary or not." That applies whether you use the Windows program, or another to actually defrag.

So again, much depends on your computer usage, free disk space and how your drives were formatted. If you constantly install and uninstall programs and are running low on disk space, then frequent defragging may be necessary - otherwise, there's no need to put additional wear and tear on your drives - they go through enough with anti-malware scans.

Digerati,

Your great, all your wonderful advice here, thanks very much.

I also sometimes use O & O defragger.

Don't worry my batteries are replaced regularly, thanks however for the reminder.

I realise "Crow" did not say "every 5 days" but he did not correct it either!

You maybe able to tell me how to activate my Windows Defragger. I get the following message:

Diskeeper

Unable to connect to Diskeeper service in the selected machine.
Connecting to local Diskeeper Service.

Diskeeeper and O & O are disabled in services as I only start/enable them when I want to use either.

I know if I uninstall both the above software Windows defrag may automatically activate, but would like to keep both disabled if possible. Any thoughts?

Thank you again for your advice here.

This would require more information - and since it would be inappropriate and poor forum etiquette to hijack EnigmaChick's thread, I suggest when you are ready to tackle this problem, you open your own thread so it gets the attention it deserves, and EnigmaChick's problem does not get lost in the tangent.

This would require more information - and since it would be inappropriate and poor forum etiquette to hijack EnigmaChick's thread, I suggest when you are ready to tackle this problem, you open your own thread so it gets the attention it deserves, and EnigmaChick's problem does not get lost in the tangent.

Digerati,

You are absolutely correct in my opening my own thread, sorry I thought of that only after I posted and should have gone back in and corrected my mistake.

My apologies to Enigma Chick

best regards,

Does it take a long time to boot into safe mode?

No, it's very fast in doing so.

What do you have starting at boot?

Well I just choose Safe Mode without any of the additional things like networking almost all of the time so I'm not sure what is actually running. A audio icon shows up in my tray and maybe the USB thing.

Are you mapping any networked drives?

No

Do you have any external drives attached?

Only a USB drive, if that even counts as to what you were referring to.

Are there any errors listed in Device Manager?

I don't think there are any currently.

What version of Windows?

Windows XP Home Edition SP2

How much RAM?

Only 256mb, I realise it's not much but it wasn't much of problem before.

How much free disk space?

It differs but from my experience that even when I have heaps the problem still occurs. I only have one hardrive and it's 40GB.

If you are 100% sure your system is clean of malware, then I would take the system down to bare minimums. That is, disconnect, all extra connected devices, especially external drives and USB devices; set your Firewall, anti-spyware, anti-virus, and any other startup program you have running to NOT load up during boot - then boot and see what happens.

Well I'd say more like 99% because it's almost impossible these days to be totally sure but nevertheless I will do as you said and see what happens.

I haven't defragged in possibly close to a year so I think it would be a good idea to give it a go.

My apologies to Enigma Chick

best regards,

That's okay, apology accepted but I don't think you need to apologize because I found the discussion interesting and I've had the same problem when I've had other Defreg problems installed. I think it somehow just hooks into the Windows one and I don't think there is a way around it but then again I'm not very knowledgeable with these kind of things.

When I asked what do you have running at boot up, I meant during normal boot, not Safe Mode. You need your security programs to start when the computer boots, but if you have other programs starting too, you may want to disable their "start with Windows" options, and only start them when you need them.

Certainly 256Mb of RAM could be a big part of your problem. I realize you said it was not a problem before, but thanks, for the most part, to badguys, security programs and the security features in operating systems continue to get bigger and bigger and require more horsepower and space to run in. So over the last couple years, the footprint of these programs, and Windows itself, has gotten bigger through updates, patches, and revisions. In reality, 256Mb of RAM is barely enough for XP to run in. Add a firewall, anti-virus, and anti-spyware, and you are out of RAM and have not even fired up your browser or email yet. This forces XP and your CPU to immediately spool out to the Page File (AKA swap file, disk cache, virtual memory, et al) on the sloooowwww (compared to RAM speed) disk drive. If the drive is already crowded, performance is impacted even more. If you do not have a separate video card, then your available RAM is even less as on-board video snatches a chunk of system RAM (anywhere from 32Mb to 128Mb - depending on motherboard and available RAM) and dedicates that to graphics processing. You can tell if you have a card or on-board by where the monitor connect. If it connect in the rear panel I/O panel (that rectangular area where the mouse, keyboard, printer, and other connector are located) then you are using on-board. If it connects where the expansion slot are, you are using a card.

Adding RAM by far offers the best bank for the buck in terms of increasing performance of your computer (when starting from a small amount). Generally, 1Gb is considered the "sweet spot" for XP with single core CPUs. Going from 512Mb to 1Gb offers provides a very noticeable increase in overall performance. Starting from 256Mb and you WILL notice a significant boost in virtually every aspect of your computing experience. Not only will Windows and your CPU be happy to have such a big work space, but your hard drive will be glad it is not getting beat on all the time. I recommend you dump the 256Mb and add 2 modules of 512Mb for a total of 1Gb. Note that beyond 1Gb and the returns are minimal, at best, for most people.

These popular RAM makers have auto-scanning and/or manual entry RAM wizards to help you determine compatible RAM. For manual entry, enter/select the PC or motherboard make and model number and the wizard will list compatible RAM.

Crucial - Memory Advisor
Corsair - Memory Configurator (manual data entry only)
GeIL - Memory Configurator (manual data entry only)
Kingston - Memory Search (manual data entry only)
Mushkin - Advisor
OCZ - Memory Configurator (manual data entry only)
Patriot - Memory Search (manual data entry only)
PNY - Memory Configurator (manual data entry only)
SuperTalent - Memory Finder (manual data entry only)

The following retailers have auto-scanners and manual wizards. They sell brand name and/or "house" brand (re-branded) RAM.

Newegg - Memory Configurator System Tool
MemoryStock - Upgrade Configurator
18004Memory? - Configurator

If using on-board graphics, adding even a budget $50 graphics card will yield noticeable performance gains as the board will have its dedicated RAM for graphics processing. Also, on-board graphics can then be disabled in the BIOS and that will free up the previously snatched RAM, giving your, in effect, more RAM for XP and your CPU to work with. Adding (or upgrading) a graphics card is the 2nd best bang for buck option, next to adding RAM.

Since you only have a 40Gb hard drive, then it is very likely you are running low on disk space, or at least do not have lots to spare. And since you have not defragged in over a year, then I think Tallin's suggestion to defrag is spot on. However, it does little good to attempt to defrag a crowded hard drive that is cluttered with unused programs and temporary files. You need free up as much space as possible. I suggest you look in Control Panel for programs you don't use and you know are not part of Windows or other programs, and uninstall them. Then you need to purge the system of temporary files.

Here's a link to my canned text on Cleaning Out Malware, See the section under Begin Cleaning, Delete Temporary Files, to rid your system of temporary files to free up more space. You might want to check out the rest to see if your security defenses are complete too.

Once you have uninstalled unneeded programs, and deleted all the temporary junk on your system, it is time to defrag. You should always defrag in Safe Mode. This ensures the fewest number of files are "open" and in use, thus allowing them to be defragged and moved as necessary for a more efficient defragging.

Are there any errors listed in Device Manager?

I don't think there are any currently.

To verify, look for yellow exclamation marks and red Xs. You should have none.

Do you have any external drives attached?

Only a USB drive, if that even counts as to what you were referring to.

That's exactly what I was referring to. Disconnect it and see if you still have the problem.

Thanks for the advice. I do regular temp file, etc. cleanups and often uninstall unneeded programs. I'm planning on upgrading my RAM and graphics card(I'm using a separate one from the one board one) next year but until then I'll just try and get through.

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

First, physically disconnect from the Internet to prevent a malware infection while your Anti-virus and/or Firewall are disabled in the following steps, then do a normal boot:

Click on Start then Run, type msconfig and press Enter.
Click on the Startup tab and disable everything (I mean everything).
Do a regular boot, see if it runs normal.
If yes then use msconfig to enable several items at a time till you find the culprit.

If no, click on the Services tab. Check the Hide All Microsoft Services box then disable what's left (all of it).
Again, do a regular boot, see if it runs normal.
If yes then use msconfig to enable services till you find the culprit.

Reconnect to the Internet when you AV and firewall are active again.done.

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.

PS: You really do need at least another 256MB of memory though. 256MB for XP leaves your system memory constrained which means it spends a lot of time paging stuff in and out of real memory to the hard drive which is agonizingly slow compared to everything staying resident in memory.

Okay, I used a program to show my ram stuff and here's the results. Can someone tell me in general what type of memory to ask for that will be compatible? I checked out the sites mentioned for compatiable memory but I might not find that stuff wherever I go to buy it. Memory Summary Location System board or motherboard Maximum Capacity 512 MBytes Memory Slots 2 Error Correction None Use System memory Maximum Memory Module Size 1024 MBytes Device Locator Slot 1 Manufacturer SpecTek Incorporated Serial Number 0B03C6D1 Capacity 256 MBytes Memory Type SDRAM DDR Speed PC3200 (200 MHz) Data Width 64 bits Voltage SSTL 2.5V Error Correction None Refresh Reduced (.5x)…7.8 µs Manufacturing Date 2004, Week 20 EPP SPD Support No BTW, why is it saying the maximum capacity is only 512mb when the max module size is 1 gig?

If you are going to a retail store to buy your RAM, take them the make and model number of your motherboard and have them match it up. You should be able to visually inspect the motherboard to determine make and model number (while in there, make sure the internals are clean of heat trapping dust and that all the fans spin freely). You can also use a program like Belarc Advisor or Everest to get your motherboard information.

Or you can take the RAM information from one of the sites I listed above. Crucial, Corsair, Kingston, and PNY are probably the most popular brands. The key figure in your list above is PC3200 - which is also known as DDR400.

I don't know why it says 512Mb and then 1024 - what did you use to get that output? What does the manual or motherboard maker's website say?