I have a couple thoughts.
A couple of weeks ago I got infected by a virus (Bagle?) which wiped out my security software
This is very disturbing. What security software? Note the Beagle virus, in its many variants, is not very sophisticated and has been around for years. Even mediocre anti-virus programs should have caught it before it could execute its malicious code.
Speaking generally, without pointing fingers or making accusations, but
typically, when a computer becomes infected even though there is the necessary security programs in place, it is usually due to a lapse in "user discipline" - that part of "Practicing Safe Computing", either in keeping the system patched and updated in a timely manner, to include Windows critical updates and anti-malware signature/definition files, failure to scan downloads and attachments before scanning, or visiting sites badguys tend to wallow in, such as P2P sites where illegal file sharing is tolerated, porn, or illegal gambling sites.
If the security systems have not been upgraded and your computing habits are the same as when your system was infected, then it is very likely you have been, or will be soon, reinfected. Here's a link to my canned text on
Cleaning Out Malware. Use it for ideas and suggestions to complement your current defenses, and computing practices. You might want to run through it just to make sure your system is clean now.
Any errors in Device Manager? Usually, assuming the computer is malware free, at this stage in the boot process, drivers for added hardware are attempting to loading up. Delays can occur here for several reasons:
Corrupt driver
Failing hardware
Missing expected hardware
New unexpected hardware
I would disconnect any extra or unneeded devices, especially USB devices (memory sticks, external drives, cameras, etc), then reboot and see what happens.
Chkdsk is a command-line (DOS prompt) tool within Windows that checks disk volumes for errors. If run with the proper switch, it will also attempt to repair errors it finds. Chkdsk can repair bad sectors, lost clusters, cross-linked files, and directory errors. To use chkdsk, you must be logged on as an administrator, or be in the administrators group.
1. Click Start, and then Run.
2. In the 'Open' text box, enter cmd, then press Enter.
3. At the command prompt, enter chkdsk [drive]: /r (note the space before the "/r" and be sure to replace [drive] with the applicable drive letter). Press Enter to start.
Note: If chkdsk finds files in use (and it probably will), you will receive the following message:
Chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by another process. Would you like to schedule this volume to be checked the next time the system restarts? (Y/N)
Press
Y then press
Enter to allow chkdsk to run at next bootup, then reboot.
Note: You will see many folks suggest using the /f switch instead of /r. The /r switch is better because it also instructs chkdsk to search for and attempt to repair bad sectors. /r includes /f. To see the switch descriptions, enter
chkdsk /? at that command prompt, and press
Enter.
If the drives are okay, and you don't have any more malware, does it take an extremely long time to boot in Safe Mode? If so, then I would agree with Abydos and would be looking at motherboard drivers - I would check the maker's website for new one. NOTE: I do not recommend you flash the BIOS. If the boot process is hitting the drives, the BIOS is working.
For the record - My XPPSP2 takes over 4 minutes to fully boot - that's to set up two monitors, the RAID, then boot into Windows and setup my security defenses.
the usual Boot Menu shows up (with its normal 30sec countdown)
You know, you can easily change that 30 seconds to something less in msconfig. I have mine set to 7 seconds. There is about a 4 second delay before the countdown starts, and it shows up on my monitors, so that gives me 3 seconds to interrupt the process and select another option (I have added Safe Mode so I don't have to franticly hit F8), or just continue on and boot normally. I don't think most people need 30 seconds to make a decision there.
