Slow!!!!

[SlipSlice]

Man I don't know what it is damn..sry for lang. I cann't speed up my startup for nothing..I have nothing running but the normal stuff, no xtra startup programs. And it takes like 3 and a half minutes to startup, it is ridiculous.. But the funny thing is my internet is fast, so it couldn't by the processor or nothin i don't 'believe.. anybody know what it is? Maybe harddrive? Any suggestions..Thx for the help.

-Slip.

 

[i_am_mustang_man]

is your hdd ide?
is it recently defragged?
checked for errors?
run sisoft sandra and do the hdd test and post what you get because most slow bootups are because of slow hdd

 

[SlipSlice]

is your hdd ide?
is it recently defragged?
checked for errors?
run sisoft sandra and do the hdd test and post what you get because most slow bootups are because of slow hdd

What do you mean by ide? Yes on the defrag..haven't checked for errors, going to..also going to try the Sandra test..

I will repost my result afterwards.

 

[dduummyy]

nothin speeds the startup like a format and a fresh install.

 

[SlipSlice]

I just reformatted 4 days ago, and even after the reformat, it was slower than ever...

I have to say though, the first time I ever reformatted, it was really fresh, my comp. started up in like, 35 seconds i timed it at.. or something like that maybe 40 at most..and now look at it.

 

[trog100]

is your hardrive full up.. or is it a virgin windows intall and relatively empty hardrive.. and once up and running does it all run okay..

trog

 

[SlipSlice]

No the harddrive is clean, I have plenty of space, it is def. a virgy...haha, but other than the startup it runs ok, I guess, but there is a little bit of slowness compared to what it used to be though. Ohh, and I don't know if this has anything to do with it, but when I reformated, I left my Graphics card in the first time, and now it like double dropped on the performance. So now I know from now on..

 

[Alec§taar]

Some Ideas + Tests For Diagnosing Your Bootup

Some ideas that may help you diagnose what EXACTLY is slowing down your bootup:

FIRST THING TO TRY:

Use the /SOS boot.ini switch (this will show if you are slow in loading drivers & services upon bootup, prior to logging in to your GUI explorer shell).

How to do that? See here:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/833721

You will do that via notepad.exe edits of your BOOT.INI file (hidden system file in the root of C:\ drive).

SECOND THING TO TRY:

You may also wish to elect to diagnose Windows bootup itself via the 'verbose mode' being turned on in the MSGINA logon portion of your bootup!

That happens once you have logged in as the username you use (on XP this is not always the case having to manually logon as Administrator or other usernames + typing in a password, as it is in NT/2000/Server 2003 however, by default).

This is done via this registry hack between the dotted lines here:

=====================================================

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\policies\system]
"VerboseStatus"=dword:00000001

=====================================================

Merge that content between the dotted lines, after you save it to a .reg extension'd file, using notepad.exe!

* Watch out for the "gap" between the "r's" & "e" in the word 'Current' up there in the .reg file content above (the forums board seems to insert that for some reason, & it is NOT supposed to be there).

(merge via

regedit.exe WHATEVERYOUCALLEDIT.reg

commandline)

OR

By simply double-clicking on the file itself in Explorer.exe!

REBOOT once all that is done, & you will see if it is drivers or services loading having problems loading themselves (/SOS in boot.ini shows that much) OR something during the Explorer.exe shell being slower than usual via its verbose reporting now being turned on (this is IF you logon "not automatically" (meaning not logging in as a user typing your password manually) as XP defaults to iirc, but NT/2000/Server 2003 do NOT allow typically by default).

APK

P.S.=> Also, using msconfig can help as well possibly!

Cut out ANYTHING you do not ABSOLUTELY need & start enabling them again one by one to see which may be your 'culprit' here!

(This can be ESPECIALLY risky on the services end though! Thus that said, you may need to ask on this here if you are NOT experienced w/ what services you can cut off & still operate your OS - not recommended w/out guidance, & the SYSTEM OPTIMIZATION STICKY THREAD CAN HELP YOU HERE, it is in the software section)...

EDIT PART: Your Event Logs MAY also be another resource to use... look thru them! Especially the ones issuing FAILURES or WARNINGS (specifically the SYSTEM & SECURITY logs)... apk

 

[GLD]

Hi Alec. Glad to see you made your way back to TPU!

 

[trog100]

one thing.. do u have all your correct mobo drivers installed properly..

trog

 

[Alec§taar]

Hi Alec. Glad to see you made your way back to TPU!

Hello GLD, & I am glad to be back.



* Best forums I have found in a very long time online, if not THE best I have ever been a member of.

APK

 

[Judas]

Alright alec ..nice to see you back on here mate

 

[Alec§taar]

Alright alec ..nice to see you back on here mate

Thanks & good to be back (but I won't be here quite as often, a bit busy lately (this time of year always is for me)).

APK

 

[SlipSlice]

one thing.. do u have all your correct mobo drivers installed properly..

trog

As far as I know, I have all the correct drivers. I haven't messed with them in almost 2 years now..nothin really changed until this last reformat. Everything has been slow, I might need a new hdd huh?

 

[Alec§taar]

As far as I know, I have all the correct drivers. I haven't messed with them in almost 2 years now..nothin really changed until this last reformat. Everything has been slow, I might need a new hdd huh?

Have you tried the set of steps for the C:\BOOT.INI edit for the /SOS switch, & reg hacks I outlined?

They WILL show your boot process in its entirety, and possibly help us "narrow-down" what is taking you so long to bootup.

(After all - they ARE what will show you your ENTIRE boot processing... in addition to cutting things off using msconfig, & slowly/1-by-1 re-enabling them, to help "ferret out" the culprit here, IF it is software-side based @ least!)

APK

P.S.=> Your Event Logs MAY also be another resource to use... look thru them! Especially the ones issuing FAILURES or WARNINGS (specifically the SYSTEM & SECURITY logs)... apk

 

[SlipSlice]

I was going to try it, but when I clicked on the link, it didn't take me to the steps to do it, so I didn't do it, lol, but I would like to, could you give me the exact link that I need, and what parts I need to go threw and follow? I would appreciate it, thx.

 

[Alec§taar]

I was going to try it, but when I clicked on the link, it didn't take me to the steps to do it, so I didn't do it, lol, but I would like to, could you give me the exact link that I need, and what parts I need to go threw and follow? I would appreciate it, thx.

You would open C:\BOOT.INI using notepad.exe & add the /SOS to the end of one of its commandlines, thus (example):

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Windows Server 2003, Enterprise" /fastdetect /SOS



APK

P.S.=> The rest, looking @ your EventLogs, & using msconfig to trim out things during your OS startup to help ferret out a culprit here are others you can look@ & do also... along w/ the registry merge file hack for making MSGINA.DLL (logon) show EXACTLY what is going on while you bootup... apk

 

[SlipSlice]

Ok, I opened it with notepad, now do I space, then put /SOS, and after that, what do I do? I don't mean to be so comlicated, but I just want to make sure I do this right.

Thx for the help

Slip-

 

[Alec§taar]

Ok, I opened it with notepad, now do I space, then put /SOS, and after that, what do I do? I don't mean to be so comlicated, but I just want to make sure I do this right.

Thx for the help

Slip-

Yes, that is exactly what you do, & then save it AND BE SURE YOU SAVE IT AS TYPE "ALL FILES" because notepad.exe is "stupid" this way & defaults to a .txt extension!

The clue to it saving properly is it asking you IF you wish to overwrite the original - keep this in mind.

(Also, you may wish to save the ORIGINAL unedited one though, as boot.bak, just in case - but, imo @ least, when doing this? It affects nothing if you do not put spaces in there (switchwork looks for the "/" character is all, spaces afaik, do NOT affect that).

Remember: The other registry hack is helpful as well, as are the EventLogs (SYSTEM specfically & possibly APPLICATIONS sections as well in this case).

The last thing to do would be to use msconfig to trim out things you have detonating in your STARTUP groups & registry RUN areas, @ least temporarily, & see if one of THEM is indeed, your problem here (possible, but unlikely).

Services & drivers are what I suspect is the problem, but... this remains to be seen.

APK

P.S.=> Playing with services though, you should have advice on that IF you are not certain which ones you can "stall" temporarily @ least, & the GENERAL SOFTWARE SECTION's "sticky thread" for System Optimization can be of great assist to you in this capacity... apk

 

[SlipSlice]

ok, I saved the boot.ini one with /SOS, and I saved the regular one boot.bak..both in my documents...now what do I do, just restart, I am lost now..haha.

 

[Alec§taar]

ok, I saved the boot.ini one with /SOS, and I saved the regular one boot.bak..both in my documents...now what do I do, just restart, I am lost now..haha.

Well, you would overwrite the OLD boot.ini (with no /SOS switch in it) in C:\ (the root of C drive, where it exists normally) & then reboot.

I would STRONGLY suggest you also do the verbose mode of explorer bootup MSGINA dialog as well, per the registry hack I mentioned as well (2nd half of the booting process really after the switch from character mode bootup to graphical mode).

Then, if nothing shows "Slow" or funny in either process? You would examine your startup processes that msconfig controls, or rather, allows you to control/examine.

(Disabling ALL possible RUN areas from the registry & startup group areas, & enabling apps there 1 by 1 as needed - in an attempt to find out WHY or WHAT is making your bootup so slow etc.)

Services would be another to pursue, but I would recommend doing those, last.

APK

P.S.=> Don't forget to look @ your EventLogs SYSTEM & APPLICATIONS areas as well... apk

 

[SlipSlice]

why would I want to replace the old boot.ini file with the one I just made, the backup is the same thing right? I thought I would only have to throw the one I created into a folder then restart. Im lost, but I have to get to bed for now, I will check forums tommorow hoping for some good news on how to start this process..

thx for help

slip-

 

[Alec§taar]

why would I want to replace the old boot.ini file with the one I just made, the backup is the same thing right? I thought I would only have to throw the one I created into a folder then restart. Im lost, but I have to get to bed for now, I will check forums tommorow hoping for some good news on how to start this process..

thx for help

slip-

As long as the C:\BOOT.INI has the /SOS added (and you have a backup, which can @ worst, be recopied to C:\ IF you set the rights to folders other than C:\WINDOWS & its subfolders to allow access to them (done in secpol.msc iirc) you are set - I would KEEP boot.bak in C:\ with boot.ini just in case though if you have not done so... recovery console would be the way to get it right again if needed, copying boot.bak over boot.ini)

APK

 

[SlipSlice]

yea, but where do I insert that file that I edited with notepad that is what I am talking about, right now I just saved it to my documents, I just need to know where that files goes.

thx for help

slip

 

[Alec§taar]

yea, but where do I insert that file that I edited with notepad that is what I am talking about, right now I just saved it to my documents, I just need to know where that files goes.

thx for help

slip

The version of boot.ini (that you edited from your original C:\BOOT.INI) that has the /SOS added onto it, like the example I posted above, must go in C:\ (overwriting your original that did not have it).

APK