Bootup takes 25 mins

D

dvd888

I have Windows XP Pro on a 5-year old computer P2-2.4GHz.
Normally it takes 2-3 mins to bootup. Recently my 80GB HD died. I paid for a
data recovery firm to make an image of my drive and they put it on a 160GB
internal HD so I can use it in my computer. They told me I have a few bad
blocks but they are able to copy something like 99.9% of my blocks over.

If I boot up in Safe Mode, it takes 1 min.
If I boot up in Normal Mode, it takes 25 mins to get to the user login
screen. After I enter my password, it takes another 35 mins to start
everything up.

Question: Does WinXP expect to run on the original HD (ie, it detects any
MAC ID of the drive)? Is it purposely booting up slowly because I am using a
different HD?

The second time I tried it, after the 35 mins, I couldn't start up any
programs.

The third time I tried it, after I put in the password, it doesn't go past
the login screen at all!

I've only tried bootup 3 times.

I just tried Safe Mode again and it booted up in 1 min and I could start any
program.
 
D

dvd888

Are you saying that my Windows is corrupted?
Why does Safe Mode work?
Would you mind answering the question I had below asking whether Windows
cares what HD I have or will an exact copy of my HD onto another HD work? Or
does Windows prevent that from working (hence crippling my bootup)?
 
H

HEMI - Powered

=?Utf-8?B?ZHZkODg4?= added these comments in the current
discussion du jour ...
I have Windows XP Pro on a 5-year old computer P2-2.4GHz.
Normally it takes 2-3 mins to bootup. Recently my 80GB HD
died. I paid for a data recovery firm to make an image of my
drive and they put it on a 160GB internal HD so I can use it
in my computer. They told me I have a few bad blocks but they
are able to copy something like 99.9% of my blocks over.

If I boot up in Safe Mode, it takes 1 min.
If I boot up in Normal Mode, it takes 25 mins to get to the
user login screen. After I enter my password, it takes another
35 mins to start everything up.
Click to expand...

Something is clearly amiss here, probably caused by the forensics
guy you hired to recover your data. Besides a repair install, I'd
suggest that you backup all of YOUR data and do a full nuke and
reinstall of Windows and your apps on the new HD, along with
kissing up to MS to activate on new HW.
Question: Does WinXP expect to run on the original HD (ie, it
detects any MAC ID of the drive)? Is it purposely booting up
slowly because I am using a different HD?
No.

The second time I tried it, after the 35 mins, I couldn't
start up any programs.
Click to expand...

Sounds like the O/S kernel and/or part(s) of the Registry are
corrupt or key drivers that do not load in Safe Mode are mortally
wounded. You need to fix the O/S or you won't be able to
continue. Imaging a wrecked HD or one that is infected is
guaranteed to fail. The recovery image is really intended for you
to get YOUR data off the crashed old drive NOT to get it to
immediately run XP.
The third time I tried it, after I put in the password, it
doesn't go past the login screen at all!

I've only tried bootup 3 times.

I just tried Safe Mode again and it booted up in 1 min and I
could start any program.
Click to expand...

That's because only the very minimum to get the O/S running loads
in Safe Mode.
 
H

HEMI - Powered

=?Utf-8?B?ZHZkODg4?= added these comments in the current
discussion du jour ...
Are you saying that my Windows is corrupted?
Yes.

Why does Safe Mode work?
Click to expand...

See my other reply,but the reason is that driver(s), .sys file
(s), .dll file(s), the Registry, your apps, many things are from
minorly to majorly mangled. Do a repain install or a fresh
install and you'll be fine.
Would you mind answering the question I had below asking
whether Windows cares what HD I have or will an exact copy of
my HD onto another HD work? Or does Windows prevent that from
working (hence crippling my bootup)?
Click to expand...

No. The worst that could happen is Windows activation scheme
would complain.
 
D

dvd888

Thanks.

The only problem is that since my computer is 5-6 years old, it's unlikely
that I can find my recovery disks.

At least I can get my data while in Safe Mode.

I was "lucky" that I only had to pay $900 to recover the data. The
unfortunate thing is that I could get a full Core 2 Duo computer with a
monitor for only $800.

I paid a heavy price for not backing up in 6 weeks (I was busy with other
things). I figured it would take me about 60 hours of work to recover most of
my files (which luckily I could do). Had I backed up a week prior, it would
have only taken me 2 hours to recover because I didn't do too many changes in
the past week.

Question: If I used a RAID 1 setup (eg, 2 HDs of 360GB each), would I be
able to use one drive if the other dies? I've never used RAID before. Would
Windows Vista inform me that I'm only operating with one HD instead of two?
 
M

Mark L. Ferguson

Yes, the idea of a Random Array of Inexpensive Disks (RAID) is that any one
can be replaced without losing anything.
With the chance to get a new computer comes the opportunity to get Vista
Business, or better, which has an autobackup feature.

--
Was this helpful? Then click the "Yes" Ratings button. Voting helps the web
interface.
http://www.microsoft.com/wn3/locales/help/help_en-us.htm#RateAPost

Mark L. Ferguson

..
 
D

DL

Mirror raid is no replacement for a dedicated *external* backup procedure.
An electrical glych can kill both hd's
 
F

Frank

Having just gone through a big time crash.....
Acronis TrueImage saved my bacon.
My drives were restored in a couple of hours..... I had other problems
but my data was intact.

I do a full backup once a month and an Incremental twice a week.
TI creates a true image of your drives and restores Everything.

www.acronis.com
 
A

AJR

Whoa - lots of replies and suggestions - always best to first look for the
"simple" answer.

It is "99.99%" pure - if you can boot OK in safe mode and not normal mode -
a drive is at fault.
 
S

Swifty

dvd888 said:
Question: If I used a RAID 1 setup (eg, 2 HDs of 360GB each), would I be
able to use one drive if the other dies? I've never used RAID before. Would
Windows Vista inform me that I'm only operating with one HD instead of two?
Click to expand...

Raid (*Redundant* Array of Inexpensive Disks) is designed to soldier on
when one disk fails. The idea is that you fit a replacement, and the
data is re- "RAID"ed, before the other one goes. You can take as long as
you like, if your nerve holds out.

In practice, this means that you get so paranoid that you have a spare
sitting there just waiting to take over. My IBM RAID card does this
automatically, if I feed it replacement disks (I fed mine two
replacement disks, so I don't lose data until the third disc failure).

RAID protects you only from disk failures. If you accidentally format a
partition, the RAID array ensures that the new zeroes stay put. So you
still need a backup to protect you from your own mistakes.
See http://www.swiftys.org.uk/wiz?1235
 
K

Ken Blake, MVP

I paid a heavy price for not backing up in 6 weeks (I was busy with other
things). I figured it would take me about 60 hours of work to recover most of
my files (which luckily I could do). Had I backed up a week prior, it would
have only taken me 2 hours to recover because I didn't do too many changes in
the past week.

Question: If I used a RAID 1 setup (eg, 2 HDs of 360GB each), would I be
able to use one drive if the other dies? I've never used RAID before. Would
Windows Vista inform me that I'm only operating with one HD instead of two?
Click to expand...


RAID 1 (mirroring) is *not* a backup solution. RAID 1 uses two or more
drives, each a duplicate of the others, to provide redundancy, not
backup. It's used in situations (almost always within corporations,
not in homes) where any downtown can't be tolerated, because the way
it works is that if one drive fails the other takes over seamlessly.

Although some people thing of RAID 1 as a backup technique, that
is *not* what it is, since it's subject to simultaneous loss of the
original and the mirror to many of the most common dangers threatening
your data--severe power glitches, nearby lightning strikes, virus
attacks, theft of the computer, etc. Most companies that use RAID 1
also have a strong external backup plan in place.

You can read my general advice on backup here:

http://www.computorcompanion.com/LPMArticle.asp?ID=314
 

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