Log on Takes AGES...

[Ian Bethell]

Hi, I'm having a problem with XP Pro SP2.

It is a computer connected to a SBS2003 domain and all of a sudden, logging
on and applying personal settings is taking FOREVER.

I put it down to an oversized profile originally, but even trying to log on
as Administrator on the LOCAL computer with no network attached is taking
forever too... and not even getting past a blank screen with simply the
mouse pointer.

Last time I had this problem(on another identical machine), I had to do a
complete re-install. I'd like to avoid this.

I've done a chkdsk from a boot disk, and all seems fine.

On the last one, even a defrag didn't fix it.

Any ideas?

I thought I could perhaps Ghost the disk to another and see if that works,
but my copy of ghost v12 doesn't allow this feature as it needs to be
installed before a clone can be made... and I can't even get to a workable
state.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Thee Chicago Wolf]

Hi, I'm having a problem with XP Pro SP2.

It is a computer connected to a SBS2003 domain and all of a sudden, logging
on and applying personal settings is taking FOREVER.

I put it down to an oversized profile originally, but even trying to log on
as Administrator on the LOCAL computer with no network attached is taking
forever too... and not even getting past a blank screen with simply the
mouse pointer.

Last time I had this problem(on another identical machine), I had to do a
complete re-install. I'd like to avoid this.

I've done a chkdsk from a boot disk, and all seems fine.

On the last one, even a defrag didn't fix it.

Any ideas?

I thought I could perhaps Ghost the disk to another and see if that works,
but my copy of ghost v12 doesn't allow this feature as it needs to be
installed before a clone can be made... and I can't even get to a workable
state.

A couple thing you can try:

1) Get ahold of the User Profile Hive Cleanup utility from MS. It's
free.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...6D-8912-4E18-B570-42470E2F3582&displaylang=en

2) Disabling networking crawling might help. Get XP-Antispy 3.96-6
and, under it's Network option, click the checkbox for "Disable
Network Crawling. That sure as heck sped things up on the machines I
maintain.
http://xp-antispy.org/index.php?option=com_remository&func=selmirror&itemid=4

3) Get CCleaner and see if it can find anything junking up your system
or registry.

4) Not 100% sure if the following will help, but you can try getting
ahold of the patches in these KB articles. Slow desktop access could
be indicative of your client box trying to get chatty with the server
or some network resource but is waiting for a response, not getting
it, timing out, eventually, and then bringing up the desktop. It could
also be trying to connect to a mapped or shared drive / resource and
when it's not finding it, it's timing out.

1: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/939252
2: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/938375
3: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/918495
4: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/915377

- Thee Chicago Wolf

 

[Ian Bethell]

Thanks, i'll certainly try those suggestions.

Another point is that Safe mode works fine, but safe mode with networking
runs exceptionally slow too, though does eventually log on, and then task
manager shows that the winlogon.exe process is taking up 99% of cpu....

I can't log on at all unless it's in safe mode now.

 

[Thee Chicago Wolf]

Thanks, i'll certainly try those suggestions.

Another point is that Safe mode works fine, but safe mode with networking
runs exceptionally slow too, though does eventually log on, and then task
manager shows that the winlogon.exe process is taking up 99% of cpu....

I can't log on at all unless it's in safe mode now.

Ok, that is a bit of a clue. As I said before, some network resource
is being sought by your machine and since it's not finding it in a
timely fashion it is just giving up and timing out. Since Safe Mode
runs barebones and doesn't fire up the network, it's not surprising it
works fine.

I found two older KB articles with winlogon.exe related fixes for
issues:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/896613
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/906277

Since you mention winlogon.exe taking up 99% CPU, it's possible that
the fix from http://support.microsoft.com/kb/938375 might help.

Do a google search for WindowsXP-KB938375-x86-ENU.exe and the rest you
will be able to figure out on your own. Post back and let the group
know how it went.

- Thee Chicago Wolf

 

[Ian Bethell]

Still no luck i'm afraid.

I've even tried a repair from the XP Disc.

Looks like a re-install is required, but is there a way to keep all the
installed programs on there? perhaps if I re-install windows to a different
directory and then copy the essential files accross?

 

[Unknown]

Have you run disk cleanup?

Still no luck i'm afraid.

I've even tried a repair from the XP Disc.

Looks like a re-install is required, but is there a way to keep all the
installed programs on there? perhaps if I re-install windows to a
different directory and then copy the essential files accross?

 

[Ian Bethell]

Yeah, i've done a defrag, chkdsk, and scanned for bad sectors.

Also ran CCleaner as suggested by Thee Chicago Wolf

 

[Thee Chicago Wolf]

Still no luck i'm afraid.

I've even tried a repair from the XP Disc.

Looks like a re-install is required, but is there a way to keep all the
installed programs on there? perhaps if I re-install windows to a different
directory and then copy the essential files accross?

Of the suggestions I've made, what have you tried already?

- Thee Chicago Wolf

 

[Thee Chicago Wolf]

One other thing I forgot to mention: Updated your network card driver
lately? It is a bit of an outlier but since I'm pretty sure it's
something related to the network or a network resource, eliminate all
possibilities.

- Thee Chicago Wolf

 

[Ian Bethell]

Thanks for your help.

I tried all your suggestions, and have had to resort to a complete
re-install as the computer needs to be back on-site tomorrow.

Thanks again,

Ian.

 

[Thee Chicago Wolf]

Thanks for your help.

I tried all your suggestions, and have had to resort to a complete
re-install as the computer needs to be back on-site tomorrow.

Thanks again,

Ian.

Ian,

Sorry it didn't work out. Maybe keep a log of when you make major
system changes so that if you notice the issue happening again you can
sort of recall what's changed since. Hopefully SP3 for XP will come
out soon and the issue you're having will be resolved.

- Thee Chicago Wolf

 

[Ian Bethell]

Well, no changes were made at all to the computer... unless microsoft update
or Norton Antivirus did something.

It was a desktop client, one of four in a network, and one went similarly a
few months ago. Just waiting for the other two now...

Gonna Ghost this one before they go, and hopefully I can restore from this
fresh image next time to save some time.

Ian.

 

[Guest]

You likely need to disable the "Webclient" service. We had this issue a
while back and it has resurfaced again. Must have been some type of MS
update the triggered it.