Long delay/pause during XP Boot on Thinkpad

[Riffrafter]

Hi,

My wife is running XP on an older Thinkpad (T20). Whenever she boots there
is a long pause or delay in the process at the "Windows is starting up"
screen. Delay is usually at least a minute, with some very sporadic light
disk activity during that time. Once she gets past that, it boots normally.
She is running SP2 now, but the problem was there before that (I was hoping
SP2 might fix it). Thinkpad is connected to a home network via a wireless
card. Have changed the card recently as we upgraded to 802.11G - still the
same behaviour.

I've tried looking in the MS KB but have found nothing that addresses this.
Any ideas?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Malke]

Hi,

My wife is running XP on an older Thinkpad (T20). Whenever she boots
there is a long pause or delay in the process at the "Windows is
starting up"
screen. Delay is usually at least a minute, with some very sporadic
light
disk activity during that time. Once she gets past that, it boots
normally. She is running SP2 now, but the problem was there before
that (I was hoping
SP2 might fix it). Thinkpad is connected to a home network via a
wireless
card. Have changed the card recently as we upgraded to 802.11G -
still the same behaviour.

I've tried looking in the MS KB but have found nothing that addresses
this. Any ideas?

Thanks in advance.

I would do the normal troubleshooting:

1) scan with current antivirus ("current" means a version not earlier
than 2003 using updated virus definitions); 2) remove spyware with
Spybot Search & Destroy (www.safer-networking.org) and Ad-aware
(www.lavasoftusa.com). These programs are free, so use them both since
they complement each other. You may also want to run CWShredder and
HijackThis from http://aumha.org/freeware.htm. Although CWShredder is
no longer being updated, it will still clean older variants of the
CoolWebSearch malware. A combination of HijackThis and About:Buster
(http://www.majorgeeks.com) works well in removing homepage hijackers.
Always read the instructions before running a spyware removal tool. Be
sure to update these programs before running, and it is a good idea to
do virus/spyware scans in Safe Mode. Make sure you are able to see all
hidden files and extensions (View tab in Folder Options); 3) delete
temporary and Temporary Internet Files; 4) stop unnecessary
services/programs from starting with Windows - see www.blackviper.com
for services info and www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_index.htm for
programs info; 5) look in Event Viewer for clues.

Cheers,

Malke