PC boot up is very very slow......

[mojouk]

Hi again all.

I'm concerned that my computer takes almost 4 minutes to boot up, and even when my desktop appears it takes another 2 minutes until I can select any programs.

I have a 3.0GHz pentium 4 with GeForce 128mb graphics card and 1GB RAM, so I thought I wouldn't have this problem of slowness.

Somebody told me that the thing that's slowing it down is all of these startup/setup things for all of my programs (or something like that) that automatically have to load when I reboot my computer. and that there is some way to switch all of these off, because I don't need them.

Does anyone know how to do this??

 

[Techy]

mojo, yes there is a way to disable any startup apps, it's called msconfig.

start -> run -> "msconfig" -> ok -> startup

note: careful you don't disable any anti virus or firewall software.

msconfig is generally a diagnostic tool that is designed to help solve windows related problems, misuse of msconfig can cause your system not to boot.

James

 

[muckshifter]

Well, I would not use msconfig first, just goto your 'Startup' and 'drag-n-drop' anything you don't need to the desktop ... you only need your AV program and you should not see that in Startup.

 

[mojouk]

Hello 'muckshifter'

What do you mean by AV program??

I use about 8 different programs. Don't I need these in my startup too?

 

[Techy]

mucks, if it's xp they'll be sod all in the startup folder unless mojo put them in himself and if thats the case i would have thought that he'd have put two and two together.

AV = Anti-Virus

 

[mojouk]

There is loads of stuff in my startup folder....none of which I put there. It has things like
SOUNDMAN.exe
RUNDLL32
Realplay........and loads more.

I turned everything off in the startup folder and it was a whole lot quicker, but then my Antivirus and Firewall didn't work.......I couldn't find which one was the Antivirus and Firewall in the starttup list. It's all in an abbreviated code. So I just switched everything back on again because my computer recommended that I do (when I restarted the computer).

 

[muckshifter]

I'm on about ... Start/all programs/startup

You'll be surprised how many people don't know that can be left empty, mine is empty.

There are an endless number of reasons why a system 'slows down' over time, the biggest culprit is Adware, not to mention the rest of the crap that 'programs insist' you 'need' to load.

Sorry I DO NOT 'need' my mouse utilities, scanner or printer software loading at 'startup' ... realplayer would not see light of day on MY system along with a whole host of other 'crap', but then I know what I need and what I can do without.

Again I say "msconfig" is a great "tool" to "see" what is being loaded, but its just that, a tool. You should not use it to "correct a problem" but better to eliminate the problem. Use it to see what is being loaded, find that programs "preferences" if you cannot "turn off" a particular item then I personally bin the program.

One of my pet hates is the BBC, why oh why do I have to use 'realplayer' to listen to any audio clips ... everybody that uses Windows has free audio player ... WMP ... its all I use.

More information on what you have on/in your system would help us mojouk.

 

[Techy]

You should not use it to "correct a problem" but better to eliminate the problem

although i agree with this mucks, there's no real problem with using msconfig to control startup apps, generally newer apps don't use the startup folder, that's what i meant earlier.

James

 

[mojouk]

Gosh.....what a question.......what do I have in my system??? I have practically everything. Stuff that I seem to have downloaded without even realizing....like ipod itunes!!! I don't know why I have that (mind you my brothers been using my PC so I blame it on him!!)

I have...
Ahead nero
Cyberlink Power DVD
Epson Scan to web
Epson photo print
Epson Smart panel
Fresserve (who I'm not even with.... but it seems to be on my PC for some reason)
Games
IWF-Internet safety information
Microsoft works
Startup
WMP
Realplayer
Roxio
Quicktime
Internet Explorer
MSN exlporer
itunes
Iomega (external zip drive)
outlook express
Microsoft Task launcher (whatever the hell that is)
Windows Messenger
DivX
Norton Antivirus
Norton Firewall
Power scan (don't know what that is, nothing to do with my scanner)
ADSL modem
Remote assistance
Microsoft Office tools
There are many different essential programs that I use for work
There are also a few of the regular accessories that comes with Windows XP

In terms of Start>All programs>start up.......I have 'Adobe Gamma loader' and 'Microsoft Office' in here. I don't know what Adobe gamma laoder is, but I do use Adobe Photoshop, so this could be linked.

Does this help clear things up a bit??

It's tough to know exactly what to get rid of because alot of my programs are graphics based seem to be linked to things. So I just find it safer to just keep everything. Or system restore my computer (which usually takes a whole day, to reload all my stuff)

 

[muckshifter]

Yep, that'll do.

First ... Delete (yes delete) Adobe Gamma & Office shortcut from your 'Startup', you dont need them there, and it wont hurt your system.

Next ... setup a "limited" account for your brother, or, change your password and NOT let him 'play' with your system.

A simple solution is to goto "add & remove" and uninstall any/all programs you know you don't need ... you don't need realplayer, do you?

Next ... download 'Ad-aware', install it, update it and run it. Delete anything it finds.

 

[mojouk]

Cheers for all your help. Will do as you suggest.

 

[JusBitnezz]

Muck: removing "ad-ware" from a system can cause some serious damage if you don't know what you are doing. There are times when you have to tamper with the registry and we all know how sensitive that is.

Mojouk: Go to www.download.com and download a program called "Bazooka". Install it on your system and then scan for any ad-ware. It is very important that you pay close attention when removing any ad-ware because if you delete or even tamper with the wrong file in the registry, you can cause some serious damage to your computer. This post may be a bit late, but I'd thought I'd give you a heads up.

JusBitnezz

 

[Techy]

sorry jus,

mojo, as you were, as mucks says use ad-aware to scan your machine and remove what it finds.

i've never heard of ad-aware corrupting or causing any probs with the registry and it's alot more widely used and respected that "bazooker" which is more likely to damage the registry.

to prove this we can ask ian for a poll!

James

 

[muckshifter]

Bazooka scans for spyware and offers detailed instructions on how to remove it. After the scan, you must be online to access instructions on how to remove any spyware that is found.

http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/]Ad-Aware does not need you to "go on-line" to tell you how to remove any spyware. Ad-Aware will NOT damage your system.

Sorry, but I, and a few others, will not and cannot recomend Bazooka.

 

[Techy]

here, here!

ad-aware's been a trusty tool of mine for a while now and made me quite a bit of cash, don't like to here it slagged off.

James

 

[Plasmatica]

Hi all,

Yes, I have Ad-Aware Professional installed and don't think twice about deleting its findings.

A handy tool to have, especially for start up problems is Tune up utilities. It clears the Windows registry of any unused entries. You can also tweak Windows settings with it. Very good!

 

[stinoo]

Gosh.....what a question.......what do I have in my system??? I have practically everything. Stuff that I seem to have downloaded without even realizing....like ipod itunes!!! I don't know why I have that (mind you my brothers been using my PC so I blame it on him!!)

I have...
Ahead nero
Cyberlink Power DVD
Epson Scan to web
Epson photo print
Epson Smart panel
Fresserve (who I'm not even with.... but it seems to be on my PC for some reason)
Games
IWF-Internet safety information
Microsoft works
Startup
WMP
Realplayer
Roxio
Quicktime
Internet Explorer
MSN exlporer
itunes
Iomega (external zip drive)
outlook express
Microsoft Task launcher (whatever the hell that is)
Windows Messenger
DivX
Norton Antivirus
Norton Firewall
Power scan (don't know what that is, nothing to do with my scanner)
ADSL modem
Remote assistance
Microsoft Office tools
There are many different essential programs that I use for work
There are also a few of the regular accessories that comes with Windows XP

In terms of Start>All programs>start up.......I have 'Adobe Gamma loader' and 'Microsoft Office' in here. I don't know what Adobe gamma laoder is, but I do use Adobe Photoshop, so this could be linked.

Does this help clear things up a bit??

It's tough to know exactly what to get rid of because alot of my programs are graphics based seem to be linked to things. So I just find it safer to just keep everything. Or system restore my computer (which usually takes a whole day, to reload all my stuff)

im sorry but i cannot work my head rownd this my pc is very slow but i have not 1 thing in my start up in all programs then start

 

[stinoo]

how do i use this "msconfig"