Black screen on boot pauses for 30 sec.

[Guest]

My XP system use to boot very quickly. I’d get the BIOS screen, then the Windows loading screen and then the desktop. Recently, I get the BIOS screen and then a Black screen which lasts about 30 seconds, then I get the screen with the white loading progress bar at the bottom. You know the one you would get if you had dual boot and then after you select the partition to boot you get a black screen with a white progress strip. I think you get this after hibernation too. Then I get the Windows loading screen and the desktop

So the blank screen is where the boot menu would be only there is no menu. I tried hitting ENTER during this time and pressing ESC but nothing seems to work. The PC just sits there with a black screen doing absolutely nothing (no drive activity, etc.) for 30 seconds, and then I get a white progress bar at the bottom and then the OS loads like normal

Does anyone have any idea what could be causing this? How do I figure out what it could possibly be doing and get rid of this 30 second pause on boot? Thanks in advance

~jr

 

[roger]

Hi,

Go to Start > Run > msconfig
boot.ini tab
check the second line,
if the timeout is different than zero, set it to zero

How to Edit the BOOT.INI File in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q289/0/22.asp

Before you do anything, create a back up of the boot,ini file
(maybe bootold.ini)

Good luck

 

[Guest]

Thanks Roger, I tried that but it still pauses for 30 seconds at a black screen. I even checked to make sure the change was really in boot.ini after the reboot and it was

~jr

 

[roger]

You're welcome, Johnny.

Perhaps you can run a clean boot and find which program is slowing the
boot. You can also try looking for bootvis in the web. It is a utility
to check what programs load and how long they take.

10353 How to Perform a Clean Boot in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=310353

316434 HOW TO: Perform Advanced Clean-Boot Troubleshooting in Windows
XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=316434

310560 How to Troubleshoot By Using the Msconfig Utility in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=310560

Good luck

 

[Gery]

Thanks Roger, I tried that but it still pauses for 30 seconds at a black screen. I even checked to make sure the change was really in boot.ini after the reboot and it was.

~jr

I had this problem on an PC once. After a few weeks digging I just
open the case and reset every card and connections.
It did the trick. It seem Windows was looking for something it
couldn't find.

Regards Gery

Tanks for any replay