boot time too slow

A

alex

my windows xp boot time is just too slow. it takes almost
2 minutes before it's fully loaded. my computer isn't all
that great, but the boot time just seems too long.
 
P

Paul B T Hodges

Parts of the boot process are quite cpu and obviously disk intensive.
2 minutes does seem a bit too long, xp was designed to boot in 30 seconds.
Does your system meet the minimum hardware requirements?
Post the config

Download bootvis and trace your boot.
It will show you which part is taking the time.
If you need help interpreting the numbers just ask.

You can get a copy here, last time I looked

http://www.softpedia.com/public/cat/12/2/12-2-1.shtml

Paul
 
A

andy

-----Original Message-----
my windows xp boot time is just too slow. it takes almost
2 minutes before it's fully loaded. my computer isn't all
that great, but the boot time just seems too long.

have you tried defragmenting your hard drve

andy
 
M

Michael

Me too plus a problem with "search", from the "start
button" on desktop taskbar.
Hereis a copy of my support report.

TWO PROBLEMS PROBABLY RELATED.

FIRST PROBLEM:
Very slow boot-up after user log-in and password are
entered.
The desktop appears but the Norton Anti-Virus and
Firewall icons take up to four minutes to appear in the
bottom, desktop task-bar.
They are last to appear.
If I try to open Norton system Works whilst waiting for
the icons to appear I get no response.
Yet right-click and refresh the desktop appears ro
respond with the usual jump of the screen.

SECOND PROBLEM: (most important)
When I click on "start", then "search" the bottom desktop
taskbar freezes, the "start button" will not work and
whatever minimized programs that are shown on the bottom
taskbar do not respond.
I cannot shut-down using the start, then "turn-off the
computer".
THIS HAPPENS EVERY TIME I try seach and I have to shut
down by pressing the power switch.
When the computer is restarted, I naturally get a scan
and a report saying something about 'wiaserv" is invalid
and has the wrong date and has been fixed.
still the problem persists.
 
P

Paul B T Hodges

Hey michael,

Wiaserv is the windows image acquisition service.
If you dont have a camera or a scanner, you can disable it. I've seen
reports that it can problems at startup.

start/run
services.msc

Near the bottom of the list of services, immediatley after windows audio,
double click on windows image acquistion, change startup type to disabled,
and reboot.

Is it chkdsk that complains about the date and time on wiaserv, is it
wiaservc.dll its complaining about ?

I wonder if this file is corrupt,

Go into \windows\system32

Right click on wiaservc.dll
Click version tab
Select file version

I have sp1, my version is 5.1.2600.1106 (xpsp1.020828-1920

It is 309K

You could try

start/run
sfc/scannow

To check all system files and replace any sfc doesn;t like, it will check
the dllcache folder, the windows servicepackfiles directory, and if
necessary it'll ask for the release cd.

Paul
 
M

Michael

Thanks Paul,
I did have a scanner plugged into a USB and have had the
scanner un-plugged for a few weeks.
This problem with the slow-boot did not coincide with the
un-plugging of this device.
I will follow your instructions and be back soon.
Watch this space:)
Michael.
 
M

Michael

Hi Paul,
Thanks.
I have installed BootVis and it has gone through the
optimization process.
Things seem a bit faster.

Can't get sfc/scannow to run, I'm getting an error
message "can't find sfc/scannow"

What to do?

Regards.
Michael
 
D

DBF

Michael,
It is:
sfc /scannow
with a space between the c and the /
not:
sfc/scannow.
Try that.
Dave
 
P

Paul B T Hodges

I actually wanted you to trace the boot to see where it was slow, not run
optimization, that was for later..

Can you check in the \windows\prefetch directory and see if it rebuilt the
layout.ini file, you'll need to add creation date by right clicking on the
column title bar.

Before optimizing, you should delete the contents of prefetch and reboot, or
all those redundant/out of date prefetch files get included in the process.

Run bootvis
Select "trace" from the menu and choose next boot, and then confirm to
restart, and look at the graphs which appear automatically.

The top graph shows the various phases of the boot process, if you hover
over each bar with the mouse, it'll give you a time. Post each time.

The brown vertical line shows the end of boot, hover on it, how long does it
time it at ?

Not sure why it can't find sfc it should be in \windows\system32

Go to a command prompt


cd \windows\sysem32

dir sfc*.*

Does it come back with anything ?

Do you have a FAT32 file system, perhaps you need to put a space in between
the sfc and the /scannow
 

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