Load Time

[Curious1]

This is in regards to my laptop. Dell Inspiron 8600, Windows XP, Intel
Pentium processor 1400MHz, 1.40 GHz, 512 MB of RAM.

For the last several months it has been taking up to 3 minutes to boot. (I
haven't turned it on that often) Through Dell support, I have removed the
battery for a few seconds and replaced it. Then removed the battery and
held down the power button for 20 seconds, then replaced the battery. This
last procedure seemed to help a little. It was booting in 2 minutes. I
left it off for a couple of weeks. When I turned it on tonight, the screen
went black just before the desktop usually loads. When it stayed black for
2 minutes, I held down the power button until it shut off. Turned it back
on. Received error message: Error Caused by a Device Driver. I have not
loaded any hardware for a long time, and I can't remember when I last
downloaded software. I could not open the Help and Support Window. Not
even when I clicked on Search / ?Information In Help and Support Center. I
ran a successful search on System Restore and opened the file. I restored
the system to the middle of January. Did not help. Could not restore the
computer to earlier than the last week in December as the restore calendar
would not go back any further.

I have shut it down and booted it up several times, and the first experience
with the black screen did not repeat. But I still can't access the Help and
Support Window, and it's still taking 2 to 3 minutes to boot.

I have considered reinstalling XP, or reformatting the hard drive. Help,
please.

 

[Mark L. Ferguson]

873158 - The Help and Support Center does not run when the Data Execution Protection feature is turned on in Windows XP Service:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;873158&Product=winxp



..

 

[Curious1]

Thanks for your reply, Mark. The Help and Support window finally appeared
after several attempts and a very long wait. When it did, there was a
pop-up window from Sygate Firewall asking if I wanted Microsoft to access
the Internet. I clicked Always Allow and Yes. Just tried again this
morning to open the Help and Support window. It still took a long time, but
not as long as before, and I again received the Sygate acceptance window.

As for the slowness, I'm wondering if 512MB of RAM is enough to run XP and
handle all of the programs and photos I have stored. I think I'm going to
transfer all of my photos to a CD and see if that speeds things up.