My Experiences with long, slow boot or startup (long)

[Pop Rivet]

Hi,
Dunno if this is a useful effort or not, but, in view of the many posts
I've seen on this group regarding long startup times or boot times, I
thought I'd relate my recent experiences in case it's of any use to anyone
and in case anyone here can help me.

I've fixed (found sort of a workaround) the long boot time, but at the cost
of my antivirus protection and having to use the ICF. I've also contained,
apparently, the Epson printer error message described below, but not
permanently.
Throughout all of this, I have a non-functioning LAN: It's disabled
throughout all of this and will not function.
So, the overall symptoms are:
-- Very long boot time (need fixed soon)
-- Neither printer will function (need fixed soon), but have one working
good enough "for now"
-- No LAN (not bothering with that right now).
Is there a way to DELETE the LAN configuration? I can only find Disable.


1. I am NOT a guru or expert by any means. I have great respect for the
MVP's and others who have helped me along here, and wish to say THANKS!!
You know who you are.

2. Length of boot times:
-- originally about a minute or so, never measured it prior to this..
-- Worst: 4 MINUTES and 48 seconds measured recently!
-- Present time: abt 51 seconds, but I can now reproduce an almost 4
minute boot time upon demand. So far.

Terms:
-- Cold Boot = Power On = Shut Down/power-up.
-- Warm Boot = Restart
-- Power Down = power to PC OFF for > 1 minute
-- Boot time: The time from the beginning of the boot (used floppy drive
access as indicator) until machine was operable, all desktop icons
displayed, and an app could be started. This included the little bullets
crossing the screen after POST and the second or so to enter a
single-character password.

Configuration:
-- Pent 4; 2.6 GHz, two 80 Gig hd's, 512 RAM, XP Pro, NTFS, Desktop as
Server on 10/100 wired ethernet, self installed.
-- Dial up 'net connection 56k. Usually connect at 53.2, sometimes 50.0k.
-- Celeron 2.2 GHz, 40 Gig hd laptop as client on wired ethernet, XP Home.
-- ICS used.
-- ICF not used.
-- Sygate Personal firewall, Adaware & SpyBot, Norton 2003 NAV, XP, Office,
etc. kept up to date with frequent updates or where available Live Updates.
-- HP LaserJet 6P B&W laser and Epson C82 Stylus color printers.
-- Misc others including video capture/edit
-- Time in service: abt 9 months, both machines.

Initial Problem not known to be related to long boot times, but:
-- A low-risk worm, acquired while a foster child was on machine. Same
child caught visiting sites like rotten.com, etc..
Fixed & removed something-9910-something.exe, part of a
something-oag-something virus. Seemed fixed for a week or so.

-- Boots & restarts seemed long, but I didn't boot often, so just figured I
felt like it was a long time.
-- Don't use Epson a lot; usually use the HP printer.
-- One day, powered on Epson, only printed garbage. Rebooted.
-- Got an Epson Driver Load failure / Epson printer driver not loaded
message. Machine seemed to churn forever before the error message.
Successive boots same problem, same error message, etc..
-- Timed bootup; looked like almost 5 minutes!
-- No hint in Event Viewer, just an error about the print driver failure.
Link to MS only said they were "working on it". No help.
-- Switched back to HP laser, figured I'd take the B&W print. It only
printed garbage too!
-- Reinstalled HP drivers; no help.
-- Tried Have Disk option: XP refused to install them.
-- Downloaded most recent drivers, marked as for XP on the HP site.
-- No help. XP complained they weren't compatible. Install worked
though.
-- No help. No changes.
By now I'm almost bald from the long boot times.
-- Reinstalled Epson drivers. N O help.
-- Reinstalled Epson drivers again - wasn't sure I checked all the right
boxes.
-- IT WORKED! BOTH PRINTERS WORKED. Still long boot time though.
-- Next morning, it all came back: Epson error, longest boot time, no
printer operation. Fiddled around, got Epson to work. Can keep it working.
HP will not work no matter what settings I make though.
-- Got out stopwatch: 4 MINUTES 46 seconds to boot!

Lots of fussing, including another reinstall and a Recovery Console
operation. All succeeded, but no change in printer error msg or boot times.

-- Prepped to repartition/reformat. I really wanted that 80 Gig drive
re-partitioned anyway, so it wasn 't a completely wasteful plan.

-- Finally came up with a plan to do a clean install, but to the Slave
drive instead of the C: drive. That way I didn't have to lose all my
settings and everything and the original drive would become my backup.
Decided this AFTER I had already backed everything up to D:, by the way!
------------------------
Preps to clean install:
-- Checked all BIOS settings, etc.. All OK. Set boot sequence to:
-- Floppy
-- CD DVD Drive
-- Hard Drive
-- Set Slave drive to be Boot Drive instead of the Master.
-- Also disabled the Silent Boot while I was there.
-- Restart:
-- Error Message - Load Error: Press a Key to Continue. Pressed a key
and it went ahead and booted. Pressed a key, booted OK.
BUT IT WAS A FAST BOOT! THERE WAS NO 4 MINUTE DELAY!!
-- Measured boot time was abt 50 seconds!
-- Repeatable, same every time. Little bullets make 8 passes on Welcome
screen.
--------------------------
-- Put Master drive back as boot drive
-- BOOTED IN ABOUT 48 SECONDS!
-- Did a Cold Boot: 50 seconds! Great! Dunno WHY it's only 50S, but
great!
---------------------
-- Noticed Norton AV AutoProtect was disabled. Shouldn't have been. It
refuses to be enabled.
-- Firewall is still Allow All, as it was all along so far in this
troubleshooting session.
-- Refuses to be enabled from the System Tray option.
-- At about the 4 + MINUTE time point, AutoProtect turned on! Dunno if
it's because I'd tried to enable it or if it just had to wait the 4 minutes.
4 minutes is a feeling, not a measured time; didn't know it was going to
enable.
---------------------
-- Set Firewall to Normal. Auto Protect is still ON
-- Restart took 2 minutes and 12 seconds!! Say, what?
------------------------
-- Turn OFF Auto Protect; Reboot.
-- Took 48 seconds! Huh? But, Norton Auto Protect switched itself OFF
again and refuses to be enabled.
Hmm, are Sygate's Firewall and Norton fighting each other?

---------------------------

Turned ON Internet Connection Firewall (ICF).
Removed Sygate Personal Firewall.
Boot = 50S.
-- AutoProtect is still OFF though. Refuses to be enabled from system
tray. BUT, this time, I was able to Enable it from within NAV! Left it
enabled.

Did a Restart:
-- Got Epson Printer Driver failure error msg again!
-- Boot time - 2 MINUTES 20 SECONDS!! Huh?
-- And Auto Protect had been turned OFF again!? It should have been ON!
Cannot enable it from the system tray. But, at around the 4 or 5 minute
time, it came ON again! So, eventually Auto Protect DID come on!! NOW I
can enable/disable it at will from the system tray icon. Huh.
----------
Disabled AutoProtect.
Rebooted:
-- Got the Epson error msg again!
BUT, boot time: 50 S measured. Sheesh!
AND, Norton Auto Protect had been disabled again! And this time didn't come
back on by itself. So,
-------------------------

Enabled Auto Protect.
Reboot: 49 Seconds measured.
It enabled OK from the system tray though.
Reboot: 50 S measured.
Auto Protect turned itself OFF again!
But can enable/disable it at will from system tray.
----------------
What do YOU think?
Man, I am SO confused. I think my next move is:

-- Find another antivirus software to use.
-- Keep ICF for now - it's enough functionality for now.
And continue with more analysis. Tomorrow.

Or, but the bullet, but this is getting curiouser and curiouser all the
time!

Comments/advice welcome! Flames? Nah, please don't.

Pop

 

[Michael Solomon \(MS-MVP Windows Shell/User\)]

With regard to the long boot time, see if any of the following applies:

If you have an Ethernet card installed on the system connected to a network
or not:
Go to start> connect to> show all connections>right click on Local Area
connection>scroll down and click on Properties.

Highlight "Internet protocol (TCP/IP)"

Click on properties button>click on the "use the following IP address" radio
button.

Add the following.

IP address:192.168.0.1 (or any in the accepted range)

Subnet Mask:255.255.255.0

Some connections won't allow this, so if you can't get a connection, remove
it.

If the above doesn't apply but you are on a network, go to Start\All
Programs\Accessories and the Command Prompt. At the prompt type "ipconfig"
without the quotes and press enter. Make note of the numbers.

Go to Start\Connect To, select "Show all connections" and select Local Area
Connection. Right click and select properties. Select "Internet Protocol
(TCP/IP)" and click properties, select "Use the following IP address" and
input the appropriate numbers you found earlier. When you exit that box,
the Subnet Mask numbers should input automatically.

Reboot and see if that resolves the issue.

As to the printers, I didn't find them on the hardware compatibility list.
You'll need to check with the printer manufacturers' websites for drivers
compatible with XP and/or to see if the manufacturer's are supporting these
printers in XP. Drivers are the responsibility of the device manufacturer,
even the drivers included with XP are provided by the device manufacturers.

 

[PopRivet]

Michael, thank you for your response

Snipped (...) and responses inline:

....|
| If you have an Ethernet card installed on the system
connected to a network
| or not:
| Go to start> connect to> show all connections>right
click on Local Area
| connection>scroll down and click on Properties.
| Highlight "Internet protocol (TCP/IP)"
| | Click on properties button>click on the "use the
following IP address" radio
| button.
| | Add the following.
| | IP address:192.168.0.1 (or any in the accepted
range)
| | Subnet Mask:255.255.255.0
| Reboot and see if that resolves the issue.

== I didn't report it here, but I did do that some
time ago, before I came to the ng. As I recall, it
made zero difference to the timing, at least to casual
perception. I wasn't actually measuring the times
"way" back then.
....

|
| As to the printers, I didn't find them on the
hardware compatibility list.
| You'll need to check with the printer manufacturers'
websites for drivers
| compatible with XP and/or to see if the
manufacturer's are supporting these
| printers in XP. Drivers are the responsibility of
the device manufacturer,
| even the drivers included with XP are provided by the
device manufacturers.
|
Although both printers had worked fine and reliably for
the past 9 months (since the PC was put into service),
I did check the drivers at the respective mfg sites.
HP had "XP" drivers which I tried, to no avail. Epson
manual says that it is XP compatible, and it was
working great prior to this crisis or whatever one
wishes to call it.
Since there doesn't seem anything new available,
I've decided to stick with what I know worked at one
time, for a long time.

I sure appreciate your response though, because, even
though I may have already covered them off, you HAVE
validated some of my efforts and right now I need that
validation!

I'm preparing another scenario to add to the thread
shortly. I HAD planned to try to fix the problem when
the Epson was working OK for a week there, but now it's
gone south again I"m considering a Clean Install route
again. It's just, well, I'd like to know what's up
with this boat anchor, err, I mean, system, cause if it
happened once ... . Actually, I'm beginning to worry
about a hardware problem of some sort but nothing will
appear as a possibility. Not much warranty time left.

Regards,

Pop

....

 

[PopRivet]

PART TWO: TOP POSTED, FIRST POST IS AFTER THIS
POSTING.
17 March 2004, Wednesday AM:

------------------

Cold Boot, first of the day.

Both Printers off:

2 minutes 16 seconds, but things are "funny" - task bar
hides OK, but not any menu brought up while task bar is
visible; they stay on screen. Lasted for several
minutes - wasn't measuring time. Eventually worked
correctly.

Only 5 icons in System Tray; there should be 13

---

At 4+ minutes, NAV AutoProtect and LAN icons loaded
into system tray. That seemed to end boot/setup
activity.

Now there are 7 items in the sys tray: Top to bottom:
NAV, LAN, Quikzip, CD, Video, Real, & Net Adapt Card.
There should be 13.

MISSING Icons: UPS (usually very last thing to load);
Volume; RealPlayer; Milleneum Keyboard; on AC Pwr
Indicator; SpamPal.

---------------------------------------

The SNMP Service is ignoring extension agent key
SOFTWARE\Microsoft\IPXMibAgent\CurrentVersion because
it is missing or misconfigured.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

0000: 02 00 00 00

From MS:

ID: 1101 Source: SNMP We're sorry There is no
additional information about this issue in the Error
and Event Log Messages or Knowledge Base databases at
this time. You can use the links in the Support area to
determine whether any additional information might be
available elsewhere.

---------------------------

Event Viewer:

The SNMP Service has started successfully.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

From MS Link:

ID: 1001 Source: SNMP We're sorry There is no
additional information about this issue in the Error
and Event Log Messages or Knowledge Base databases at
this time. You can use the links in the Support area to
determine whether any additional information might be
available elsewhere.

------------------

Error Message: The Event Log File is Corrupt: After the
displayed table immediately cleared to empty. There
were no other errors or warnings left in the Event
Viewer though, so all present are listed.

Disconnected dialup connection. System View is blank;
no entries, red on System icon in Computer Management
menu.

From the APPLICATON LOG:

Hanging application HelpCtr.exe, version 5.1.2600.1106,
hang module hungapp, version 0.0.0.0, hang address
0x00000000.



For more information, see Help and Support Center at
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

----

Fault bucket 21949569.



For more information, see Help and Support Center at
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

Since the Event Viewer corrupted, there are no links
given to go to MS site.

Will Reboot now.

Note: NAV AutoProtect is ON & I left it on.

-----------------

REESTART: Abt 50 Seconds

EPSON ERROR MESSAGE AGAIN: Title: EPSON PrinterPort
Msg: At least one service or driver failed during
system startup. Use Event Viewer to examine the event
log for detials. Button = OK

12 icons in System Tray, not 13. Didn’t catch which one
was missing.

NAV AutoProtect was turned OFF somehow!

-- Same two SNMP messages as above, plus:

Adapter Intel(R) PRO/100 VE Network Connection: Adapter
Link Up

The Eplpdx02 service could not be started.



For more information, see Help and Support Center at
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

From MS:

ID:
3523

Source:
Eplpdx02


We're sorry

There is no additional information about this
issue in the Error and Event Log Messages or Knowledge
Base databases at this time. You can use the links in
the Support area to determine whether any additional
information might be available elsewhere.


Remaining 10 events were successful Service Control
Manager events.

NAV AutoProtect manually enabled OK. All seems OK.
Seems all is working.

Shutting down and will leave powered down for > ten
minutes while I go do somethings.

-----------------------------

Power down (power bar turned off; no power to computer
or monitor at all) for over an hour. No peripherals are
powered on.

COLD BOOT: Took 50 Seconds, just about exactly.

ALL 13 ICONS ARE PRESENT!

Norton AutoProtect is OFF again! Why? Manually enabled
from System Tray.

Turned on HP LaserJet. Pinnacle TV Rx box turns on with
it; both on same power bar. FAILED TO PRINT; Must press
FF to get data out of it. Printed one page when I
pressed FF:

BRJN"COOOGNV"NcsgrJgv"6R

BRJN"SGV"RCGGRROVGCV?OFF

BRJN"SGV"RCGGRROVGCV?CWVD

BRJN

Have seen that before: It must be meaningful. Should
ask HP if it’s interpretable.

Switched to Epson Ink Jet C82, turned it on HP Off:
PRINTING MUCH GARBAGE! Will not allow me to Purge
printer. Pulled paper from it to stop it. Killed it
with Task Manager after a CAD. Sent the Error Message
as requested – no link returned to check for fixes.
Just said I could close my connection to the ‘net.

Powered Epson printer off/on. Doing a Restart now.

Oops! Printer started printing again! There IS NOTHING
to indicate the printer is printing! Status is "ready",
no pending docs, no spooler, nothing?!?!

Doing a Shut Down instead of Restart, but will have
printer on before power is reapplied to computer.

--------------------

Cold Boot:

Took 55 seconds: I might have missed when it was
ready – forgot for a moment. Tired of waiting for
bootups.

Test Epson Print: PRINTING SAME GARBAGE! Tried to print
same thing as the previous two times, from the same
app: Word 2k2. Again, cannot stop the printing from the
Epson CP. Printer Properties however did let me pause
and then Cancel everything, which allowed the printer
CP to close. Going to Restart now.

RESTART: 49 Seconds. Only 12 icons; On AC Pwr is
missing, but UPS is there & with no error messages.

NAV AutoProtect is OFF again.

Epson still prints GARBAGE!

Cannot purge, cancel, or otherwise stop the printer
again!. Used Task Manager to kill it finally.

Going to the Event Viewer:

-- NO printer error messages in the last three boots
though printers are screwed up.

-- The SNMP Service is ignoring extension agent key
SOFTWARE\Microsoft\IPXMibAgent\CurrentVersion because
it is missing or misconfigured.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

Followed immediately by:

-- The SNMP Service has started successfully.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

-- And this after an attempt to purge my printer
documents:

The attempt to reboot SERVER failed

For more information, see Help and Support Center at
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

That might be OK: A reboot did fail because I left this
document open and unsaved when I tried to boot at that
point.

BUT, NO ERROR MESSAGES! ONLY THOSE WARNINGS. ALL ELSE
LOOKS FINE DURING THE ENTIRE LAST THREE BOOTS.

-- During the second boot, the Application Log shows:

Hanging application E_S10RN1.EXE, version 3.0.1.0, hang
module hungapp, version 0.0.0.0, hang address
0x00000000.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

Fault bucket 17976389.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

Nothing there for the first and third boots.

---

NEXT: Time to dispense with NAV and BOTH printers -
Will remove/uninstall as appropriate and see what
happens next. Looks like it'll be Sneakernet to the
Laptop from here on. Disconnecting LAN, phone line, all
peripherals, etc. etc..

----------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------
------
....
| I've fixed (found sort of a workaround) the long boot
time, but at the cost
| of my antivirus protection and having to use the ICF.
I've also contained,
| apparently, the Epson printer error message described
below, but not
| permanently.
== NOT TRUE ANYMORE: NEITHER PRINTER WORKS AGAIN NOW.

| Throughout all of this, I have a non-functioning
LAN: It's disabled
| throughout all of this and will not function.
| So, the overall symptoms are:
| -- Very long boot time (need fixed soon)
| -- Neither printer will function (need fixed soon),
but have one working
| good enough "for now"
| -- No LAN (not bothering with that right now).
| Is there a way to DELETE the LAN configuration? I
can only find Disable.
|
|
| 1. I am NOT a guru or expert by any means. I have
great respect for the
| MVP's and others who have helped me along here, and
wish to say THANKS!!
| You know who you are.
|
| 2. Length of boot times:
| -- originally about a minute or so, never measured
it prior to this..
| -- Worst: 4 MINUTES and 48 seconds measured
recently!
| -- Present time: abt 51 seconds, but I can now
reproduce an almost 4
| minute boot time upon demand. So far.
|
| Terms:
| -- Cold Boot = Power On = Shut Down/power-up.
| -- Warm Boot = Restart
| -- Power Down = power to PC OFF for > 1 minute
| -- Boot time: The time from the beginning of the
boot (used floppy drive
| access as indicator) until machine was operable, all
desktop icons
| displayed, and an app could be started. This
included the little bullets
| crossing the screen after POST and the second or so
to enter a
| single-character password.
|
| Configuration:
| -- Pent 4; 2.6 GHz, two 80 Gig hd's, 512 RAM, XP
Pro, NTFS, Desktop as
| Server on 10/100 wired ethernet, self installed.
| -- Dial up 'net connection 56k. Usually connect at
53.2, sometimes 50.0k.
| -- Celeron 2.2 GHz, 40 Gig hd laptop as client on
wired ethernet, XP Home.
| -- ICS used.
| -- ICF not used.
| -- Sygate Personal firewall, Adaware & SpyBot,
Norton 2003 NAV, XP, Office,
| etc. kept up to date with frequent updates or where
available Live Updates.
| -- HP LaserJet 6P B&W laser and Epson C82 Stylus
color printers.
| -- Misc others including video capture/edit
| -- Time in service: abt 9 months, both machines.
|
| Initial Problem not known to be related to long boot
times, but:
| -- A low-risk worm, acquired while a foster child
was on machine. Same
| child caught visiting sites like rotten.com, etc..
| Fixed & removed something-9910-something.exe, part
of a
| something-oag-something virus. Seemed fixed for a
week or so.
|
| -- Boots & restarts seemed long, but I didn't boot
often, so just figured I
| felt like it was a long time.
| -- Don't use Epson a lot; usually use the HP
printer.
| -- One day, powered on Epson, only printed garbage.
Rebooted.
| -- Got an Epson Driver Load failure / Epson printer
driver not loaded
| message. Machine seemed to churn forever before the
error message.
| Successive boots same problem, same error message,
etc..
| -- Timed bootup; looked like almost 5 minutes!
| -- No hint in Event Viewer, just an error about the
print driver failure.
| Link to MS only said they were "working on it". No
help.
| -- Switched back to HP laser, figured I'd take the
B&W print. It only
| printed garbage too!
| -- Reinstalled HP drivers; no help.
| -- Tried Have Disk option: XP refused to install
them.
| -- Downloaded most recent drivers, marked as for XP
on the HP site.
| -- No help. XP complained they weren't
compatible. Install worked
| though.
| -- No help. No changes.
| By now I'm almost bald from the long boot times.
| -- Reinstalled Epson drivers. N O help.
| -- Reinstalled Epson drivers again - wasn't sure I
checked all the right
| boxes.
| -- IT WORKED! BOTH PRINTERS WORKED. Still long
boot time though.
| -- Next morning, it all came back: Epson error,
longest boot time, no
| printer operation. Fiddled around, got Epson to
work. Can keep it working.
| HP will not work no matter what settings I make
though.
| -- Got out stopwatch: 4 MINUTES 46 seconds to boot!
|
| Lots of fussing, including another reinstall and a
Recovery Console
| operation. All succeeded, but no change in printer
error msg or boot times.
|
| -- Prepped to repartition/reformat. I really wanted
that 80 Gig drive
| re-partitioned anyway, so it wasn 't a completely
wasteful plan.
|
| -- Finally came up with a plan to do a clean
install, but to the Slave
| drive instead of the C: drive. That way I didn't
have to lose all my
| settings and everything and the original drive would
become my backup.
| Decided this AFTER I had already backed everything up
to D:, by the way!
| ------------------------
| Preps to clean install:
| -- Checked all BIOS settings, etc.. All OK. Set
boot sequence to:
| -- Floppy
| -- CD DVD Drive
| -- Hard Drive
| -- Set Slave drive to be Boot Drive instead of the
Master.
| -- Also disabled the Silent Boot while I was
there.
| -- Restart:
| -- Error Message - Load Error: Press a Key to
Continue. Pressed a key
| and it went ahead and booted. Pressed a key, booted
OK.
| BUT IT WAS A FAST BOOT! THERE WAS NO 4 MINUTE
DELAY!!
| -- Measured boot time was abt 50 seconds!
| -- Repeatable, same every time. Little bullets make
8 passes on Welcome
| screen.
| --------------------------
| -- Put Master drive back as boot drive
| -- BOOTED IN ABOUT 48 SECONDS!
| -- Did a Cold Boot: 50 seconds! Great! Dunno WHY
it's only 50S, but
| great!
| ---------------------
| -- Noticed Norton AV AutoProtect was disabled.
Shouldn't have been. It
| refuses to be enabled.
| -- Firewall is still Allow All, as it was all
along so far in this
| troubleshooting session.
| -- Refuses to be enabled from the System Tray
option.
| -- At about the 4 + MINUTE time point, AutoProtect
turned on! Dunno if
| it's because I'd tried to enable it or if it just had
to wait the 4 minutes.
| 4 minutes is a feeling, not a measured time; didn't
know it was going to
| enable.
| ---------------------
| -- Set Firewall to Normal. Auto Protect is still ON
| -- Restart took 2 minutes and 12 seconds!! Say,
what?
| ------------------------
| -- Turn OFF Auto Protect; Reboot.
| -- Took 48 seconds! Huh? But, Norton Auto Protect
switched itself OFF
| again and refuses to be enabled.
| Hmm, are Sygate's Firewall and Norton fighting
each other?
|
| ---------------------------
|
| Turned ON Internet Connection Firewall (ICF).
| Removed Sygate Personal Firewall.
| Boot = 50S.
| -- AutoProtect is still OFF though. Refuses to be
enabled from system
| tray. BUT, this time, I was able to Enable it from
within NAV! Left it
| enabled.
|
| Did a Restart:
| -- Got Epson Printer Driver failure error msg again!
| -- Boot time - 2 MINUTES 20 SECONDS!! Huh?
| -- And Auto Protect had been turned OFF again!? It
should have been ON!
| Cannot enable it from the system tray. But, at
around the 4 or 5 minute
| time, it came ON again! So, eventually Auto Protect
DID come on!! NOW I
| can enable/disable it at will from the system tray
icon. Huh.
| ----------
| Disabled AutoProtect.
| Rebooted:
| -- Got the Epson error msg again!
| BUT, boot time: 50 S measured. Sheesh!
| AND, Norton Auto Protect had been disabled again!
And this time didn't come
| back on by itself. So,
| -------------------------
|
| Enabled Auto Protect.
| Reboot: 49 Seconds measured.
| It enabled OK from the system tray though.
| Reboot: 50 S measured.
| Auto Protect turned itself OFF again!
| But can enable/disable it at will from system tray.
| ----------------
| What do YOU think?
| Man, I am SO confused. I think my next move is:
|
| -- Find another antivirus software to use.
| -- Keep ICF for now - it's enough functionality for
now.
| And continue with more analysis. Tomorrow.
|
| Or, but the bullet, but this is getting curiouser and
curiouser all the
| time!
|
| Comments/advice welcome! Flames? Nah, please don't.
|
| Pop
|

 

[Michael Solomon \(MS-MVP Windows Shell/User\)]

While a clean install is always an option because of the work involved I try
to make it the last resort unless there's no other way or on my own setup,
I'm just too lazy for the fix!<LOL>

Have you tried removing the printers and reinstalling. That's physically
removing the printers, removing all related software then reinstalling
according to manufacturer's instructions.

As to the boot issues, I'd start turning things off that are set to start
when the system boots. Turn them off one at a time, I'd begin with
antivirus and if that didn't resolve it then any firewalls on the system.

 

[Michael Solomon \(MS-MVP Windows Shell/User\)]

Have you run a virus scan, there is a security issue with SNMP and it's
possible that exploit has opened a door on your system, a virus scan would
be in order as would a check for malware, download, install and run Ad
Aware, www.lavasoftusa.com.

If you've already done the above, I apologize.

The Epson error would seem to indicate it may be playing a role in your boot
problems. In my previous response I mentioned removing the printers and
reinstalling. Before you reinstall, I'd boot without them and see how it
goes. That means all such hardware and their related software removed from
the system.

I haven't seen the print failure before however, laser printers are
notoriously power hungry. You might want to try attaching the Laser printer
directly to an outlet to see if that makes a difference. I don't think I'd
have it sharing, at least not a surge bar.

 

[Pop Rivet]

Michael,
Thanks loads. Comments inline - no joy yet.

Have you run a virus scan, there is a security issue with SNMP and it's
possible that exploit has opened a door on your system, a virus scan would
be in order as would a check for malware, download, install and run Ad
Aware, www.lavasoftusa.com.

== Already done, several times in fact.
HOWever, you did give me something here: I've been going to lavasoft.de
for updates and info. Didn't know there was a 'usa' site.

If you've already done the above, I apologize.

== Not a problem; apology unnecessary.

The Epson error would seem to indicate it may be playing a role in your boot
problems. In my previous response I mentioned removing the printers and
reinstalling. Before you reinstall, I'd boot without them and see how it
goes. That means all such hardware and their related software removed from
the system.

== Sort of done, but not really. Disconnected/removed one at a time while
I worked on the other, but that's all. Thanks, I'll do this next. Most of
the time I don't get that error message and cannot figure the "pattern" to
cause it. Got so involved in trying to recreate the problem I forgot about
full removal.
Think I'll remove them and leave them removed unless and until things
return to normal.

I haven't seen the print failure before however, laser printers are
notoriously power hungry. You might want to try attaching the Laser printer
directly to an outlet to see if that makes a difference. I don't think I'd
have it sharing, at least not a surge bar.

== Worth a try - things do change with time. I'll move the plug today so I
won't forget.

I was just reading a post about the bunghole who is telling people MS
recommends reformatting their drives once a year (NOT!): I am getting real
close to following his advice today, but I am SO curious!!

Had a Registry corruption (massive) and had to Restore it from a previoujs
boot yesterday. Not sure what differences it made; it was too late to do
anymore by the time I finished. A Registry mamager found 172 errors though,
so I'm not holding my breath. Everything DID boot right after the fix , and
Event Viewer (finally) had no errors or warnings in it. But, those are
famous last words!!

Regards & Thanks

Pop

--
Michael Solomon MS-MVP
Windows Shell/User
Backup is a PC User's Best Friend
DTS-L.Org: http://www.dts-l.org/

<snipped for conservation - please see original post if needed. It's long.>

 

[Pop Rivet]

Responses inline:

While a clean install is always an option because of the work involved I try
to make it the last resort unless there's no other way or on my own setup,
I'm just too lazy for the fix!<LOL>

== I'm getting reeeeaaaaallll close to that! With win98 I did the clean
installs now and then too 'cause there was nothing left I felt I could gain
from it most of the time: I always seemed to know which was the faster fix,
so if I knew what the problem was, a quick calc told me what to do! Oh for
the days of Commodores!
I have the definite feeling I'm chasing multiple problems this time
though, so it might be my only way out since they all seem to intertwined
somehow. Another day or so's all I'm willing to try. But then, there's the
nagging feeling that I'm the cause somehow and maybe a clean install isn't
the cure. I've already run Repair Console and an "upgrade" type install (in
place) with minimal results before I came to you guys.

Have you tried removing the printers and reinstalling. That's physically
removing the printers, removing all related software then reinstalling
according to manufacturer's instructions.

== Sort of, but no, not really. Have only tried one at a time while I
worked on the other. Time to get the both out of the picture though, as you
suggest. Only I think I'll leave them out until everything else is working
right and is stable. I uninstalled a bunch of things yesterday - AV,
anything I don't use a lot right now like CAD, Video capture, TV, etc.,
disabled LAN, dialup, and so on. Boots FAST now, but ... no joy. Today the
printers go, sw and physically.

As to the boot issues, I'd start turning things off that are set to start
when the system boots. Turn them off one at a time, I'd begin with
antivirus and if that didn't resolve it then any firewalls on the system.

== Firewall's gone, AV's gone, LAN's gone, etc... Continuing, as mentioned
above.

I'm planning to abandon this thread if it's OK with everyone. Have started
another one, Part Two of same subject.

Regards,

Pop
(no further responses past this point)

 

[Michael Solomon \(MS-MVP Windows Shell/User\)]

You're welcome, good luck.

 

[Pop Rivet]

Didn't figure deleting the text would bother anyone - I used a lot of
bandwidth here. ANYway, I just want to thank the many people who made
suggestions and/or offered advice and/or experience. It was all useful to
me.

The "fix" wasn't all that elegant, however. I'd made up my mind to
uninstall everything one at a time since I'd also made up my mind to
repart/reformat anyway. Norton AV was already long gone, as was Sygate
firewall, so I started at the top of the window in the Add/Remove programs.
I think I was uninstalling TurboCad when, on the next boot, which I
performede faithfully after EACH uninstall or removal, the Add New Hardware
message popped up! Now, that was worth pausing to think about: I had NOT
removed any app relevant to any peripheral; it just popped up!
After some thought, I dutifully cleared each "don't show me this again"
box becuase I wanted to know what it found but didn't want to install
anything "new". It was late in the day and other than Multimedia something
I don't recall what they were and wasn't smart enough to write them down.
There were, however, 6 of them. So, I said to myself, "Self, ...."
So, I stopped uninstalling and disconnected everything from the machine
except the monitor, keyboard, and monitor, and did a few Shut Downs for
safety sake, and let the machine set while I went about some other things I
had round tuits for. Oh yeah, I also backed up all the logfiles and an Aida
Report to CD and cleared all the logs.
Turned on the power. Booted. 42 SECONDS! Reinstalled the HP LJ on
LPT1. Worked fine. Power cycled, connected Epson Stylus Printer - worked
fine. So did HP. Both worked. Could even run both simultaneously; a very
handy thing in my case, as I occasionally have a LOT of printing to do.
Cold/Warm/Cold/Warm booted, they still worked, Event log showed no
problems! Went ahead with the rest of the peripherals - all went perfectly.
And, things are STILL prefect!
Now, here comes the famous last words: Still haven't put LAN back on and
don't have anything to protect myself except the ICF in XP. Still trying to
decide whether to put the Norton AV back or try a different one, and I know
I don't want Sygate's firewall back. I have California Associate's EZ
Firewall and virus app installed on my laptop right now, which seem to work
fine, but it was pretty surprising to come across CA doing a virus/firewall
app. They're the project database folk for those who don't remember them.

So, I think I've succeeded. It's been 8 hours now and it's all still
working: A record since all this crap started. Oh, and XP's now accepting
the HP printer drivers that it previously refused to let load. And yes,
both printers are XP compatible; just not on the MS compatability tested
list. Both include installation for XP os.

So, what happened is still a mystery to me, but I am glad to not have to
reinstall Office and all the other apps I have on that machine; there are
only a few to reinstall and only one big one - TurboCad.

I still really cannot however get past the feeling that the firewall and
Norton and the LAN were somehow intertwined and affecting each other but of
course I have no way to back any of that up as actual fact. \


Anyway, thanks to all for your P & U!
Please God, no surprises when the LAN turns back on!!

Pop