one hour plus boot

[Guest]

I read the messages for slow boot. I was was going to try each suggested
solution in turn, starting with disabling the integrated (Marvell) LAN
controller in BIOS. Well, Windows decided I had made substantial changes to
my PC and is demanding reactivation within three days. To add insult to
injury, I can't try anything else because I can't get passed the bloody
welcome screen. I do here the C drive working, but not constantly. It
"clicks" for a second or two, then is silent, clicks, silent, and so on. I
tried safe mode, but that wasn't a whole lot better.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Bob I]

The clicks don't sound good, you don't suppose the long boot time is
Windows trying to make a failing hard drive work?

 

[Guest]

Quick update. Safe Mode does allow me to start Windows, along with the stupid
nag to reactivate. I used Disk cleanup to whack unused files, programs and
defrag the drive. I'll run chkdsk c: /f /r after the defrag on reboot. The
problems just started yesterday. Maybe this is why my DSL kept puking out on
LAN.

I'm running XP Pro SP2.

 

[Guest]

Quick Update. I got into Windows using Safe Mode. I think I have boot logging
turned on. (Now all I have to do is find the log.) I used disk cleanup to
whack files and programs I don't need or use. Some can't be whacked in Safe
Mode. Must be another feature. I'm running defrag now. Spybot found no
problems.

Once that's all done, I'm going to run chkdsk /r/f on reboot. The Marvell
LAN controller seems to be working fine, even if Windows thinks I've
substantially changed my PC. Microsoft is more paranoid than Washington.

 

[Guest]

Sorry about the doublke post. IE7 locked on my laptop.
Chkdsk will not run on reboot. Will not run in safe mode claiming it cannot
lock the disk because it's in use by another service. Will not run at C:
prompt. Cannot install third party drive check (Seagate / Maxtor) although
already installed Western Digital software says SMART says drive is okay.

 

[Gerry]

Try cCleaner (freeware) which does a more thorough job than Disk
CleanUp.
http://www.ccleaner.com/ccdownload.asp
http://www.ccleaner.com/

With any cleaner you need to proceed with caution. To be safe you
should create a restore point before using cCleaner. cCleaner also
offers backup before removal.

When using cCleaner think twice before checking Autocomplete Form
History under Internet Explorer. You do get a warning but this one has
irritating consequences. You may need to restore your system's
recollection of passwords after use so keep a record off computer so
that they can easily be re-entered.

Leave the Scan for Issues option alone.

If chkdsk still doesn't work:
Unable to run CHKDSK
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555484

--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Guest]

I disabled or et to manual every non-mircosoft service, process, app, etc.
chckdsk still says it can't lock the drive. what now?

 

[dobey]

Sorry about the doublke post. IE7 locked on my laptop.
Chkdsk will not run on reboot. Will not run in safe mode claiming it
cannot
lock the disk because it's in use by another service. Will not run at C:
prompt. Cannot install third party drive check (Seagate / Maxtor) although
already installed Western Digital software says SMART says drive is okay.

I don't think SMART is particularly useful.

Download bootable disk checking software from seagate, SeaTools for DOS

When you disabled your NIC in the BIOS this counts for 3 (?) points on the
XP hardware check. I can't recall how many points are needed in order to
trigger a reactivation message but an NIC change is a big one. If you've
previously added more RAM or different HDD or some other component this
could have triggered the change.

I don't think re-activating the NIC will undo the activation message.

Look at event viewer for entries refering to "disk".

 

[Gerry]

"I disabled or et to manual every non-mircosoft service, process, app,
etc. chckdsk still says it can't lock the drive. what now?"

That wasn't a smart thing to do! Why did you do that? Now you need to
restore them all to what they were.
http://www.theeldergeek.com/services_guide.htm

--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Bob I]

There a few softwares that interfere with Safemode and chddsk. 3rd party
firewalls, Norton goback and others. Are you running any of those?