slow start up

[Philip J. Cook]

My PC (XP Home), has over the last couple of months become very very slow on
start up.
From typically 3 mins to approx 20 mins, what could be causing this?
thxs
phil

 

[Bob I]

Failing hardware, or malware or other nasties?

 

[Beck]

My PC (XP Home), has over the last couple of months become very very slow
on start up.
From typically 3 mins to approx 20 mins, what could be causing this?
thxs

Your PC should not take 3 minutes to startup, let alone 20 mins.
It could be a number of things from virus to spyware to messed up registry
or more.
If you install and uninstall a lot of programs, the registry can become
messed up. The harder it is to read, the slower the startup.
For starters I recommend http://www.ccleaner.com/ and give you files a good
clean. This includes a registry cleaner to clean out redundant registry
entries. I used this program once to clean my registry and had an
improvement of the startup time by 30 seconds approx.
As with any program like that, it is a powerful program so make sure you
follow the instructions carefully and be sure to do a registry backup prior
to clean.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Your PC should not take 3 minutes to startup, let alone 20 mins.

Although I agree that 20 minutes is a *very* long time, I disagree that it
should not take three minutes.

How long a computer takes to start depends on a number of things, not least
what programs start automatically. It's not uncommon for some people to
legitimately start enough programs automatically that it takes three
minutes. I, for example, start Adaware, Spyware Blaster, Spybot Search and
Destroy, Outlook, Outlook Express, Quicken, and Internet Explorer when I
boot, and it takes me at least three minutes--maybe longer. These are all
programs that either want to check for updates at the beginning of each day
or keep up all day.

I don't suggest that anyone *should* do as I do, but only want to point out
that some of us do, and that therefore there are hardly any right or wrongs
(except for 20 minutes--that is clearly much too long) when it comes to how
long it should take. My personal view is that the attention many people pay
to how long it takes to boot is unwarranted. Assuming that the computer's
speed is otherwise satisfactory, it may not be worth worrying about. Most
people start their computers once a day or even less frequently. In the
overall scheme of things, even a few minutes to start up isn't very
important. Personally I power on my computer when I get up in the morning,
then go get my coffee. When I come back, it's done booting. I don't know how
long it took to boot and I don't care.

It could be a number of things from virus to spyware to messed up
registry or more.
If you install and uninstall a lot of programs, the registry can
become messed up. The harder it is to read, the slower the startup.
For starters I recommend http://www.ccleaner.com/ and give you files
a good clean. This includes a registry cleaner to clean out
redundant registry entries. I used this program once to clean my
registry and had an improvement of the startup time by 30 seconds
approx.

I very strongly disagree with this advice. I always recommend *against* the
routine use of registry cleaners. Routine cleaning of the registry isn't
needed and is dangerous. Leave the registry alone and don't use a registry
cleaner. Despite what many people think, and what vendors of registry
cleaning software try to convince you of, having unused registry entries
doesn't really hurt you.

The risk of a serious problem caused by a registry cleaner erroneously
removing an entry you need is far greater than any potential benefit it may
have.

If I were in Philip's shoes, the first thing I would want to rule out would
be the possibility of malware. These
days the most common cause for performance issues is malware infestation.
The first thing to do is always to be sure you are free of malware. I
recommend that he go to Malke's Malware Removal site at
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware and follow
the instructions there.

 

[Beck]

I very strongly disagree with this advice. I always recommend *against*
the routine use of registry cleaners. Routine cleaning of the registry
isn't needed and is dangerous. Leave the registry alone and don't use a
registry cleaner. Despite what many people think, and what vendors of
registry cleaning software try to convince you of, having unused registry
entries doesn't really hurt you.

The risk of a serious problem caused by a registry cleaner erroneously
removing an entry you need is far greater than any potential benefit it
may have.

If I were in Philip's shoes, the first thing I would want to rule out
would be the possibility of malware. These
days the most common cause for performance issues is malware infestation.
The first thing to do is always to be sure you are free of malware. I
recommend that he go to Malke's Malware Removal site at
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware and follow
the instructions there.

I disagree with your disagree
Ccleaner is a very good program and in my experience has never posed a
problem. It just deletes redundant entries like entries left behind from an
uninstalled program.
I have never had a problem with it and feel comfortable recommending it.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I disagree with your disagree
Ccleaner is a very good program and in my experience has never posed a
problem. It just deletes redundant entries like entries left behind
from an uninstalled program.
I have never had a problem with it and feel comfortable recommending
it.

That's fine. We have each made our recommendation, and people here are free
to follow whatever advice they want.

By the way, I usee CCleaner myself--just not its registry-cleaning
functions.

 

[Beck]

That's fine. We have each made our recommendation, and people here are
free to follow whatever advice they want.

By the way, I usee CCleaner myself--just not its registry-cleaning
functions.

It certainly does also do a good job with temporary files and all that
stuff.