Starting up XP takes ages, even after fresh install

[Abel MacAdam]

Hi,

As off late, my PC takes ages to start. At the end it took even more than 70
minutes to start. This Monday I decided to install XP again. Yesterday I was
able to get the driver for my Ethernet card. After installing SP3 and a
reboot I installed the other necessary updates. I also installed my firewall
ZoneAlarm. But after the required reboot my system started to show the same
bad habits it had before the re-installation.

Some questions:
1. It should be impossible for a virus or spyware to get on my system during
installation (yes/no)?
2. XP works fine with the ZoneAlarm firewall (yes/no)?
3. Windows updates are tested and are not the cause of my system taking ages
to boot (yes/no)?
4. Is it possible for faulty hardware (broken DVD burner?) to cause my
system to take ages to boot (yes/no)? (Please elaborate)

And finally:
Do you have a suggestion for me what I should do? Install XP again?

Your help would be appreciated.
Abel

 

[Gurpreet Singh]

1. It should be impossible for a virus or spyware to get on my system during
installation (yes/no)? yes, if you were previously infected you would still
be infected
2. XP works fine with the ZoneAlarm firewall (yes/no)? yes
3. Windows updates are tested and are not the cause of my system taking ages
to boot (yes/no)? no, updates are supposed to improve security and
performance and not cause slowness.
4. Is it possible for faulty hardware (broken DVD burner?) to cause my
system to take ages to boot (yes/no)? yes faulty hardware like a disk can be
a cause, if there are bad sectors for instance can cause slowness. but you
would generally see other symptoms as well and a lot of disk events in the
eventviewer

And finally:
1) I would suggest runing msconfig. From the services tab, click "hide all
microsoft services". then from the same tab, disable all th eitems that you
feel are not required.
2) From teh startup tab click disable all.
3) Perform a defrag of the disk and ensure there are no disk issues. this
can be done by running a chkdsk command from the start>>run
4) check eventvwr for any events indicating disk issues
5) If you are familier with windows performance monitoring utility, run it
and check where is your system spending time
6) From task manager, check if the CPU is consistantly high (>60%)

These are only some of teh suggestions to what you can do. I would suggest
starting with these and if you still have issues let us know

 

[Gerry]

Abel

Have a look in the System and Application logs in Event Viewer for Errors
and Warnings and post copies here. Don't post any more than 48 hours ago.

You can access Event Viewer by selecting Start, Control Panel,
Administrative Tools, and Event Viewer. When researching the meaning
of the error, information regarding Event ID, Source and Description
are important.

HOW TO: View and Manage Event Logs in Event Viewer in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308427/en-us

A tip for posting copies of Error Reports! Run Event Viewer and double
click on the error you want to copy. In the window, which appears is a
button resembling two pages. Click the button and close Event
Viewer.Now start your message (email) and do a paste into the body of
the message. Make sure this is the first paste after exiting from
Event Viewer.

Are there any yellow question marks in Device Manager? Right click on
the My Computer icon on your Desktop and select Properties,
Hardware,Device Manager. If yes what is the Device Error code?

--


Hope this helps.

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

 

[Daave]

Hi,

As off late, my PC takes ages to start. At the end it took even more
than 70 minutes to start. This Monday I decided to install XP again.
Yesterday I was able to get the driver for my Ethernet card. After
installing SP3 and a reboot I installed the other necessary updates.
I also installed my firewall ZoneAlarm. But after the required reboot
my system started to show the same bad habits it had before the
re-installation.

Some questions:
1. It should be impossible for a virus or spyware to get on my system
during installation (yes/no)?
2. XP works fine with the ZoneAlarm firewall (yes/no)?
3. Windows updates are tested and are not the cause of my system
taking ages to boot (yes/no)?
4. Is it possible for faulty hardware (broken DVD burner?) to cause my
system to take ages to boot (yes/no)? (Please elaborate)

And finally:
Do you have a suggestion for me what I should do? Install XP again?

It would be helpful to know the make an model of your PC. For instance,
there is a well-documented problem with certain HPs having problems once
SP3 is applied. If that is your case, there is a fix. Just let us know.

 

[David B.]

Yes there is a well documented problem with HP AMD PC's and SP3, but the
problems the OP is having is not a result of this problem, a BSOD is the
result of this problem, so the fix for it won't help him at all.

 

[Daave]

(top-posting corrected to preserve logical flow)

Yes there is a well documented problem with HP AMD PC's and SP3, but
the problems the OP is having is not a result of this problem, a BSOD
is the result of this problem, so the fix for it won't help him at
all.

Um, do you know what you are talking about? Read this:

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&docname=c01457284

Note the words "blue screen."

 

[David B.]

Top posting restored.

I know exactly what I'm talking about, do you? The OP's problem is NOT the
HP/AMD BSOD, thus that article has nothing to do with the OP's problem as he
is not having a BSOD issue. I know it's hard for you but try to pay
attention.

 

[Daave]

Top posting restored.

I know exactly what I'm talking about, do you? The OP's problem is
NOT the HP/AMD BSOD, thus that article has nothing to do with the
OP's problem as he is not having a BSOD issue. I know it's hard for
you but try to pay attention.

Heh, I guess I screwed up. I saw your remark "a BSOD is the result of
this problem" as "a BSOD is the result of his problem." I didn't bother
re-reading his post and assumed that your statement (as I misread it)
was accurate. Sorry, David!

 

[David B.]

LOL, no problem