W2K System takes ages to boot with MVPS hosts file installed. Help!

[Al Dykes]

I've put the hosts file from mvps.org on lots of machines
and never had a problem.

http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm

Today i was asked to clean the spyware out of a home user w2k machine.
I ran the latest ad-aware and spybot and got the machien to the point
where both reported zero crap and I rebooted the machine and it was
normal.

Then I dropped in the hosts file and rebooted. It took maybe 5
minutes, most of it at the "preparing network connections" message.
Once it booted it ran fine.

I removed the hosts file and the machine returned to normal.

I looked at all the processes and startup folders and nothing looked
strange.

i suspect that something is trying to make a network connectio and
timing out. Is there any suggestion for how to troubleshoot this?

I'm tempted to install a lightweight http server on 127.0.0.1:80 and
see if this makes a difference. The log might be interesting.


Does anyone have a suggestion how to troubleshoot this?

Thanks

 

[Richard G. Harper]

Sounds like the computer isn't clean yet. You need a copy of HijackThis and
some expert assistance in interpreting it:

http://www.aumha.org/a/hjttutor.htm

--
Richard G. Harper [MVP Shell/User] (e-mail address removed)
* PLEASE post all messages and replies in the newsgroups
* for the benefit of all. Private mail is usually not replied to.
* My website, such as it is ... http://rgharper.mvps.org/
* HELP us help YOU ... http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm

 

[Chuck]

I've put the hosts file from mvps.org on lots of machines
and never had a problem.

http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm

Today i was asked to clean the spyware out of a home user w2k machine.
I ran the latest ad-aware and spybot and got the machien to the point
where both reported zero crap and I rebooted the machine and it was
normal.

Then I dropped in the hosts file and rebooted. It took maybe 5
minutes, most of it at the "preparing network connections" message.
Once it booted it ran fine.

I removed the hosts file and the machine returned to normal.

I looked at all the processes and startup folders and nothing looked
strange.

i suspect that something is trying to make a network connectio and
timing out. Is there any suggestion for how to troubleshoot this?

I'm tempted to install a lightweight http server on 127.0.0.1:80 and
see if this makes a difference. The log might be interesting.


Does anyone have a suggestion how to troubleshoot this?

Thanks

Al,

A large Hosts file will cause problems, with a default setup, unless you Stop,
and Disable, the DNS Client service. The DNS Client isn't needed on a small
network with no local DNS server.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/07/local-name-and-address-resolution-on.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/07/local-name-and-address-resolution-on.html