Why does it take so long at start-up?

[James]

I wonder why it takes my computer so long to load at start-up? I think
today it took 5-6 minutes for everything to load so I could get on the
internet. My system is-
2002 model
Windows XP Pro,
Processor 1.60 GHz
Ram 1 GB

Any help in solving this is appreciated-Thanks.

James

 

[JS]

Try Autoruns from the MS Windows SysInternals site:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902.aspx

AutoRuns will show/list all apps/etc. that load/run when you first boot ...
(the 'Boot Execute' tab),
when you logon (the 'Logon' tab) and other programs that load
(grouped by labeled tabs) for easy viewing.

It also provides the ability to selectively allows you to stop
(use with care) any program that you don't want to load.
You can undo any changes you have made.

Note: To get additional details on an item in the list you can't
readily identify you may need to highlight the item (right click) and use
the 'Search Online' option to get the details,
especially useful for the more obscure items in the list.

There is also a change in the later version's (v9.39) menu 'Options':
"Autoruns changes the Hide Microsoft Entries to only hide Windows entries"

 

[Gerry]

James

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.

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 any devices malfunctioning? Select Start, All Programs, Accessories,
System Tools, System Information. Open Components under System Summary
and click on Problem Devices. Is anything listed there?

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
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Jose]

I wonder why it takes my computer so long to load at start-up? I think
today it took 5-6 minutes for everything to load so I could get on the
internet. My system is-
2002 model
Windows XP Pro,
Processor 1.60 GHz
Ram 1 GB

Any help in solving this is appreciated-Thanks.

James

All good ideas.

I have that issue of the Windows starting reasonably fast and my
desktop appearing, but then taking a while (several minutes) for
things to settle down before I can actually do anything. It used to
be quite zippy.

Now, I plan on a little wait and reordered my routine a bit to do
something else for a few minutes. I imagine it gets worse over time
as things are added and deleted from your mix. It will never be fast
enough for me.

But, if you use Google to search for something like: Windows XP
Startup Tweak Guide

you will get some other good ideas. I have stuff in my notes from a
particular link that I can't find but some of the Google hints are
along the same lines.

Depending on your comfort level with making changes and your ability
to undo things if something goes wrong, you may find some relief in
those ideas.

 

[Twayne]

I wonder why it takes my computer so long to load at start-up? I think
today it took 5-6 minutes for everything to load so I could get on the
internet. My system is-
2002 model
Windows XP Pro,
Processor 1.60 GHz
Ram 1 GB

Any help in solving this is appreciated-Thanks.

James

That's rather long, but it doesn't necessarily mean anything is wrong.
Most likely it's loading several background tasks and programs to make
things start a little faster and work a little better once it's all
loaded and ready. As Jose said though, unless it's exhibiting a problem
of some sort or the whole machine is slow all the time, it's often
easiest to just revise what you do after you start the computer.
Hibernate is one way of turning off your machine without losing
havign to even close your programs (though you still should) and is
often faster to get going again but not always.

Are you just curious or looking for ways to make it start faster?
There are things you can do to speed up the boot time; mainly getting
rid of (stopping) a lot of the background tasks that start at boot time.
Or, you could set your power options so the machine just spins down
the drives and blanks the monitor at night, and never actually turns the
machine fully off. It only draws a few watts in that state and you
don't have to boot every morning. I only reboot about once a week, on
weekends, just to keep things clean, or whenever something seems to have
glitched and needs to be reset.
If something glitches, I try Logging off and back on first; that's
usually all that's needed and is faster than a full reboot. For a fully
patched, well running machine, they are stable enough now that reboots
aren't needed unless you want to save electricity, etc.. But that can
depend on the Quality of some of the programs you're running, too.

HTH,

Twayne



HTH,

Twayne

 

[Dallas]

i use the msconfig & undo the ones i don't want running, but in a few days,
they are running again; most are dell support things, which i can open if &
when i want to - not sure why the turn themselves back on, so to speak

 

[Twayne]

That's becuase without them something would go unstable so windows
reloads them to prevent crashing. It's not unusual with msconfig: It's
primarily a troubleshooting tool. After you've used it to see which
programs etc. cause the problem, then you should go to the program,
option, whatever and turn it off the correct way.
Things like Dell's shells, etc. can often be removed in the
Add/Remove programs in Control Panel. AutoRuns isn't a bad way to see
what's starting and running if you understand what it's telling you.
I don't recall your stating any particular issues you wanted to take
care of; that might get you more detailed responses than just
shotgunning everything, IMO. What's your expertise level with the
computer and operating system?

HTH,

Twayne

 

[Gerry]

Dallas

Autoruns is a better tool for the purpose you describe.

Msconfig is a troubleshooting tool and not one for making permanent
changes. You can disable but not remove an item. To remove an item the
user is tempted to use regedit to remove the unwanted item. This can
lead to serious problems for an inexperienced user if they get it wrong.

--


Hope this helps.

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