Win XP Home extremely slow Boot

  • Thread starter Thread starter pgnl
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pgnl

I have just checked the MS KB and can find nothing similar to this.

I went to a friends house and a matter of routine asked if he had cleared
his Windows temp folder (which I always do without problem) and also ran the
Disk Cleanup utility... he hadn't done either - ever.. So I did both. Low
and behold the machine (which has 512mb RAM AMD1500Mhz processor) now takes
10 minutes to boot up when it took at most 60-90 seconds before.

I came away most embarrased unable to solve the problem.

I thought maybe it was virtual memory, so I reset that to 'System Manage'
but it didn't help, I ran chkdsk (which ran at boot up) which ran without
problem, I even restored the temp folder (I hadn't emptied the Recycle Bin)
all to no avail...

Help!!!! Please..... :-)

Thanks guys


Patrick
Worcs, UK
 
Did you check "msconfig" to see if there was anything in the start-up
running from the temp folder. (although you did say you restored the temp
folder) What about defrag or a virus/spyware check.

Neil
 
Look in Event Viewer if your former friend will let you at the System
and Application logs for Error and Warning Reports for the last boot.
You most likely will need help interpreting what they mean.

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

Part of the Description of the error will include a link, which you
should double click for further information. You can copy using copy
and paste. Often the link will, however, say there is no further
information.
http://go.microsoft.com/fw.link/events.asp
(Please note the hyperlink above is for illustration purposes only)

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.

--

Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
Thanks for the tips for event viewer... I so should have checked msconfig, I
just forgot. That one is pretty obvious (although it was slow at black
screen stage not on the desktop) I am always switching off Spyware Doctor
for exactly that reason...

I tried a defrag but after 3 hours it was still stuck at 47%, it could be a
hard disk issue or possibly a virus. Also (typical) System Restore failed...
I can usually sort these things out, but was only visiting for the afternoon
and ran out of time... My name is mud... and all credibility gone out the
window... :-(

Thanks again..

Patrick
 
Patrick

To run Disk Defragmenter you need 15%, preferably 20%, free disk
space. A Norton Protected Recycle Bin or other hidden files can
conceal the true situation as they are not visible, even after the
user has taken the normal measures to see hidden system files. You
might try running Disk Defragmenter in Safe Mode as interuptions still
cause problems for some Windows XP machines.

The latest Norton products prevent the user from using System Restore
to restore to an earlier time. You need to turn off this feature
before using System Restore. Some other anti -virus and anti-spyware
programmes act in a similar way.

Often slow boot times aare the result of behaving drivers which need
to be updated. Even driivers from CD's coming with brand new hardware
can need updating immediately.

--

Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
Thanks for that...

I hadn't noticed but you're not far away.... I am near Stourbridge..:-)

HD space is not an issue only 9Gb used out of 80Gb. He definitely has either
Norton IS or AV, and I was unaware that that stopped System Restore from
working, thanks for that, I system restore might be my next port of call...
Followed by full scandisk (with bad sector check) and Defragmenter in Safe
mode.... all can be done at a distance....

I have asked him to check the msconfig file and report back.. If all else
fails I will need to check it out myself...

Now I don't suppose you can provide any tips to get my Palm TX to synch via
USB? WinXP Home, I think it's a driver issue, since my Sony phone, Ipod and
Bluetooth all work OK... The palm will synch via wifi - but usb no
chance... :-( don't worry if you can't.....

Thanks again..!

Patrick
 
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