Windows XP boot time...

[Paul Fedorenko]

Up until a couple of days ago, my computer would go from the POST
sequence to a useable desktop in about 45 seconds, or so.

Then I cloned my 20 GB hard drive onto a 40 GB one using Partition
Magic.

Now, it takes my system about 3 or 4 times as long to go through the
same boot-up sequence. Once Windows is running, everything runs
normally with the possible exception of Outlook 2002. But that's not
important.

Is the new size of the drive the issue here? The partition and
Windows installation survived the cloning process with no other
problems. Other than reinstalling Windows, are there any possible
fixes?

Thanks.

 

[davetest]

Up until a couple of days ago, my computer would go from the POST
sequence to a useable desktop in about 45 seconds, or so.

Then I cloned my 20 GB hard drive onto a 40 GB one using Partition
Magic.

Now, it takes my system about 3 or 4 times as long to go through the
same boot-up sequence. Once Windows is running, everything runs
normally with the possible exception of Outlook 2002. But that's not
important.

Is the new size of the drive the issue here? The partition and
Windows installation survived the cloning process with no other
problems. Other than reinstalling Windows, are there any possible
fixes?

Thanks.

It could be that the older drive had all the files related to a fast
boot time "optimized", as XP is supposed to do.

If you have, or can find, Bootvis, give it a try for optimizing those
files.

Other than that, XP is supposed to do it every 3 days (so I'm told)


Dave

 

[Bill James]

How long has it been since you cloned the drive. Windows needs a few days to detect usage patterns and optimize file placement.

--

Bill James
Microsoft MVP - Shell/User

Win9x VBScript Utilities » www.billsway.com/vbspage/
Windows Tweaks & Tips » www.billsway.com/notes_public/

 

[Kelly]

Hi Paul,

Bootvis is a Boot performance trace visualization tool for use with Windows
XP systems. It gives a graphical view of what processes are doing what and
when during boot and allow you to optimize your boot up. To download go to:

BootVis - Performance Trace Visualization Tool (Line 113)
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm

Or go to Start/Run and paste this line in:
rundll32.exe advapi32.dll,ProcessIdleTasks

/top10faqs.htm

 

[Paul Fedorenko]

How long has it been since you cloned the drive. Windows needs a few days to detect usage patterns and optimize file placement.

You know what? I did not know that about XP. I cloned the drive two
days ago, and figured everything would be exactly thes ame as it had
been before. I tink I've defraged my hard drive 3 times, gone
through my registry with a fine-toothed comb, and gone somewhat nuts
trying to figure out why it's taking so long to boot. I'm hoping
that's all there is to it, actually.

Thanks for the pointer.

 

[Paul Fedorenko]

Just out of curiosity, could it have anything to do with the fact that
I keep my page file on a separate drive?

I doubt it would, but the drive's a relatively old 7 gig unit. Could
the delay be a symptom of a difference in access times between the 40
gig drive and the swap drive?

 

[Bill James]

That really shouldn't be a factor. With both drives accessing at the same time, even a slower drive is probably going to perform better for the pagefile compared to a single drive with the heads having to move around to read and write. You can try putting the pagefile on the new faster drive, but I doubt there will be enough performance change one way or the other to tell. I also like to put the Temp file on a 2nd drive, along with Temporary Internet Files, Outlook Express storage, and other files that tend to fragment the drive. Ideally the 2 drives are on separate connections.

Just give it a few more days, perhaps running a manual defrag in the meantime.

--

Bill James
Microsoft MVP - Shell/User

Win9x VBScript Utilities » www.billsway.com/vbspage/
Windows Tweaks & Tips » www.billsway.com/notes_public/

 

[S.Sengupta]

Hi!
This is what Microsoft thinks about bootvis.exe:-
"Bootvis.exe is a performance tracing and visualization tool that
Microsoft designed to help PC system designers and software developers
identify performance issues for boot/resume timing while developing new
PC products or supporting software.

Please note that Bootvis.exe is not a tool that will improve boot/resume
performance for end users. Contrary to some published reports,
Bootvis.exe cannot reduce or alter a system's boot or resume
performance. The boot optimization routines invoked by Bootvis.exe are
built into Windows XP. These routines run automatically at
pre-determined times as part of the normal operation of the operating
system.

If you are an end-user seeking to resolve issues for boot/resume
performance on your PC, we recommend that you contact the vendor from
whom you purchased the PC. For information from Microsoft on specific
issues, you can search Knowledge Base for Windows XP product issues
related to "resume time." Knowledge Base is a free information service
available at: http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=fh;[ln];kbhowto

You can also post questions to the Microsoft Windows XP Newsgroups at:
http://support.microsoft.com/newsgroups/?pr=newsgwinxp&Product=winxp

If you are a software developer or system designer seeking assistance
for using Bootvis.exe in your development efforts, please work with your
usual Microsoft Product Support Services (PSS) contacts for developer
support. To get developer support if you do not already have a contact,
please see: http://msdn.microsoft.com/support/

The Bootvis.exe tool is no longer available from this site."
Ref:-BootVis.exe Tool
Updated: September 19, 2003
Link:-http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/hwdev/platform/performance/fastboot/BootVis.mspx

Regards,
ssg [MS-MVP]
pronetworks.org