xp boot up very slow

[Guest]

Resently a computer of someones is all of a sudden starting to boot up slow.
The screen in xp where the bar keeps going across the screen is the slow
part. The bar just keeps going and going and going for probably 2 minutes
before it boots up. What is going on? Is the hard drive going to crash

 

[Ronaldo]

Check in, Start\Run\type; "msconfig" (no quotes) and Enter, click on the
Startup Tab and uncheck unnecessary programs, only the antivirus, office
shortcut bar and ctfmon should be enabled for autostart at bootup. Also
check on Start\Run\msconfig, enter\
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
As in msconfig, only the antivirus, office shortcut bar and ctfmon should be
in the Run keys, if any other values are present there, delete them. Next,
go to Start\Control Panel\Internet Options\General and click on Delete
cookies and delete Temporary Internet Files... Next instal antispyware
programs and clean the system of possible spyware infection.

Install Adaware SE Personal, Spybot Search & Destroy, CWShredder, and The
Cleaner.
http://www.majorgeeks.com/downloads31.html

http://www.moosoft.com

 

[SingaporeWebDesign]

Hello,

This does not apply to the TS is saying that the system is hanging at the
scrolling-bar part - the Run programs are only loaded on user logon (at
welcome screen)

--
Singapore Website Design
http://www.bootstrike.com/Webdesign/
Singapore Web Hosting
http://www.bootstrike.com/WinXP/faq.html
Windows XP FAQ

 

[SingaporeWebDesign]

Hello,

Do you experience this slowness after the system has booted up?

If the HDD is dying soon, there may be a message before the XP logo shows
that the hard disk is failing.

Also, if the hard disk activity light on the PC casing seems to be
permanently lit for a long time (with no blinks), it could also indicate
failure as the hard drive is trying to read the data again and again.

--
Singapore Website Design
http://www.bootstrike.com/Webdesign/
Singapore Web Hosting
http://www.bootstrike.com/WinXP/faq.html
Windows XP FAQ

 

[Ronaldo]

Why windows takes so long to start up.
1. The prefetch cache
2. Hard drive fragmentation
3. Disconnected network drives
4. Spyware & Adware
5. File and Printer Sharing

http://www.intelliadmin.com/blog/2006/09/why-windows-takes-so-long-to-start-up.html

 

[Ronaldo]

Singapore, I got that information from an MVP.. but don't take my word for
it check this webpage.

1. The prefetch cache
http://www.intelliadmin.com/blog/2006/09/why-windows-takes-so-long-to-start-up.html

Quote: "The first tip I want to talk about is the windows prefetch. Windows
XP has this feature that loads commonly used programs - at boot time.
Here is how it works: Yesterday you used MS Word, and Duke Nukem 3D. Today
you boot your system to check e-mail. It sees parts of these two programs in
the prefetch folder and loads them into memory *before windows completes the
boot process. The benefit is faster application launch times. If you really
wanted to use MS Word, it would pop up really quick when you double clicked
on it"

*XP loads commonly used programs at boot time
*loads them into memory before windows completes the boot process

Is this guy wrong?

---------------------------------

 

[SingaporeWebDesign]

Hello,

What the MVP said in the URL is correct.

In your previous reply above, you were talking about msconfig. I was
pointing out that the

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

keys run only on Logon, not at the windows bootup screen (where the progress
bar flows).

--
Singapore Website Design
http://www.bootstrike.com/Webdesign/
Singapore Web Hosting
http://www.bootstrike.com/WinXP/faq.html
Windows XP FAQ

 

[Guest]

works fine when booted up

Hello,

Do you experience this slowness after the system has booted up?

If the HDD is dying soon, there may be a message before the XP logo shows
that the hard disk is failing.

Also, if the hard disk activity light on the PC casing seems to be
permanently lit for a long time (with no blinks), it could also indicate
failure as the hard drive is trying to read the data again and again.

--
Singapore Website Design
http://www.bootstrike.com/Webdesign/
Singapore Web Hosting
http://www.bootstrike.com/WinXP/faq.html
Windows XP FAQ

 

[BillW50]

Singapore, I got that information from an MVP.. but don't take my
word for it check this webpage.

1. The prefetch cache
http://www.intelliadmin.com/blog/2006/09/why-windows-takes-so-long-to-start-up.html

Quote: "The first tip I want to talk about is the windows prefetch.
Windows XP has this feature that loads commonly used programs - at
boot time.
Here is how it works: Yesterday you used MS Word, and Duke Nukem 3D.
Today you boot your system to check e-mail. It sees parts of these
two programs in the prefetch folder and loads them into memory
*before windows completes the boot process. The benefit is faster
application launch times. If you really wanted to use MS Word, it
would pop up really quick when you double clicked on it"

*XP loads commonly used programs at boot time
*loads them into memory before windows completes the boot process

Is this guy wrong?

Maybe so...

http://www.edbott.com/weblog/archives/000743.html

Some experts claim (including some from Microsoft) that prefetch has
nothing to do with bootup. As it only effects and attempts to reduce
disk thrashing and making loading time a hair shorter of your
applications.

 

[Ronaldo]

Just read your interesting comments on Prefetch... I had disabled prefetch
but didn't notice any reduction in bootup time, so I reset the registry
value to EnablePrefetcher to 2. Some time ago I deleted the files in the
folder and did notice an improvement, so what is the right approach?

I also read your comments on registry cleaners, I have Tune Up 2006
installed, have used it for years and also used CCleaner for the same time
and have never had a single problem with them, I do check the results of the
scans before I delete them and see that they only delete orphaned shortcuts,
temp files, clipboard, memory dumps, logs, prefetch data, and all sort of
crap,.. and I do notice an improvement with Tune Up, particularly after
using it for the first time on a system or deleting old accumulated crap.
I use CCleaner mainly to delete temp files that the Internet Options
application doesn't (apparently) delete.

So I wonder why most experts warn about the use of such programs, years ago
there were registry cleaners that did cause problems as they deleted keys
and values indiscriminately with no clear explanation, and I think registry
cleaners have been dragging the stigma all this time... from my own
experience, I think registry cleaners are safe as long as you use them
intelligently, anyway that's my own humble opinion. What's yours?

 

[Ronaldo]

Sorry, didn't pay attention to names, & didn't notice those are not your
comments in the Ed Bott blog, but I thank you for the link.

------------------------------

Just read your interesting comments on Prefetch... I had disabled prefetch
but didn't notice any reduction in bootup time, so I reset the registry
value to EnablePrefetcher to 2. Some time ago I deleted the files in the
folder and did notice an improvement, so what is the right approach?

I also read your comments on registry cleaners, I have Tune Up 2006
installed, have used it for years and also used CCleaner for the same time
and have never had a single problem with them, I do check the results of the
scans before I delete them and see that they only delete orphaned shortcuts,
temp files, clipboard, memory dumps, logs, prefetch data, and all sort of
crap,.. and I do notice an improvement with Tune Up, particularly after
using it for the first time on a system or deleting old accumulated crap.
I use CCleaner mainly to delete temp files that the Internet Options
application doesn't (apparently) delete.

So I wonder why most experts warn about the use of such programs, years ago
there were registry cleaners that did cause problems as they deleted keys
and values indiscriminately with no clear explanation, and I think registry
cleaners have been dragging the stigma all this time... from my own
experience, I think registry cleaners are safe as long as you use them
intelligently, anyway that's my own humble opinion. What's yours?

 

[BillW50]

No problem Ronaldo. I didn't notice any saving from disabling the
prefetch during bootup either.

 

[Ronaldo]

Yeah, I guess you can cut a lot more from the boot process cutting time from
the bootloader timeout.

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