PC takes a long time to boot up 1

[gearhead03]

My brother has a Dell Diminsion 3100.
P4 256MB RAM
Windows XP SP2
It takes a very long time to boot up. I have checked the start up items and there doesn't appear to be any spyware. It has also had SpySweeper running on it since it was new.
He also runs McAfee anti-virus and site watch.
I turn Spysweeper's "load at startup" off but it didn't help much.
I think that it is Mcafee that is causing the problem.
Has anyone else had this type of problem using this program?
i was going to just disable it to see if it helped but I couldn't find a way to do it without completely uninstalling it.
I was also thinking that maybe it just needs more RAM.

Any thoughts?

Mark A. Kale

 

[electronicsfreak]

Yeah , with Windows xp I reccomend at least 512MB of ram. As for startup items, id personally turn off anything on msconfig that isnt antivirus or firewall related. Also if you want to check behind your programs to be sure the computer is clean, run a scan from this site.

http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

There is a point in wisdom and knowledge that when you reach it, you exceed what is considered possible - Jason Schoon

 

[BadBigBen]

Also things to check:

1.) set the IP adress to a static one, default in XP is dynamic... this will speed up xp boot as it does not have to look throughout the whole IP ranges for a DHCP server etc...

2.) under services, see if the Windows Imaging Service is on automatic, if so then set it to manual... this will prevent XP looking for Scanners and Cameras at startup, and still allow them to be used with the machine...

3.) the more startup items that he has the longer it will take to boot up... things like QTTASK or AdobeUpdater (Reader) do not need to be running at startup, but since you did not list what is running at startup, we can't tell you what is necessary and what is not...


Ben

"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."

 

[electronicsfreak]

Good post on the ip part badbigben, I forgot about that lol. Very common one lol.

There is a point in wisdom and knowledge that when you reach it, you exceed what is considered possible - Jason Schoon

 

[gearhead03]

What should the ip be set to?

Mark A. Kale

 

[electronicsfreak]

Go to start, run, type cmd and hit enter. Type ipconfig. The ip address it shows is the one it should be set to.

There is a point in wisdom and knowledge that when you reach it, you exceed what is considered possible - Jason Schoon

 

[gearhead03]

Thank you very much!!!

I will sure try all these things!

Mark A. Kale

 

[electronicsfreak]

n/p that is what we are all here for. We love to help.

There is a point in wisdom and knowledge that when you reach it, you exceed what is considered possible - Jason Schoon

 

[BadBigBen]

@ e-freak - I know, old age and all, hits me once in awhile... LOL ...



Ben

"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."

 

[electronicsfreak]

lol oh well, good thing about all of us around. What one forgets the other will remember. I save webpages all the time lol.

There is a point in wisdom and knowledge that when you reach it, you exceed what is considered possible - Jason Schoon

 

[wahnula]

Type ipconfig. The ip address it shows is the one it should be set to.

Please note that's only for a STATIC IP ADDRESS and I doubt this user's brother has one, unless he's in a corporate environment. Unless you are POSITIVE it's a static IP he will be SOL when it changes. Home cable & DSL accounts are usually dynamic, static IPs cost extra, so he should know if he's paying for one. It doesn't really take that long to pull an IP address anyway. My take:

MORE RAM!!! MORE RAM!!! MORE RAM!!!

Seriously there is probably still a ton of spyware in there. Adaware, Spybot S&D, AVG Anti-Spy are all free, no one tool rids them all. Run as many as you can. SpywareBlaster is a good prophylactic. Ccleaner is free too just keep running it until it shows all problems gone. You can find all of these at

http://www.download.com

Start>Run>msconfig>Startup un-check everything that's aftermarket software except A/V. Sometimes sneaky software tries to hide like that blasted RealPlayer (TKBELL.exe)

Switch to Firefox from IE and you won't need that SpySweeper running all the time...FF has solved my small-office's spyware problem.

If you have access to a Norton Systemworks CD don't install it, run WinDoctor and "Fast and Safe" from the CD. Windows has a Disk Cleanup utility: Start>Programs>Accessories>System Tools>Disk Cleanup

Finally, Start>Programs>Accessories>System Tools>Disk Defragmenter will put those files back in one piece. Do this before bed...then go to sleep...it can take HOURS.

Best of luck.

Tony

 

[G0AOZ]

I've found BOOTVIS helpful on occasions. Download from here:-

http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=664

Will enable you to see which drivers are taking a long time to load etc. Also, claims it will reorder driver list for faster bootup.

ROGER - G0AOZ.

 

[BadBigBen]

@Wahnula - we where not talking about ISP Static adressing, but the static adressing of the NIC that is, and in a home environment it is sometimes better to set it to static, I agree with you that if he also uses the pc in a corporate environment then he would be SOL...

if he has a static or dynamic ip from his ISP it has no effect on the BOOT UP process...

and I do agree that the MORE RAM the better...



Ben

"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."

 

[TomCologne]

Logging on to the Recovery Console and running "chkdsk /r" fixed that problem on my PC.

TomCologne

 

[DrLar]

Also you could see what service maybe hanging to load, some services that don't start take a long time to give up and release control to the next service, see your system's log for errors.

Also removing unnecessary services work, see what you may not need, like if you have a static IP you don't need the DHCP client, or the messenger service is also rarely used (is to send ms dos net send messages to another PC).

Also check you "run items on startup" (they are not on the startup folder), instead check the registry of what you may not need running (like those annoying adobe, quicktime, real, java, etc), in this registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Run\

 

[BadBigBen]

DrLar - fyi XP has 29 start ramps, to autostart progs...



Ben

"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."

 

[mainegeek]

gearhead03,
Try booting into safe mode. If it is still really slow then you may have other issues. Worth trying what TomCologne mentioned using Recovery Console and doing a repair.

 

[gearhead03]

wahnula , I don't think it is spyware. I have run several of the programs you have mentioned and Have only come up with harmless cookies.
I have also used "process explorer" to look at what is starting up and do not see anything other than A/V. I use FF myself but bro is resistant to change.
I am going to try bootvis and chkdsk.

thanks all I will report back on the progress!

Mark A. Kale

 

[HalComps]

Have tried booting into safe mode and doing a virus scan? also try getting rid of some programs starting up, start run type msconfig enter and disable what isnt needed to start up. hope this helps

 

[BadBigBen]

oh, something else just came to mind, what could cause a delayed startup...

PIO versus DMA on the IDE CHANNELS...

To check if the IDE drives are in PIO mode, go to the DEVICE MANAGER, there look under the IDE ATA/ATAPI CONTROLLER, choose the Primary IDE Channel, then right click and go to PROPERTIES, check under EXTENDED (EXPANDED) something or other (sorry, but using a foreign language UI sometimes the translations are not quite on par)...

if they are set to PIO and not DMA, then DEINSTALL the CHANNELS through the devicemanager, then REBOOT... This happens when XP detects 5 or more transfer errors, and sets then the transfer mode down to PIO to ensure that data still can be accessed...

Ben

"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."