PC very slow to start - I've run out of ideas!

[Julianne]

Ever since I got my PC it's taken ages to load to the desktop. My work PC is half the spec, yet it takes just seconds to load. My mother's PC is almost identical in spec to mine yet hers takes around 12 seconds to get to get to the desktop - mine takes about 3 1/2 minutes!

Here's my spec:

Fujitsu-Siemens PC
Pentium 4 3.06ghz hyperthreading processor
1gb ram
1 x 120gb hard drive
1 x 160gb hard drive
256mb graphics card (this is new, the PC was just as bad with the old one)
500w power supply

Not only does my PC take an absolute age to start but it's quite unresponsive in general and very noisy in comparison to my mother's Dell which is almost silent. To try and get the PC to load in a reasonable time I've:

*Disabled a load of services (services.msc)
*Disabled almost everything starting in the background (msconfig) - I even disabled absolutely everything, but there was no difference in start-up time
*Reduced the time to display list of operating systems/recovery options (unnecessary, seeing as I only have XP Pro anyway)
*Done a full virus scan
*Run Ad-Aware, CCleaner and SpyBot
*Defragged both hard drives
*Run a health check on both hard drives
*Enabled/disabled the hyperthreading in the BIOS

I've run out of ideas now. Before I end up chucking the thing and buying a Dell, is there anything else I could try?

Many thanks.

Ice hockey nostalgia at:

http://www.leevalleylions.co.uk

 

[genekr]

Do you have an Ethernet (NIC) card? Try disabling it and restart. See if that helps.
Gene

 

[Julianne]

No, I don't have one of those. One other thing I should maybe mention is that I install all the Windows updates including the malicious software tool each month, so that's another thing I've tried.

Re-starting again I've noticed that it spends about 1 1/2 minutes displaying the Windows logo screen and then it goes completely blank (a black screen) for a further 40 seconds before the Welcome screen appears.

Ice hockey nostalgia at:

http://www.leevalleylions.co.uk

 

[CiscoGuy33]

Julianne,

Back up all your data to the 2nd drive and then take that drive out.
Blow away the OS - COMPLETELY and reload with the OS - not a restore disk so that the only thing on it is the OS.

Then check it out - if still dog slow - take everything out CD, DVD Modum, Nic RAM etc and then test piece by piece. I am thinking some bad hardware or RAM - try it 1 stick at a time or use some from another machine that will fit - but just what is bare needed -

If it works - keep adding hardware and testing until all is added - then with the software!

Might be easier to just get a Dell - but it is a challange to find the bad part or code!

Just my thoughts!


E.A. Broda
CCNA, CCDA, CCAI, Network +

 

[G0AOZ]

You said "Ever since I got my PC...". I take it this is a full commercial manufactured PC and not a home upgrade/rebuild?

What's on the two HDD's? Operating system on one drive and data on the other perhaps? You've not menioned CD or DVD drives, so just tell us how your IDE interfaces are configured. Can you try running with just one HDD on primary IDE i/face and, say, just a single CD drive on the secondary i/face?

Is the POST screen ACTUALLY reporting a CPU speed of 3GHz?

Have you tried checking and/or updating the BIOS? Does BIOS fully support that CPU?

And finally, what operating system and service pack level are you running?

Questions questions, sorry about that!

ROGER - G0AOZ.

 

[Julianne]

Yes, I bought the PC from Fujitsu-Siemens, although I've added the second hard drive, changed the sound/video cards and power supply along the way. It was really only using my Mum's PC that made me realise how slow mine has been all this time.

I do have CD/DVD drives - one of each.

What is the post screen? All I get up is a brief message telling me about the 256mb nVidia card and a splash screen with the Fujitsu logo. If I go into My Computer - Properties, it lists the processor as 3.06ghz and in Device Manager it's shown twice (as it does on my Mum's PC - something to do with the hyperthreading?).

The CPU is what came with the PC so I can only assume the BIOS supports it. I've never dared upgrading the BIOS.

The chipset is Intel 845. As for operating system I'm running XP Pro SP2, though the slow start-up was there through SP1 etc too.

Looking at the IDE configuration I have the main hard drive as a primary, the other as its slave on one channel, then the DVD drive as primary and CD drive as slave on the other.

I have previously wiped the main hard drive clean and started from scratch but I don't recall this PC ever starting up in seconds rather than minutes. I'll give the suggestion of unplugging the various drives a go and see what happens.

Ice hockey nostalgia at:

http://www.leevalleylions.co.uk

 

[edfair]

And time for diagnostics on the hard drives. Get them from the manufacturers' websites.

Ed Fair
Give the wrong symptoms, get the wrong solutions.

 

[G0AOZ]

POST = Power On Self Test. Most BIOS's will show a basic monochrome screen very soon after the computer has been switched on, before you get to load Windows. This screen may be disabled in your BIOS so it just doesn't show up. See if you can disable the Fujitsu splash screen - POST screen may be hiding behind this...

POST shows basic info about what hardware has been found and initialised prior to loading the operating system. If, for example, CPU speed was incorrectly set on the motherboard, the POST screen would probably show a much reduced Gigahertz figure.

Check make and model of the primary hard drive, and establish its rpm - 7200 is ideal.

Also check the IDE cable. Is it a 40-wire or and 80-wire cable? A 40-wire cable will look similar to your floppy cable, although the floppy will of course contain fewer individual wires. An 80-wire will have much thinner wires, and often has colour coded pin headers.

Definitely worth trying a single HDD on the primary with a single CD drive on the secondary, just to check there's no "fighting" between the Master/Slave configurations.

ROGER - G0AOZ.

 

[Grenage]

It's a relative long-shot, but in the past I've seen a few machines who were very slow due to a bad IDE cable. It's uncommon to say the least but it can happen.

Have you tried swapping them out?


Carlsberg don't run I.T departments, but if they did they'd probably be more fun.

 

[gbaughma]

Well, here's the things that I would try......

First of all, I would only reinstall the O.S. as a LAST RESORT. (OK, that's all I'm going to say before I get into that one again).

Now, on to troubleshooting your problem.

1) Make sure there's not a CD left in your CDRom drive.
2) If you are mapping to any network drives by default, un-map them.
3) LISTEN to your computer as it boots... take the cover off, and listen to the hard drive. If you're hearing a regular "click", or spin-down/spin-up, then you've got a failing hard drive. (I know, this isn't the only clue to a failing hard drive, but it certainly is the most obvious)
4) Try using msconfig - See what's loading at bootup. Check your start menu... pretty much EVERYTHING that is in the "Startup" folder can go, at least for diagnostic purposes.
5) Try starting in Safe Mode. If it boots up fast there, then use msconfig to disable everything that's loading automatically, and turn them back on, one at a time, until you find the one that's slowing you down.
6) Scandisk / Defrag your hard drives. Do the thorough scan.
7) Make sure that DMA is turned on for your drives.... Right Click "My Computer" --> Properties --> Hardware Tab --> Device Manager --> Expand IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers, Double-click Primary IDE --> Advanced Settings --> Transfer mode set to "DMA if available". Repeat for Secondary IDE.



Just my 2¢

"In order to start solving a problem, one must first identify its owner." --Me
--Greg

 

[addy]

If I remember correctly, Microsoft used to have a free piece of software called bootvis.exe which would log what happened when your PC booted up.

Might be worth googling it and grabbing a download. There may be a particular driver or something which is balking when you boot.

 

[Julianne]

OK, my problem has now gotten heaps worse. I unplugged the second hard drive before switching on the PC to see if it was the cause of the slow loading. The PC loaded as slowly as ever so I plugged the drive back in again and now XP will not recognise it whatsoever.

The drive is visible in the BIOS but not in Device Manager or My Computer. I've tried 3 data recovery downloads and none of them can see the drive either. Have I totally fried my second hard drive?

ENIHL ice hockey at

http://www.leevalleylions.co.uk

 

[Grenage]

Did you try replacing the IDE cable as suggested?


Carlsberg don't run I.T departments, but if they did they'd probably be more fun.

 

[Julianne]

I can't get one 'til the weekend, that's why I thought I'd just try unplugging a different drive each time I restarted to see if one was the cause.

I downloaded the bootvis.exe that was also suggested but I'm not tech-minded enough to understand the results. The computer takes way longer to load than the number of seconds shown on the graphs and none of the device drivers seem to be occupying more than a moment. The CPU usage often spiked up to 100%, though - is that normal?

I'll post a new thread about the hard drive now not being recognised.

ENIHL ice hockey at

http://www.leevalleylions.co.uk

 

[Grenage]

Well in reality a CPU works at 100% for as long as it needs to, it's unlikely to be something to worry about unless it's at 100% all the time.

The only reason I mentioned the IDE cable again is because if it was damaged, when you removed and added the drive it could have moved the cable in the area it was damaged and made it worse. That would explain further performance degradation.

Of course, it might not be the cable at all.


Carlsberg don't run I.T departments, but if they did they'd probably be more fun.

 

[johnbullas]

*Done a full virus scan" .. with a reputable anti-virus package?

Spybot AND Adaware BOTH should be used as either may find something 'tother doesn't.....

*Disabled a load of services (services.msc)
*Disabled almost everything starting in the background

This sounds scarey ... some of this is actually required by some peripherals

You have not mentioned the BIOS of the machine, has anyone been "playing" with this?

I personally would start from scratch assuming my data was saved to CD or DVD as you may not actually know what you have done to the machine and renoving stuff can leave loose ends that only a teccy might find BUT That could cane the performance of the PC

If you know someone who knows about PCs that you (and a number of other people) trust, buy them a 12 pack or a nice meal) and get them to rebuild your PC... without knowing precisely what you have done over time could take EONs to sort out any other way sadly.

Sorry for the downer but "been there done that" applies from my own learning curves, several of which I am still ascending.

Without seeing the thing at close quarters trying to get this baby running is pretty nigh imposible

 

[Julianne]

I used Avast anti-virus which has an excellent reputation, at least it's been recommended in magazines. I do run AdAware and SpyBot, not just one or the other.

I only disabled services that were not required for the way my PC is set up/the way I work. My problems have not been made worse at all.

There was no need for QuickTime, Nero update checks etc to start automatically when Windows loads. I only disabled what I knew were things I didn't need and for entries I wasn't sure about I looked them up first.

I only disabled virtually everything once to see if there would be a positive effect but again, there was no change. I re-enabled stuff I needed but as I'd already checked what each entry was I knew which things were obligatory.

I've previously wiped the hard drive and started from scratch but this PC has just never loaded well. I think I'll put up with it until Dell start another sale and then just cut my losses.

Thanks everyone.

ENIHL ice hockey at

http://www.leevalleylions.co.uk

 

[Grenage]

Unless it is the cable of course, which would cost about £2 to replace.


Carlsberg don't run I.T departments, but if they did they'd probably be more fun.

 

[Julianne]

True, I think I'll just take one out of my work PC when I go home tomorrow night (just have to remember to take it back on Friday!).

ENIHL ice hockey at

http://www.leevalleylions.co.uk

 

[cdogg]

OK, here are a few more suggestions you can try before you replace the cable:

1) Unplug the DVD-ROM and CD-ROM drives from the secondary channel. Unplug the 160GB drive that you added yourself. Make sure the main 120GB drive that came with the PC is set to "master" on the primary IDE channel. In addition, it is important for you to make sure it is attached at the end of the cable, and NOT using the middle connector. Also take a moment to make sure the cable is securely attached to the drive and to the motherboard.

- I realize unplugging the 160GB drive made things worse last time, but if you take every one of those steps, it shouldn't.


2) I'm assuming you have some kind of network connection, since you mentioned that you've applied updates from Microsoft on a regular basis. Even though you say you don't have an ethernet card, perhaps you have a wireless NIC (network interface card) or a built-in ethernet port on the motherboard. Both can be disabled temporarily in Device Manager. This shouldn't be the main problem, but sometimes you can shave off 20-30 seconds by having it turned off.

3) I haven't seen you respond to the suggestion about Safe Mode yet. Hit F8 a couple times before the Windows logo screen appears on bootup. This should give you a menu of options to select from. Just select the basic Safe Mode (I believe option 1) that doesn't have network support. See how long it takes to get to your desktop there.

4) Go back into the BIOS and check CPU, frontside bus, and memory speed. The frontside bus might be labeled as "bus", "FSB", or "system bus". Since you have the P4 3GHz and Intel 845 chipset, this should be set to 200Mhz (but if it isn't, don't make any changes until you check back with us).


Good luck!


~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
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