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Computer takes forever to boot up with external hard drive plugged in (P67A-UD3)

9

996GT2

Diamond Member
Specs are in sig.

When I have my WD Elements 2TB USB 2.0 hard drive attached, my computer's boot up time goes from ~30 seconds to something like 5 minutes. I checked all of the BIOS settings and made sure the boot order, etc was correct. Does anyone know why having my USB external drive plugged in would cause such a slowdown in boot up time?
 
i don't know why it does it ... but the same thing happens with my older computer.

i have to unplug the external hard drive when i re-boot or it takes FOREVER.

i think the OS tries to look at the files on the HDD or HDD's, and that takes longer on an external HDD (except maybe eSATA ?)
 
996GT2 said:
Specs are in sig.

I checked all of the BIOS settings and made sure the boot order, etc was correct. QUOTE]


When you say "boot" order, do you mean by having it find that drive as a second or third? If so, Don't select it for a boot drive. Just use your DVD then your HDD. If you want to make it even faster, dont use the DVD in the Bootup.
Click to expand...
 
not surprising, USB 2 speeds are 20-30MB/sec and SATA is at least 10 times faster. USB is not the ideal interface to be booting from unless its USB 3.

EDIT misread OP thought you were trying to boot from USB drive. I has that issue with my WD external drive as well, i had a passport drive. It had some crap(diagnostics or something,a bunch of hidden files WD put on there from factory) preloaded that i guess the PC was trying to figure out before booting. a Full format of the drive fixed these issues for me.
 
Drsignguy said:
996GT2 said:
Specs are in sig.

I checked all of the BIOS settings and made sure the boot order, etc was correct. QUOTE]


When you say "boot" order, do you mean by having it find that drive as a second or third? If so, Don't select it for a boot drive. Just use your DVD then your HDD. If you want to make it even faster, dont use the DVD in the Bootup.
Click to expand...

I don't even have the external set as a boot drive. My boot devices are 1) my SSD and 2) my DVD drive


Rifterut said:
not surprising, USB 2 speeds are 20-30MB/sec and SATA is at least 10 times faster. USB is not the ideal interface to be booting from unless its USB 3.

EDIT misread OP thought you were trying to boot from USB drive. I has that issue with my WD external drive as well, i had a passport drive. It had some crap(diagnostics or something,a bunch of hidden files WD put on there from factory) preloaded that i guess the PC was trying to figure out before booting. a Full format of the drive fixed these issues for me.
Click to expand...

I did do a format of the external before starting to use it, so that's why I'm confused about this still happening
Click to expand...
 
Drsignguy said:
I did do a format of the external before starting to use it, so that's why I'm confused about this still happening
Click to expand...

This has been the norm for years. I've been using externals for a long time, and every machine I've used has had this issue.
(actually, older PCs used to simply not boot completely with an external drive connected, so the drives had to be connected after loading Windows.)
Newer PCs seem to boot quicker, but they still have to poll the drive(s) which will always take time.
(Software on the drive doesn't make any difference.)
 
Having a 2TB HDD on a USB line during boot up need only add at most 10 sec to the overall boot process (post to desktop).

If you see the ext. HDD's drive light continuously flashing during the long boot, then the OS is, in all likelihood, scanning the HDD for file types (media files such as music, pictures, videos, mixed content, etc) and possibly index updating. Ensure that any/all such searches are disabled (eg, Autoplay set=No Action for ALL MEDIA TYPES).

In addition, ensure that you "SET" the drive letter for the ext. HDD (apriori) in computer management (drive management).

In this way, all the OS needs to do during boot is recognize that the HDD is on line (see the Vol ID) and merely register its already assigned drive letter for access.
 
Unplug it, problem solved.

More HD hooked up Externally or internally will cause slower boot times.

How about this, put it to sleep!!!
 
Happens to my builds. I just turn them off.

Couple of years ago I have 12 external hard drives via USB 2.0. If I dont power them off the desktop wont complete boot at all. It will be stuck at the BIOS startup screen detecting cpu.
 
Last edited:
When I had my MP3 player plugged in via USB, my PC took like 10+ minutes to get to desktop, and use an SSD for boot drive! Was very "confused" until I finally figured it out a couple days later 🙂

I agree with Vdub...unplug it
 
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