Extremely slow boot up

[Dream Operator]

My Computer (see rig in sig) was already overdue for reinstall of XP back when I had a 3500+ and just the 160gb SATA I. Boot times were a little longer than previous. The blue Windows loading bar (for lack of a better term) would go around about 8-10 times.

I installed the X2 4200+ and it seems at that time that the loading bar started to go around 20 or more times.

Last Friday, I received the Seagate 250Gb SATA II and performed a clean install of XP Pro SP2. Complete with the AMD dual core driver and the all the XP updates (including the "hot fix" for dual core).

To my dismay, booting is still 20 or more times around. Sometimes 50 or more.

I am wondering if anybody has had a similar experience or has suggestions for troubleshooting.

Thank you in advance.

 

[deathwalker]

You put way too much stock in boot times...as do most wanna be PC guru's. If it is a new install it would be safe to say that there are a minimum of startup applications doging it. However I would still turn off all startup applications in the system configuration utility(msconfig). Restart and see if it is making a difference. Key question, how is the performance once the system is booted? Are you using the most up to date drivers, with particular attention to your Mobo chipset drivers. Make sure you are running the most up to date Bios. Beyond excessive startup applications there are not really that many things that have a significant impact on bootup time. If you are connected to a router, disconnect the PC from the router and restart the PC a couple of times and see if there is a difference. Im not sure about the boot time effect of the AMD dual core driver and the XP hot fix situation and its effect on boot times...Im sure someone else with first hand experience in this area may well pipe in here on your post. A side note not having anything to do with your problem...that Antec Sonata 380 Power supply seems a tad marginal for your system specs...tell me have you tried disconnecting all your devices expcept the boot drive and see if that has a boot time effect.?

 

[AznMthr]

reformat ftw!!!!!

 

[Dream Operator]

"You put way too much stock in boot times...as do most wanna be PC guru's"

Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed or what?

I think it is very appropriate to be concerned about my computer taking several minutes to boot. The loading going around 20-50x tells me somethings wrong.

Wanna be PC guru??? LOL!!! Are you a "REAL" PC guru? I'm just a guy who enjoys building my computer. I may not know everything, but I try to research and utilize the resources of the world - like this forum.

The performance seems fine in Windows. Not connected to a router. I am using the most recent non-beta bios and chipset drivers. I don't think it is a startup app as it happened the first time I booted to Windows, but I will try that.

I know the Sonata 380 PSU is a little low. I am considering a new PSU, but I have not been able to decide on one. My main focus is that the PSU is quiet. Of course this is aside from having the appropriate specs to meet my needs and I prefer to read reviews from people who have purchased (gotta love newegg!).

Reformat? It was happening in my last install and in my new one, on a new hard drive. I would think that would count. Yes?

 

[mechBgon]

Have you tried these things yet, as fact-finding steps:

1) disable Cool 'n Quiet in the motherboard's BIOS

2) remove the Audigy2 and the M-Audio to see if that has an effect or not

3) disable the onboard Firewire controller, since your Audigy2 has onboard Firewire (seen this make a difference for a guy recently, btw)

4) disable the onboard Gameport and audio, since you obviously have that covered elsewhere

 

[deathwalker]

I appologize..i wasnt really trying to be a smart ass...but I do feel though at time some people do put to much stock in boot times. I have been a PC tech work for 12 yrs..so I do have some basic intuition. I do agree that excessive boot times can be a sign of a problem. As I mentioned ..you may also try disconnecting all your other IDE devices and see if that does anything. Was it slow booting after the install but before the install of windows updates..including the Hot Fix?

 

[Dream Operator]

Onboard Firewire, gameport and audio already disabled. Disabled CnQ, no change. Disconnected G15 and went for a ps2 kybd, disconnected usb hub going to a behringer digital mixer, disconnected IOmega CD burner, disconnected both IDE CD/DVD drives. IDE HD not present at this time.

The loading bar went across only 6 times!!!

Reconnected all except 1 IDE optical drive. Now loading bar at 10x.

Prequel action if I may - I also recently changed from a DVDROM that was not working well to CDRW/DVDROM. I will troubleshoot that area to make sure they are not conflicting. I know that one is master and the other slave.

I am also going to investigate the amount of hardware connected and the variance of boot speed there. Not going to do too much more, just wanting to understand it a little deeper.

Thank you for your apology Deathwalker. It was slow on the first boot, prior to the updates and hot fix.

Thank you to all for your thoughts and your time. I will continue to post my findings as I figure more out.

 

[mechBgon]

I don't know if it will matter, but if you installed the fancy-pants nVidia SW IDE drivers, you might want to try reverting the motherboard's ATA controllers to the standard Microsoft-ish dual-channel IDE controller driver. To be honest, I think my system scrolls the scrollie thing about ten times too. I'm usually getting the coffeemaker set up to brew at that point, so I dunno for sure

 

[deathwalker]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
I don't know if it will matter, but if you installed the fancy-pants nVidia SW IDE drivers, you might want to try reverting the motherboard's ATA controllers to the standard Microsoft-ish dual-channel IDE controller driver. To be honest, I think my system scrolls the scrollie thing about ten times too. I'm usually getting the coffeemaker set up to brew at that point, so I dunno for sure

I agree...there have been issues with the Nvidia IDE drivers. If you have them installed I would uninstall them and test for performance change.

 

[deathwalker]

Originally posted by: Dream Operator
Onboard Firewire, gameport and audio already disabled. Disabled CnQ, no change. Disconnected G15 and went for a ps2 kybd, disconnected usb hub going to a behringer digital mixer, disconnected IOmega CD burner, disconnected both IDE CD/DVD drives. IDE HD not present at this time.

The loading bar went across only 6 times!!!

Reconnected all except 1 IDE optical drive. Now loading bar at 10x.

Prequel action if I may - I also recently changed from a DVDROM that was not working well to CDRW/DVDROM. I will troubleshoot that area to make sure they are not conflicting. I know that one is master and the other slave.

I am also going to investigate the amount of hardware connected and the variance of boot speed there. Not going to do too much more, just wanting to understand it a little deeper.

Thank you for your apology Deathwalker. It was slow on the first boot, prior to the updates and hot fix.

Thank you to all for your thoughts and your time. I will continue to post my findings as I figure more out.

Well...so what you are seeing here does seem to indicate a relationship to boot time vs. attached periphrials. I think you are heading in the right direction of determining what devices are attached to your system that may be causing your startup issues. Good Luck!