RIDICULOUSLY long boot-time after reformat

[cpush]

Where can I check the system log for errors?

Yes, I have booted in safemode, and it hangs at MUP.sys (like you mentioned) but it hangs a LONG time, longer than I ever remember safemode taking. I used to remember all those lines flying by.

What is MSConfig clean boot?

It hangs at the welcome screen, the bar fills up 30+ times. It used to go in 2-3. My little brothers AMDXP 1500+ with 256megs of ram is even loading faster than me!

 

[MrChad]

Have you run chkdsk on your hard drive to see if there are any errors?

 

[cpush]

well, I have formatted (long way) and doesn't that scan for/fix bad sectors?

I have also run Disk Integrity tool (or whatever) which is hitachi's hdd diagnostic tool. Neither produced errors.

I also checked temps, and they were low 30s

 

[bait]

could it be a dma/pio issue?

 

[Smilin]

Originally posted by: bait
could it be a dma/pio issue?

Kinda has that feel to it yea. The machine would remain slow even after booting though


If you have the same problem in safemode, an MSConfig clean boot won't matter.

This is a newbie longshot, but have you deleted the contents of your prefetch folder?
Although you've reformatted, MrChad's suggestion of a chkdsk /r isn't a bad one.
To check those event logs, hit start, right click my computer, goto manage, drill down to event logs/system. Find the 6xxx event indicating the computer is booting and see what happens after that.

 

[cpush]

ok if I can get my computer to boot I will try that.

yes I did delete the contents of the prefetch folder.

chkdsk /r how do I use this tool w/out a floppy?

 

[manly]

Have you checked whether it's using the ACPI or the ACPI Uniprocessor HAL? The ACPI one is spelled out, and works great on my nForce2 system.

The "Uniprocessor" one which is default on most systems nowadays is quite problematic for my box. I don't know how the two are different, but it's definitely worth investigating.

 

[cpush]

Ill look into that, but I did some pauses while booting.. dont know if this info would help at all:

IDE Channel 2, Master Disk : LBA, ATA 133, 164 GB

So yeah its channel 2 Primary Master
Ata133? I thought mine was like ata300 (sataII) ?

also here are the IRQ assignments:

NA - Mem controller
5 - SMbus controller
10 - USB 1
11 - USB 2
14/15 - IDE CTRLR
14/15 - IDE CTRLR
14/15 - IDE CTRLR
7 - Multimedia Device
5 - Display CTRLR
9 - ACPI CTRLR

I also checked some settings:


Ultra DMA
Highest Ultra DMA Mode - 6
Active Mode - None
Settings
Write Cache - Enabled
Read Look-ahead - Enabled


right now I am running memtest86+
also I do not currently have an OS installed. I ran hitachi's checkdisk, no errors found, and I deleted the partition. waiting a bit on this memtest...

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

30 lines going across? That's insane.

I'm @ 2.5 bars going across on my Opteron 170. Before on my 3700+ I got it down to 1 1/3 bars even with Norton SystemWorks 2005.

But 2.5 bars is a little high. I think I can get it down to 2 or so because my installation was a little messy. I killed Norton and installed Kaspersky, and I'm sure that's never all that clean of an uninstall/install. I'm reformatting ATM, and I will be using my new Raptor 74gb NLR1 soon... hehe I'll come back and tell you how many bars.

 

[cpush]

great.. can't wait to hear

 

[cpush]

well I changed it back to SATA 150, spread spectrum clocking oFF reinstalled windows. Same problem. Ugh, what Can I try now?

 

[Shaftatplanetquake]

Chipset driver?

Maybe just load BIOS defaults one good time and reload without doing anything special?

 

[Lord Banshee]

If you are using nForce chipset... when you install the chipset drivers do not install the SW IDE driver or if you already did uninstall it.

I get some werid results with it installed sometime fast boot 2 lines, and sometime long boot 70 lines ! (which is usally when an App is installed or uninstalled)

I am happy with windows IDE Driver having 4-5 lines and never 50+ lines.

Hard-Drives speeds are exactly the same with HD_Tach, i get about 86 and a 128 for burst with my raptor, no raid.

 

[cpush]

no, I still have the problem after a fresh install, no drivers at all

 

[MrChad]

Disconnect all non-essential hardware. Try booting with just a video card, RAM, hard drive, mouse and keyboard and see if it makes a difference.

 

[cpush]

^ tried it, problem persists.. hdd issue?

 

[rasczak]

possibly, do you have another computer available to confirm?

you may want to pickup the hdd tools of that particular brand and run them to verify hard drive integrity.

 

[manly]

Did you ever try my suggestion?

 

[Motorheader]

Have you checked the event viewer for any red or yellow flags ? Try installing and running the Microsoft BootVis utility. This can be helpful in troubleshooting problems such as yours.

 

[cpush]

manly- Yes the HAL is correct.

I have tried bootvis, however it didnt tell me anything. It showed what caused each delay in the start up. The very first bar was HUGE, but it was unlabeled. All drivers/apps followed that first lag looked normal. What can I conclude from this?

 

[Motorheader]

The last time I used BootVis, I thought there was a way to enable logging and look at the file after doing so. Once again, did you check the event viewer?

 

[manly]

Originally posted by: cpush
manly- Yes the HAL is correct.

I should have been clearer. Instead of letting Windows pick the "ACPI Uniprocessor" HAL as default, did you pick the "Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI)" HAL?