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Slow Boot - Blue Bar moves very slow - XP

R

Reisooh

Member
I have recently built a new system for a friend. Unfortunately, I have encountered an annoying problem.

System:
Dual-Boot Windows XP Professional and Windows Vista Ultimate

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0 GB/s Hard Drive

D-Link WDA-1320 32-bit PCI Wireless G Desktop Adapter

Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 Conroe 2.66GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80557E6750

NZXT Alpha Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case with Open Window

Foxconn P35A LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard

APEVIA ATX-AS600W-BL ATX12V / EPS12V 600W Power Supply

MITSUMI Black 1.44MB 3.5" Internal USB 2.0 Internal USB 2.0 digital card reader with Floppy Drive

LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model LH-20A1L-05

Saitek PZ30AU Black USB Wired Standard Eclipse Keyboard

Patriot Extreme Performance 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model PDC22G6400LLK

Cyber Snipa CSLMSW01 Black USB Laser S.W.A.T. Mouse

Samsung 940b Monitor

Logitech R-20 Speakers and Logitech Headphones (neither USB)

PNY 8800gt

Problem: On XP start up, no problems with vista, when the XP logo appears with the blue loading bar which normally scrolls across the screen for a little while, (normally about 20 seconds) the bar moves extremely slow, it make the system take about 3-5 minutes to boot. (To clarify, it scrolls a normal amount of times, it just goes extremely slow, moving about 1-2 notches a second) After a few minutes the bar speeds up to normal speed for about a second and then it is done booting. Although this is not a critical problem, it is a severe annoyance, and it keeps my friend from using XP. When I first built the system, the problem appeared after I plugged in the Mitsumi FDD/Card Reader. After I unplugged the reader and restarted the computer the problem had disappeared, I assumed it was gone forever. My friend bought a new Canon MP470, which is USB and has a card reader in it. When he plugged in the printer, the problem reappeared. Therefore, I figured doing the same procedure of unplugging and restarting would fix it. I unplugged all internal and external USB plugs, uninstalled all USB listings from device manager (using borrowed ps/2 mouse) and restarted. Even with no USB installed/plugged in the problem persisted on boot. I read online where bootvis might reveal the problem. I tried it a few times; all getting a 0 physical drives error when trying to open the file. I also read where a USB card reader might cause this. I unplugged the USB devices again and tried again; it worked. The results seemed to be normal. It did not show anything that looked like it accounted for the slow boot time. That was the last troubleshooting I attempted on it. Since then, I have read where it may be a networking problem. However, I do not think network would slow down the bar; it would just make the bar scroll more times, right? Any ideas on how to fix this? It would be really helpful.

If you have any questions or need any more details, feel free to ask, I will check the forum frequently, I am going to work on the computer again this Saturday so quick answers would be better.

Thanks for your help!


- Reisooh
 
I checked event log and there hadnt been any errors. Where do you look to see what happens in startup, where are the "system logs"
 
It is XP Pro and i will take a look there in the control panel.

I read the fixes on foxconn's site, but i didn't see anything dirrectly fixed, but i wouldn't be against trying. It doesn't say anything about a problem USB, which is my hypothesis.

If I flash the BIOS do I unpack the program to a floppy? Do i just download the most recent version, it's a cumulative update right?
 
I just went to event viewer on my XP laptop to see if i could figure out where you were talking about, i couldn't find anything about startup, (i went to event viewer - system)
 
the download should explain how to do the BIOS update. okay, I'd look again in event viewer, I have a feeling there's an timeout error or something causing those pauses in the login.
 
I was just looking at the laptop I had nearby to find startup logs, I'm going to look at the afflicted computer tomorrow morning. I'll check then.
 
Also make sure the SATA controller did not drop to PIO mode. I had this happen once and pulled lots of hair before I found the cause of the slow boot problem. From device manager go to the SATA controller that the boot drive is attached to and double click on it. Check to make sure it is running in DMA mode. The names of the controller may very depending on if you are running the SATA controller in IDE mode or AHCI mode so you will need to look around a bit to find the correct controller. If you find the controller in PIO mode your only choice is to delete the controller then reboot and it should reinstall and work correctly.

Note if this problem returns replace the SATA cable as its the most probable cause.
 
Originally posted by: Reisooh

Problem: On XP start up, no problems with vista, when the XP logo appears with the blue loading bar which normally scrolls across the screen for a little while, (normally about 20 seconds) the bar moves extremely slow, it make the system take about 3-5 minutes to boot.
Click to expand...

Go to MSCONFIG (start..run...msconfig)
Disable all non-MS services in the Services tab
Restart.
Does it still take the same amount of time?

If so, start in safe mode (F8 at startup) - same amount of time still?

 
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