Windows XP starting up very slowly.

[shaowq]

Hey people, I'm actually have a...problem with my start ups. Whenever i turn on my computer or reset it, now i have to wait like 5 mins for it to load. It starts up with the whole checking all my drives screen and then jumps to a black screen for a couple mins. Then it skips to the like 100 little bars across the bottom of the screen. That screen takes like another couple minutes to load. Now this never used to happen before. But a while back when i was trying to install new ram, this started to happen. So now it takes about 5 mins to load windows but once im in, it runs fine and i have no problems. Any ideas?

Here's what i run:

XP2800+
Asus A7v8x or watever mobo Nforce2 (not deluxe)
1 gig pc3200 ddr ram that i had to underclock to make it run stable for games
Radeon 9500 128mb
Sound Blaster Audigy Z2
60 gig Maxtor 7200rpm Master
120 gig WD 7200 rpm 2ndary
Lite-on 52x cdburner
Memorex 48x cdburner (that won't burn nemore but will read CDs)

 

[birdpup]

This would be a hardware issue due to the slow bootstrap process. The culprit would be any hardware that has been reconfigured lately. You mention RAM. I wonder if your RAM is misconfigured since you state the RAM is underclocked to make it stable to run games. I am not the best person concerning RAM and motherboard issues but I wonder why the RAM would need to be underclocked and I think this is an incorrect setting.

Does the motherboard require dual channel RAM when you have one 1GB stick installed?
Has this RAM been tested with memtest?

I think this underclocked RAM is trouble and the bios should be reset to default settings.
I also wonder if one stick of RAM will cause problems when two sticks are needed by the motherboard.

Memory Tests
memtest86
memtest86+

 

[corkyg]

It can also be choked up with malware. Have you scanned it lately for spyware, bots, etc.?

 

[deathwalker]

I suspect excessive startup operations. You need to run msconfig look at startup items...and start turning some or most of them off...most are not needed.

 

[shaowq]

i did install ram recently and it did start to happen after i installed my ram. I underclocked it because when i start to run a game, it crashes straight away after 5 mins of play time. And yes when i install 2 sticks of ram it requires that i run dual channel i believe. I have 2 sticks of 512mb.

As for the MALWARE and the Startup Operations i just reformatted my primary HD not but a week ago.

 

[Fern]

What's your ram set to, 333mhz?

On these platforms (Athlon XP) gotta keep the CPU and ram in synch (same FSB frquency).

Set your cpu/ram divider to 1:1 (or similar, these mobo's have 2:2, 3:3 all the way to 6:6) BTW, most report best perfomance at 5:5 or 6:6.

Anyway, get 'em synch'd and rum memtest86 overnight. Should be ZERO errors. If not, the timmings are too tight (what are they? btw) or the ram is faulty.

Fern

 

[shaowq]

hm....i see, alright im gonna need to find a floppy lol and get memtest running. And yeah my ram and cpu frequency isn't sync'd up. My CPU is running 166mhz and my ram is running 133 mhz. Which is kinda weird i agree lol. My cpu should be running 333mhz but i don't know my way aorund Bios as well as i should i guess.

 

[Fern]

Originally posted by: shaowq
hm....i see, alright im gonna need to find a floppy lol and get memtest running. And yeah my ram and cpu frequency isn't sync'd up. My CPU is running 166mhz and my ram is running 133 mhz. Which is kinda weird i agree lol. My cpu should be running 333mhz but i don't know my way aorund Bios as well as i should i guess.

Your CPU is "running" at 333mhz. 333mhz is really the ram's "speed" as it's DDR (double Data rate). So 2 x 166mhz = 333mhz.

The CPU should report at 166mhz.

The ram should report at 333mhz (DDR - 2x 166mhz).

Find CPU/ram divider and put it at 1:1 (or 5:5 or 6:6).

PC3200 ram (400mhz) should have NO problem (even with tighter timings) running at 333mhz.

With your ram set that low you're starving the cpu.


Fern

 

[Fern]

I don't think your mobo is a Asus A7v8x . That's not an nForce mobo from what I can tell.

Find out which mobo you have, open the side and see what's printed on it. Also report back which dimm slots the ram is in. You may be having problems cuz they're in the wrong slots.

If it's a dual channel nForce mobo you wanna be using slots 2&3, or 1&3. NOT 1&2!

When you boot up (not "restart") the BIOS screen should show both the ram's "speed" (e.g., 266mhz, 333mhz) and say "Dual Channel" if it's enabled. If it's a DC nF2 mobo and doesn't say DC at bootup, your ram are the wrong dimm slots.

Fern

 

[shaowq]

i know it's Nforce but not Nforce2 because i hafta install the Nforce drivers and such. It IS an a7v8x. I do have the ram installed channels 1 and 2 tho. So i'll change that around and then set the ram frequency at 166 mhz to try it out. I do remember trying it out on slots 1&3 with no avail once however. I'll let you know after i've done it



[edit] hey btw i really appreciate you guys that are honestly trying to help me fix my problem. I really appreciate it. Thanks again. I didnt expect to get this kind of help



[update]

Checked my mobo and it's Nforce2 on the lil square chip on the Mobo.

Here's what things look like. So if you open up my case and look at my mobo, i have 3 channels for ram. 2 of the slots are Blue and 1 is black. SO it would make sense that the 2 blue slots are the slots that are going to be able to run Dual Channel. I had my 2 sticks of 512 installed in the 2 blue slots and i am still getting the problems. I then switched it to the 2 outside slots leaving the middle one open and im still getting problems


Right now my CPU is set at 166mhz. And then i have the ram set at "by spd" so it's auto set to 200mhz making it run at 400mhz.

THis is the error i get when i run World of Warcraft.



This application has encountered a critical error:

ERROR #132 (0x85100084) Fatal Exception
Program: C:\Program Files\World of Warcraft\WoW.exe
Exception: 0xC0000005 (ACCESS_VIOLATION) at 001B:006DE9A7

The instruction at "0x006DE9A7" referenced memory at "0x7B92800C".
The memory could not be "read".

 

[birdpup]

Maybe you could try resetting your bios to its default settings and then run memtest through at least one complete pass.

 

[mechBgon]

:thumbsup: for everything Fern said on the memory timings/sync/etc.

Open your computer case and look at the motherboard. It will say what model it is in white letters. If it's an A7Vanything then you should be installing VIA's motherboard drivers, not nVidia's. If it's an A7Nanything then you would use nVidia's motherboard drivers. We're talkin' Ford v. Chevy here. If you post the precise mobo brand/model, that could be helpful, so pop the hood and take a look. 🙂

As for the MALWARE and the Startup Operations i just reformatted my primary HD not but a week ago.

This is no guarantee that you're free of malware, my friend :evil: Please answer these questions:

1) do you have a router to provide a perimeter firewall, or no router

2) if you do have a router, does any other computer connect to it besides yours

3) if you have a router and it's wireless, do you have encryption enabled to help prevent neighbors from connecting to it

4) your WindowsXP disc, is it at Service Pack 2 level inherently, or is it SP1, or is it "gold" (pre-SP1)?

5) do you have antivirus software, and if so, what EXACT brand and version ("Norton Antivirus 2004" for example)

6) do you have firewall software, or no firewall software (ZoneAlarm, Sygate, Kerio, Windows Firewall, etc) and did you install it before letting the computer have a connection, or after?


And we will go on from there once those are answered.