Boot up time

[Victor]

Over the past few months my office pc is taking longer and longer to boot.
The desktop comes up pretty quick, but then it seems to take even longer for
other stuff to load. Actually it looks like everything has loaded, but I
can hear the hard disk running and the hour glass remains on the screen.

I run disk cleanup and defrag regularly and empty my temp folders, etc.
What could be causing this? I've just noticed that CrapCleaner has come out
with a new version. Should I try using this?

Thanks.

 

[Alias]

Over the past few months my office pc is taking longer and longer to boot.
The desktop comes up pretty quick, but then it seems to take even longer for
other stuff to load. Actually it looks like everything has loaded, but I
can hear the hard disk running and the hour glass remains on the screen.

I run disk cleanup and defrag regularly and empty my temp folders, etc.
What could be causing this? I've just noticed that CrapCleaner has come out
with a new version. Should I try using this?

Thanks.

Have you checked MSCONFIG to see what's loading with Windows? Yes, Crap
Cleaner might help because it cleans out a lot more than XP's native
cleaner.

Alias

 

[Daave]

Over the past few months my office pc is taking longer and longer to
boot.
The desktop comes up pretty quick, but then it seems to take even
longer for
other stuff to load. Actually it looks like everything has loaded,
but I
can hear the hard disk running and the hour glass remains on the
screen.

What antivirus program do you use? Is it configured to download and
install updates and/or scan your hard drive at every bootup?

 

[GlowingBlueMist]

Have you checked MSCONFIG to see what's loading with Windows? Yes, Crap
Cleaner might help because it cleans out a lot more than XP's native
cleaner.

Alias

You might want to give "Autoruns" or "Process Explorer" a try. They were
from Sysinternal's which is now part of Microsoft. You can find them at:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/cb56073f-62a3-4ed8-9dd6-40c84cb9e2f5.aspx
or http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/default.aspx and choose
"Process Utilities". One of these should show you what is being loaded
during the reboot or which process is having problems.

It would not hurt to check out your system log files to see if something is
having troubles starting or is crashing and restarting during the reboot.

 

[JS]

Try Autoruns from the MS Windows SysInternals site:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/ProcessesAndThreads/Autoruns.mspx

AutoRuns will show/list all apps/etc. that load/run when you first boot ...
(the 'Boot Execute' tab),
when you logon (the 'Logon' tab) and other programs that load
(grouped by labeled tabs) for easy viewing.

It also provides the ability to selectively allows you to stop
(use with care) any program that you don't want to load.
You can undo any changes you have made.

Note: To get additional details on an item in the list you can't
readily identify you may need to highlight the item (right click) and use
the 'Search Online' option to get the details,
especially useful for the more obscure items in the list.

JS
http://www.pagestart.com

 

[Victor]

Just for info, I'm using AVG anti-virus which is not set to download anything
at boot time. I keep a close check on my msconfig and there are only 10
startup items, all which have been there for six months. I have run Autorun
and under the boot execute tab there are only two items:
c:\windows\system32\autochk.exe utochk.exe and
c:\windows\system32\lsdelete.exe
The Logon tab shows those same 10 items plus three Microsoft items.

If I export the file could someone have a look and analyze?

Thanks.

 

[JS]

How long does the Hour Glass last?

Have you tried getting a quick look at what process
is loading down the CPU by start Task Manager?

JS

 

[Victor]

The hour glass is there for about 2.5 to 3 minutes.

 

[JS]

What about Task Manager (Ctrl+Alt+Del)
can you get it to run during this 2.5 to 3 minute period?

JS

 

[Victor]

I'll try that first thing on Monday, thanks.