bootup presents a blank desktop and system tray for several minute

  • Thread starter Thread starter louise
  • Start date Start date
L

louise

I'm not sure what happened, it may have had something to do
with a program I used to "tweak" the computer, but now when
I first bootup, it takes about 5 minutes. For the first 2
or 3 minutes I have a completely blank desktop with the
cursor, and the systray is simply blue with no icons. The
disk drive light is on and the machine is clearly working on
something. But what?

I've gone through with both process explorer and autorun.exe
to take out any potentially unnecessary programs that are
loading at startup.

BTW, I did a thorough search for viruses and malware, each
using two different programs, and the machine is "clean".

I am running Mamutu and Nod 32. All spyware, malware, only
runs on command and it is not resident.

Any thoughts? Things I might try?

Thank you.

Louise
 
louise said:
I'm not sure what happened, it may have had something to do with a program
I used to "tweak" the computer, but now when I first bootup, it takes
about 5 minutes. For the first 2 or 3 minutes I have a completely blank
desktop with the cursor, and the systray is simply blue with no icons.
The disk drive light is on and the machine is clearly working on
something. But what?

I've gone through with both process explorer and autorun.exe to take out
any potentially unnecessary programs that are loading at startup.

BTW, I did a thorough search for viruses and malware, each using two
different programs, and the machine is "clean".

I am running Mamutu and Nod 32. All spyware, malware, only runs on
command and it is not resident.

Any thoughts? Things I might try?

Thank you.

Louise
Click to expand...

Uninstall whatever "tweak" program you installed and see if that brings your
PC back to normal. Or use System Restore to go back to the point before the
program installation.

SC Tom
 
SC said:
Uninstall whatever "tweak" program you installed and see if that brings your
PC back to normal. Or use System Restore to go back to the point before the
program installation.

SC Tom
Click to expand...
I'm afraid I already did both of those - and should have put
that in my original post. The "tweak" program had a "go
back/restore" function and I used it. I then uninstalled
it. I then used system restore trying two earlier restore
points. I'm still left with this "strange" behavior.

Any ideas of how I might trace it?

Thanks again

Louise
 
Louise

Two suggestions.

Try new User Profile.
HOW TO Create and Configure User Accounts in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=279783

How to Copy a User Profile
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/win_xp_logon.htm

How to Copy User Data to a New User Profile
http://support.microsoft.com

Have a look in the System and Application logs in Event Viewer for
Errors and Warnings and post copies here. Don't post any more than 48
hours ago.

You can access Event Viewer by selecting Start, Control Panel,
Administrative Tools, and Event Viewer. When researching the meaning
of the error, information regarding Event ID, Source and Description
are important.

HOW TO: View and Manage Event Logs in Event Viewer in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308427/en-us

A tip for posting copies of Error Reports! Run Event Viewer and double
click on the error you want to copy. In the window, which appears is a
button resembling two pages. Click the button and close Event
Viewer.Now start your message (email) and do a paste into the body of
the message. Make sure this is the first paste after exiting from
Event Viewer.

--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
I'm afraid I already did both of those - and should have put that in
my original post. The "tweak" program had a "go back/restore"
function and I used it. I then uninstalled it. I then used system
restore trying two earlier restore points. I'm still left with this
"strange" behavior.
Click to expand...

Please identify this "tweak" program.

Also, how early were these restore points with regard to this program?
 
Daave said:
Please identify this "tweak" program.

Also, how early were these restore points with regard to this program?
Click to expand...
I'm afraid I can't find the program. Firefox is supposed to
keep my history for 90 days but it only has history for 2
days - don't know why.

The restore point was one made by the system about 4 hours
before I ran this "tweak" program. Then I went back to the
day before and the day before that. Same problem.
 
Gerald said:
Louise

Two suggestions.

Try new User Profile.
HOW TO Create and Configure User Accounts in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=279783

How to Copy a User Profile
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/win_xp_logon.htm

How to Copy User Data to a New User Profile
http://support.microsoft.com

Have a look in the System and Application logs in Event Viewer for
Errors and Warnings and post copies here. Don't post any more than 48
hours ago.

You can access Event Viewer by selecting Start, Control Panel,
Administrative Tools, and Event Viewer. When researching the meaning
of the error, information regarding Event ID, Source and Description
are important.

HOW TO: View and Manage Event Logs in Event Viewer in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308427/en-us

A tip for posting copies of Error Reports! Run Event Viewer and double
click on the error you want to copy. In the window, which appears is a
button resembling two pages. Click the button and close Event
Viewer.Now start your message (email) and do a paste into the body of
the message. Make sure this is the first paste after exiting from
Event Viewer.

--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Click to expand...

This is from Applications:
RPC error. Diskeeper failed to connect to the service.
Error code is 1.

I don't keep Diskeeper running and I doubt this is a serious
issue because I think it's been this way for a long time.

This is from System:

The UPSMONService service failed to start due to the
following error:
The system cannot find the file specified.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.


The UPSMONService is cited several times over the last few
days. It is always listed three times in a row.

This is probably the more likely cause of the problem - how
do I find what file is specified?

I do have a UPS and it does run with a program which is
supposed to neatly shut down all open programs and then
close down the system. The software is supposedly loading,
according to the system tray, but apparently something is
missing. I'm running an OPTIups.

How would you suggest proceeding from here? I could, I
guess, remove the software from add/remove programs and then
reinstall it - I still have a copy. Or, I could go to their
site and see if there is a newer version since my software
is from 2006.

It would, of course, be easier to just replace the missing
file that can't be found. I use Retrospect for backups but
I don't know what file and where it's from :-)

I would like to try fixing the UPS problem before going to
the bigger project of starting a new user etc. This is the
only error listed.

Thanks again.

Louise
 
louise said:
This is from Applications:
RPC error. Diskeeper failed to connect to the service. Error code is 1.

I don't keep Diskeeper running and I doubt this is a serious issue because
I think it's been this way for a long time.

This is from System:

The UPSMONService service failed to start due to the following error:
The system cannot find the file specified.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.


The UPSMONService is cited several times over the last few days. It is
always listed three times in a row.

This is probably the more likely cause of the problem - how do I find what
file is specified?

I do have a UPS and it does run with a program which is supposed to neatly
shut down all open programs and then close down the system. The software
is supposedly loading, according to the system tray, but apparently
something is missing. I'm running an OPTIups.

How would you suggest proceeding from here? I could, I guess, remove the
software from add/remove programs and then reinstall it - I still have a
copy. Or, I could go to their site and see if there is a newer version
since my software is from 2006.

It would, of course, be easier to just replace the missing file that can't
be found. I use Retrospect for backups but I don't know what file and
where it's from :-)

I would like to try fixing the UPS problem before going to the bigger
project of starting a new user etc. This is the only error listed.

Thanks again.

Louise
Click to expand...
Try disabling the UPS and DiskKeeper services and see if you're still
getting the errors.
In the long run, it would probably be easier to uninstall the UPS software
you're using and reinstall it (or an updated version) than to try and figure
out which file needs replacing. Even though the error message may point to a
particular file, it's not necessarily that file that is the culprit; it may
be another file that it needs to function correctly that's at fault.
If you have a backup from a day or two before all these problems started,
you might try do a restore. If there's anything really important like
documents and spreadsheets that have been done since then, copy them to a
USB pen or external hdd, whatever's available to you.

SC Tom
 
Louise

You are posting incomplete error reports. Plese post complete reports.

A tip for posting copies of Error Reports! Run Event Viewer and double
click on the error you want to copy. In the window, which appears is a
button resembling two pages. Click the button and close Event
Viewer.Now start your message (email) and do a paste into the body of
the message. Make sure this is the first paste after exiting from
Event Viewer.

Remove the UPS and see if it affects the boot. It is not an essential
hardware component. You need to isolate the cause of the problem.

What Norton software are you running?

Creating a new user profile is actually a quite simple process. Create a new
profile for yourself. Restart your computer and see if you still get the
problem.
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=279783



--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
Gerald said:
Louise

You are posting incomplete error reports. Plese post complete reports.

A tip for posting copies of Error Reports! Run Event Viewer and double
click on the error you want to copy. In the window, which appears is a
button resembling two pages. Click the button and close Event
Viewer.Now start your message (email) and do a paste into the body of
the message. Make sure this is the first paste after exiting from
Event Viewer.

Remove the UPS and see if it affects the boot. It is not an essential
hardware component. You need to isolate the cause of the problem.

What Norton software are you running?

Creating a new user profile is actually a quite simple process. Create a new
profile for yourself. Restart your computer and see if you still get the
problem.
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=279783
Click to expand...
I did remove the UPS, timed boot up, and then installed
updated UPS software and retimed boot up. It added about 15
seconds, if that much.

The desktop and icons are coming up much faster, although
they do go blank and recreate themselves two or three times.

The system tray which holds the clock, resident programs,
start, and quick launch stays blue for quite some time and I
can see that the hard drive is busy doing something but I
don't know what.

At this point I would say there has been an improvement.
Boot up (from when Windows starts to when everything is on
the screen and constant hard drive activity has stopped is
now running about 4 1/2 to 5 minutes. But this is still
longer than it used to take, at least by 1/3rd or perhaps 1/2.

I'm not "running", as in resident, any Norton software. I
do use an old version of Norton Ghost as a secondary backup
system (I use Retrospect nightly), but Ghost is only used
for complete images and is only running when I actually am
doing an image backup.

I am confused about the purpose of creating a new user
profile. Wouldn't it just confuse all the programs that are
loading and running in other profiles?

At this point, I am getting two errors and I'll try to post
them correctly below:

Event Type: Error
Event Source: Service Control Manager
Event Category: None
Event ID: 7000
Date: 2/28/2009
Time: 10:06:32 PM
User: N/A
Computer: SONATA
Description:
The mrtRate service failed to start due to the following error:
The system cannot find the file specified.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

And the second is:
Event Type: Error
Event Source: Service Control Manager
Event Category: None
Event ID: 7023
Date: 2/28/2009
Time: 10:06:32 PM
User: N/A
Computer: SONATA
Description:
The HID Input Service service terminated with the following
error:
The system cannot find the file specified.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

Thanks for all your help and I appreciate any more
suggestions you can offer.

Louise
 
Louise

What version of Retrospect are you using? Where are you backing up to?

The purpose of creating a new User Profile is see if the problem is a result
of problems with your existing profile (User Account). If the system boots
better using a new profile then it is suggesting there is a problem with
your existing profile. Creating a new profile does not mean you cannot
continue to use your existing profile.

Event ID: 7023
This is indicating an error with your keyboard / mouse. Have you recently
made any changes. The next link indicates how one users problem was
resolved.
http://www.aumha.net/viewtopic.php?t=30774

Event ID: 7000
What is the status of Quicken on your computer? What version? You might try
uninstalling and reinstalling.


--

Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
Gerry said:
Louise

What version of Retrospect are you using? Where are you backing up to?

The purpose of creating a new User Profile is see if the problem is a result
of problems with your existing profile (User Account). If the system boots
better using a new profile then it is suggesting there is a problem with
your existing profile. Creating a new profile does not mean you cannot
continue to use your existing profile.

Event ID: 7023
This is indicating an error with your keyboard / mouse. Have you recently
made any changes. The next link indicates how one users problem was
resolved.
http://www.aumha.net/viewtopic.php?t=30774

Event ID: 7000
What is the status of Quicken on your computer? What version? You might try
uninstalling and reinstalling.
Click to expand...
Using Retrospect Professional version 7 and backing up to a
usb hard drive.

I changed to a cordless logitech mouse, actually made for
portables but I'm using it on a desktop. It does do a few
"funny things" (like know showing the pointer in a box until
you start to draw). But I installed it with the newest
software from the logitech site. It's been a minor
nuisance. Perhaps I should look for updated software.

I just started reading the link you offered on the HID
problem and I will definitely go through those steps - it
sounds like that's where the problem lies since it's never
been quite right since I installed it several weeks ago.

I'm using Quicken 2007 Deluxe. I did read some posts about
the mrt problem happening with Quicken 2004 but not 2007.
None of them were clear to me about how to fix it.

Louise
 
Gerry said:
Louise

What version of Retrospect are you using? Where are you backing up to?

The purpose of creating a new User Profile is see if the problem is a result
of problems with your existing profile (User Account). If the system boots
better using a new profile then it is suggesting there is a problem with
your existing profile. Creating a new profile does not mean you cannot
continue to use your existing profile.

Event ID: 7023
This is indicating an error with your keyboard / mouse. Have you recently
made any changes. The next link indicates how one users problem was
resolved.
http://www.aumha.net/viewtopic.php?t=30774

Event ID: 7000
What is the status of Quicken on your computer? What version? You might try
uninstalling and reinstalling.
Click to expand...
Thanks a lot. I just followed the registry fix instructions
on the aumha site and I'm no longer getting the HID error.
My bet is that the mouse will no longer be flakey either.

Louise
 
Back
Top