Slow Bootup Reg Hack?

[ChromWolf]

I've been talking about the P4 system I acquired recently (which is now my girlfriend's system); it's got an Intel D845GBV board, in case it matters in this case.

It runs through POST fine, but right when you'd start hitting F8 to get to the advanced boot menu, it essentially "stalls" with a blinking cursor in the upper left corner of the screen. After about a minute or so, it finally hits the Windows XP screen.

Now, I'm not quite sure if this is a hardware problem (like something with the HD, or something in BIOS), or an OS problem; an instructor of mine has said it just requires a reg hack to speed up the boot time, remove the delay... not sure how he put it. ...I'm not sure if this is something resident to this particular board/HD, or what.... ....Can anyone help out here by pointing me in the right direction, or even posting a short reg hack (er... if that's not against the rules...)?

[EzyStvy]

Does it boot ok when you don't hit F8?

[ChromWolf]

I should clarify; the system boots either way; whether in normal mode, or safe mode, or whatnot. Basically, this is just an irritation I'm trying to remedy; the system boots fine--just slow at first. Sorry for the confusion!

[EzyStvy]

Are there any USB devices that are attached during bootup? If so, unplug em and see if that makes a difference.

[ChromWolf]

No USB devices attached.

[EzyStvy]

Here's a few tweaks from: http://www.tweakxp.com/


Disable XP Boot Logo
It is possible to disable XP splash screen, which will slightly speed up the overall boot process. Be aware that removing the splash screen will also cause you not to see any boot-up messages that might come up (chkdsk, convert ... ), but if your system runs without any problems then it should not matter.

1. Edit boot.ini
2. Add " /noguiboot" right after "/fastdetect".

(or check the /noguiboot switch in msconfig on the boot.ini tab)

Upon restarting, the splash screen will be gone. It can be re-enabled by removing the new switch.

http://www.tweakxp.com/article139576.aspx

Enable or disable boot defrag
A great new feature in Microsoft Windows XP is the ability to do a boot defragment. This places all boot files next to each other on the disk to allow for faster booting. By default this option in enables but on some builds it is not so below is how to turn it on.

Start Regedit. If you are unfamiliar with regedit please refer to our FAQ on how to get started.
Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Dfrg\BootOptimizeFunction
Select Enable from the list on the right.
Right on it and select Modify.
Change the value to Y to enable and N to disable.
Reboot your computer.

http://www.tweakxp.com/article139288.aspx

Faster Boot-Up without tons of fonts
Many of the files that load during the boot-up process are fonts. You probably only use a handful of them. I suggest moving some you never use into another folder. You won't be able to access the fonts in Word or Notepad.

Create a New Folder by right clicking on desktop. New>Folder.
Open "Fonts" in Control Panel. Switch to Classic View to find them easier.
Highlight a group of fonts younever use and move them to the other folder. Repeat if you have tons of fonts.
Put the folder into My Documents for easy access.
Reboot and see if it starts any faster for you. If not, just copy the fonts back to the original font folder.
http://www.tweakxp.com/article140020.aspx