XP Slow to boot

[moodyblues100]

My XP PC takes quite a long time to boot to the desktop. The XP splash screen is there for several minutes (never actually timed it, but way longer than other boxes I use) I am sure the PC is spyware, adware and virus free. I have checked the bootlog file and there are several items that show up as "did not load" . . . NDProxy.sys, PCIDump.sys, RDbss.sys, & MRXsmb.sys. Once the box boots it seems to run fine, although one additional issue is I am unable to turn on the Windows firewall. I have gone to run > services.msc and have made sure the items associated with the firewall are set to start automatically, but it still won't turn on. I have also run SFC /Scannow but no corrupted files were found.

Before I consider a repair install of XP (and maybe a full install), does anyone have any suggestions. I have searched on Google, but have not had much luck. The existing install is not much more than 6 months old, when I put in a new hard drive.

[Cricket]

What kind of computer is this? Home built or name brand?

What makes you think the computer is free of viruses and malware?

Was this computer always slow on startup or did the problem start recently?

Did you do anything to the computer recently? Add new software or hardware?

Did the computer crash hard recently?

Have you checked the hard drive with the manufacturer's diagnostic utility for bad sectors?

Cricket

[moodyblues100]

This is a home built machine on an Asus MB. Athlon socket a, 2600 (I think). The problem has been a recent occurrence. I run AVG periodically a as well as spybot, adaware, and AVG AS. I am pretty confident the machine is clean. I have limited what runs with msconfig also. Have not had any crashes, but I also have not scanned the HD. I will give that a try, but am not optimistic about that helping. Thanks for the suggestion.

[moodyblues100]

Lots of views, not many suggestions. I'm beginning to think I up for a repair install.

[law99]

If you use Norton AV, could be the problem?? My mom's PC was very slow at opening anything.
Removing it with Symantic Removal Tool fixed it right up. McAfee can also slow a PC down.
Do you have enough memory & HD free space?

[TwoRails]

I would actually time it. A fully loaded machine with lots of programs and the like can take minutes to fireup. This box use to start in 1:35 but after updating to SP2 and adding a ton of other things, it takes considerably longer as there is more to load on start up.

[moodyblues100]

No all encompassing suites like Norton or McAfee installed. What loads when XP boots is minimized by unchecking in MSConfig. The slowdown is prior to clicking on a user and the desktop loads, it's when I switch on and wait for the user list. 50 gig free on an 80 gig HD.

[TwoRails]

Have you had a chance to time it yet? That would give us a good comparison tool.

[Panama Red]

Slow startup can often be caused by a Networking search taking a long time. Try uninstalling and reinstalling your nic with the latest drivers. Makes no difference if it's on board or a pci nic card.

[moodyblues100]

In my initial post I mentioned the boot log stated the following did not load: NDProxy.sys, PCIDump.sys, RDbss.sys, & MRXsmb.sys I wasn't able to determine much about these files though and I am not sure what they refer to. Are they related to the Network adapter? The only other issue is with the windows firewall. It doesn't always allow me to turn it on even though I go into service.msc and turn on the appropriate services. Other than the slow boot and the firewall issue the computer runs fine.

Have not timed the boot yet because I usually turn on the PC and come back a few minutes later, but it is at least 2 - 3 minutes.

[Panama Red]

Found this little tidbit while researching your various .sys entries. It may give a more definitive method to id the culprit.

"Having trouble with Booting check Bootlogger:

One such tool is called the boot logger. When dealing with bootup problems that have you stumped, this tool is invaluable. By creating a text log of the boot up process, you can quickly tell where the problem is coming from.

Let's get started, shall we?

1. You will need to restart the troubled computer running Windows XP.
2. Just before XP starts to load, press F8 as if you were trying to get into safe mode.
3.Select Enable Boot Logging option, and then press enter.
4.Now for the moment of truth. After the system's bootup process is finished, navigate over to the C:\Windows\Ntbtlog.txt file. There you will find a list of all of the drivers that did or tried to load during the boot process. By examining this file closely, you can quickly spot which service or driver is causing the problem"

Great tip from the Folks at Lockergnome!"

[TwoRails]

Seems like you are mixing two issues. Taking 2 - 3 minutes to boot, and more, is typical. Things not loading on startup may or may not be a problem: if the system is running OK, then it may not be a problem, like a disconnect USB device, a disabled device in Device Manager, or the like.

I Googled the above mentioned files and there is too much info to put in a post: you may want to view the info directly by Googling them. I use "what is" followed by the file name. That will help when you try Panama Red's tip above.

[moodyblues100]

C:\Windows\Ntbtlog.txt That is what I used to get the list I included. I also searched google for the 4 files, unfortunately what I found were people posting the entire ntbtlog.txt. I was unable to zero in on a clear cut solution to the problem. I will try adding the "what is" and review the findings. Maybe that will let me know what they are actually associated with, and lead me to updated drivers. I initially searched on the term "driver did not load" then the specific file.

[moodyblues100]

I have been doing anything I can to not have to reinstall XP (which I'm not sure will help anyway). I have discovered an app called BootVis, which gives a graphic view of what loads on boot up and how long it takes. I downloaded, installed and ran the program and discovered 2 things that take a while to load. HIDCLASS states 63.15 seconds and USBHUB also 63.15 seconds. On another graph it states LogOn +service (init time 41.13 sec) & Driver (init time 145.15 sec.)

Not quite sure what all that means, but I tried reinstalling the drivers for the USB ports without a positive result. I have been considering installing a PCI USB card and disabling the MB USB. Any further thoughts or clarification as to what all this may mean would be appreciated.

My MB is an ASUS A7V8X with an Athlon 2700+ and 1 GB RAM. Once I get to the desktop, the computer runs good, it's just the wait to get to the desktop that's driving me nuts.
THX

[TwoRails]

You haven't posted the actual time it's taking to boot. Also, have you tried disconnecting all your USB and other external devices before booting yet? Also make sure there are no disks in any removable storage (like CDs, DVDs, thumbdrives, etc).

[moodyblues100]

I have tried unplugging the USB Hub that I have (which doen not need drivers), but I will take that suggestion and only leave my usb mouse plugged in. I haven't posted a boot time, but it is definately over 4 minutes. I usually start the computer and walk away for a while. I have no errors with drivers in Device manager. I work on other computers that boot much quicker. My 'slower' laptop with less ram, when started side by side with the desktop is up and running in a fraction of the time. The length of time to boot is beyond normal.

[TwoRails]

This might be interesting:

http://download.microsoft.com/downlo...%20Windows.doc

[kev7555]

I just took in a customer computer that is doing the exact same thing today. This is a much older system with only 800MHz processor and 384 RAM, but it has a fresh install of Windows and takes somewhere in the neighborhood of 10-12 minutes to fully boot into XP.

Soooo....

I will be watching this thread for solutions and if we are lucky, maybe even posting a few myself.


-Kev

[TwoRails]

The first thing I look at for a 10 to 12 minute boot time would be bad disk in one of the optical drives. I have a pretty good "fix rate" on boxes that take that long by pulling out the disc and or unplugging the opticals for a test. Heck, even on this box it will occasionally take that long due to the disc gone bad in one of the drives; pulling the disc fixes that problem every time.

There are so many things that can affect boot time that is not funny. What hardware and software is installed, devices hooked up, disks in optical drives, and so on. There was a thread back on "how long does it take your to boot" or something like it and at that time this machine would boot consistently at about 1.30. Since then, however, I've added a ton of software, upgraded from SP1 to SP2, and the like. It now takes a full three minutes for this same box to boot up (last time I stopped-watched it was 3.10). That's why I was trying to get an actual boot time above, as it may or may not be a problem above.

New software, released in my experiences, takes biggest hit as everybody wants to install their own services. One time I installed Photoshop elements, version 3 I think, and it loaded so much crap on my system but I thought it was a Symantec product. Heck, even the new release of AdAware installs at least one service that prior versions didn't have.

By contrast, my BetterHalf's takes 1.30. And hers is almost a bare-bones system on startup. It doesn't even have a firewall installed (this box has Zone Alarm Pro, for comparison). That may sound like a long time but it is a 1 GHz unit with an old ATA 66 drive in it.

[moodyblues100]

After finally getting around to disconnecting all USB devices, except my USB optical mouse I finally discovered the problem. The mouse began acting flakier and flakier. At first I would have to unplug and replug the mouse to get the light to turn on and work. Finally after several more times that failed to work. I plugged in my old serial ball mouse and the boot time was reduced dramatically. It appears that the problem was a gradually failing mouse (at least I hope that's what it was) HIDCLASS apparently is Human Interface Device and in this case probably the mouse. Thanks for all the input with my problem.

[kev7555]

Well, mine wasn´t a failing mouse, or a disk in an optical drive or even a hard drive (multiple different pieces of hardware do the same thing). Fortunately the customer had no important data to save. We installed Windows again, same thing.

The customer happened to mention: ¨Gee, I´ve been thinking about trying Linux¨.

We loaded Linux on this machine and it boots up in about 1-2 minutes. He liked Ubuntu and we now have another convert. I still never came to a solution for the Windows problem so I¨ll be in the same boat when I have another machine like this, but the customer is happy and that´s the main thing.

-Kev

[2BMe]

I seem to have a similar problem: Slow boot, Firewall turning off occasionally. I have a TV card and used to be able to record and watch a recoded show on another application. Now I can't even record without the window and mouse stuttering.

[ITlover]

Originally Posted by moodyblues100 Lots of views, not many suggestions. I'm beginning to think I up for a repair install.

Try to reinstall your WinXP or format your partition and than install WinXP , make sure you have SP2 on it, but if the problem persists, then try to boot into safe mode .

There might be a hardware device driver causing problem.


Before formating and installing the WinXP or reinstalling WinXP, defragment your entire HDD and then run chkdsk /r. There might be a virus or spyware in the computer.

Regards