Windows XP Home slow startup

I don`t know if this is the correct section to post this, but no doubt it will be diverted if wrong.

I am experiencing a very slow Startup. I have many icons on my desktop but presume that only the ones on the Startup list are applicable to loading time.

From switching the computer on, it is taking 6 minutes to fully load to a live desktop and an additional 3 minutes using Sandboxie to a fully sandboxed Firefox Internet screen.

Can anybody suggest what is causing this very long delay ? After the initial startup there are no problems that I would criticise.

I have no problem with response being retired, but this kind of delay is utterly ridiculous.
My Comodo Firewall loads last and takes far too long.

I have Windows XP Home 2002 with SP3 and Firefox 3.6.8.
If AVG9 auto update is timed during shutdown, then when I start up it updates and I am sure that this affects the startup time.

Any suggestions are welcome, but whilst 9 minutes to startup is a ridiculous situation, I do not wish to embark on a World record attempt, just to have my PC startup in an acceptable time, say 4 minutes.

Having been on many Forum`s, I am convinced that Wilder`s is far ahead of any I have experienced,
the vast membership and knowledge available is far better in both numbers of experienced players and quality of advice than any other Forum I have been on.

My Startup list is attached. If you see some program that is not important, please advise me.

 

Your startup list as shown by CCleaner looks reasonable, but CCleaner isn't very comprehensive in showing all your startup programs. The msconfig utility is more thorough, but still not perfect.

Run "msconfig", go to "services" and tick "hide all Microsoft services, and disable EVERYTHING in the services and startup tab that you don't recognize. From your list, for example, I'd disable everything but Sandboxie, AVG, Comodo, and Epson. See if that improves anything. If something important gets disabled, you can always turn it back on.

Depending on your hardware, 4 minutes is still a bit excessive for XP. My laptop is ancient, yet it booted XP in 30-40 seconds. Typically, a ballpark estimate I'd aim for on the average PC would be less than 2 minutes.

 

Use Autoruns and see what is listed.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902.aspx

 

Did this start happening gradually or is it a sudden development? How old is the computer?

 

Sounds like it's time for Soluto.

 

First test is to disable your NIC and reboot. My #1 reason for slow boots. Let us know if that fixes it for the answer.

My money is on any/all of the following: Adobe, Printer driver, AVG and Comodo. I will bet that if the NIC disable trick does not work, disabling all of those more or less cures the problem.

Next time you post a screenshot, try to show the file path too. Helps to know what the .exe is

Sul.

 

I knew it ! Ask question on Wilder`s and in come a number of really valuable replies. It`s a bit early, so I`ll see what else pops up, but the answers so far are very impressive.

My set is old. I had Windows XP Home installed in 2003-4. Before that it was Windows 98 with most of the hardware going back to probably 1997-8. Windows 95 is stated in Computer "Properties".
I suppose it has always taken a while to load from startup, perhaps 4-5 minutes, but this 9 minutes is relatively recent.

I will digest all your comments and come back on it and am very grateful to you all.

Damn it chaps ! Waiting 9 minutes on start-up, I can feel my hair growing longer.
I feel like some old guy waiting at the crossing for somebody to help me across.

Thanks so far.

 

You can disable the "Adobe Reader speed launcher" as well, wich I have done. But after every Adobe reader update it will be set to ON/enabled again unfortunately

 

Thanks Stapp (and all the others). I`ll disable the startup for non-essentials like you mention and see what happens. For an old guy with an original Thomas Edison valve set, I guess it could well boil down to pruning. I do tend to have a lot of paraphernalia dangling round my faithful donkey, makes him puff and pant going uphill. Bit if an addict for accessories and goodies.

My autorun list is :-

 

There is a program called "End it all" which is quite good.

 

I still use Mike Lin's Startup Control Panel and Neil Rubenking's Startup Cop. Both are oldies but (effective) goodies.

 

Oh my dear Crash,
I frequently ponder that program, but can`t get my toe on the trigger properly.

 

do you delete pagefile after finishing working on your pc...
check this key,this should be at 0
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management
If the value does not exist, add the following value:
Value Name: ClearPageFileAtShutdown
Value Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 0

 

Try uninstalling Comodo Firewall and see if your computer boots up faster. It caused a long lag boot on my WinXP system, after uninstalling it my boot was much faster.

If this solves your problem try using an alternative to Comodo Firewall.

Thanks.

 

My configuration does CLEAR the Pagefile on shutdown. You cannot DELETE the Pagefile, you can only clear the contents, the Pagefile size remains constant even though the file has nothing in it. Loading a Pagefile with no contents is irrelevant, there is nothing to load.

 

I don't see any real point in clearing the paging file at shutdown. I have read several times over the past few years that doing it can cause some problems. Exactly what problems I don't recall since I don't clear mine, so I didn't bother taking note of what issues might occur. If I recall correctly from another thread your system doesn't have an over-abundance of memory. You might be better off not mucking around with the paging file and just let Windows manage it.

At any rate, you can kill off the Adobe Reader Speed launcher, RTHDCPL (I have it off and sound still works), nwiz, the Epson printer utility, KernelFaultCheck. If you don't need voice recognition or handwriting support, you can also get rid of ctfmon using this. You could turn off some of the other things as well, but you have to decide if you want them or not, for example, do you use Unlocker often enough that it should be starting with the system every time? I also have no idea what swg is. Maybe you could expand the view so that the file path can be seen in your screenie.

Also go to blackviper.com and check through his list of services. You can turn off a lot of them under certain circumstances. If you have a standalone computer and are behind a router you can kill off quite a few, such as Computer Browser, Server, Terminal service, DNS service, DHCP, etc. Take the time and go through his list of services, you might be surprised at how much you can turn off and still have a functional system.

BTW, when you open the task manager after the system is completely booted, how many processes do you have running? With a bit of configuring you should be able to get it under 25 processes pretty easily.

 

check the event viewer logs for errors and warnings, in case hd is playing up. How much ram on that machine?

 

I am a little sad at having raised my own slow starting problem. I did it purely because of the content included in my opener. But having read all your most helpful comments and had a look round the net, I realise that slow starting is not an exclusive copyright to John Bull, it is a world wide problem voiced in countless posts by hundreds, probably thousands of users.

The causes are infinite, which makes it a very difficult matter to discuss. Most of the problem appears to rest with choice of software, where some combinations are a disaster and others work well. Seems to be a blend of knowledge and Lady Luck.

There is an awful lot of grump concerning Comodo, particularly the Firewall. AVG also gets a bit of a hammering, concerning loading time. Some quote 10-15 minutes for Comodo.

AVG has served me impeccably over the years and I will not dump it until a better alternative comes my way and I have tried many.

Similar with my Comodo Firewall. I have had Comodo Firewall Pro with Defense + since I became partners with a PC about 10 years ago allowing for updates etc. and consider it many laps ahead of it`s nearest rival. Many professional opinions say the same. So it stays as well.

I am and will continue trying all the hints you have given and am very grateful to you all. I did disable some items on my start list and the restart time was 6 minutes, so at least it is moving in the right direction.

There must be hundreds of posts on slow starting, so by all means let me know more if you can, otherwise alternatively use the thread as a general subject. I am sure that other members and guest readers will find it all so helpful.

I do apologise for inadvertently starting a thread subject that is widespread and almost a cyber artifact.

 

Of course you aren't the only one, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't ask for a bit of advice. That's what forums are for

I see from your signature that you are using Comodo 3.0, which is quite outdated. You might want to consider ditching AVG and installing the new Comodo 5.0 with the AV, Defence+, etc. I don't use it myself (no real-time security software here) but I did try it out for the hell of it on another image and it ran quite smoothly. I know the youtube tests aren't very professional, but in every one I've seen of the latest Comodo it's been one of the few these guys test that actually stopped everything they threw at it. Just some food for thought.