Re: xp taking hours to boot


"AndyN" <AndyN@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:4AB34FE5-4326-411E-858D-2E43B9468D20@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Thanks Daave. My first thought had been malware and then too much stuff
running on startup, but whatever the problem I'm having trouble getting
anything to work in Windows. Is there any way to try to resolve these issues
prior to windows starting?

Unplug the network cable.

Start in Safe Mode, and use MSCONFIG to examine and disable whatever isn't needed. Many apps and services won't start in Safe Mode so you can get more control of the system.

But, If there is malware, and it's a possibility, it's helpful to remove the drive, attach it to another system - I use USB2 drive cases and adapters for this - and do a virus and malware scan. This can be extremely beneficial; since the drive didn't boot, the malware didn't launch and isn't trying to evade the scans.

While you have the drive out, clear out all the temp and temporary internet files folders. Empty the recycle bin and defragment the drive.

Put the drive back in and boot. If you suddenly get "cannot find file" messages, it's very likely that the system was infected, you've cleared most of it out, and now have to remove the launcher references. Again msconfig is a big help here.

HTH
-pk



"Daave" wrote:

"AndyN" <AndyN@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:AD727A86-CCCA-4516-9D32-719972FF7804@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> I'm having trouble even trying any solutions that I've used in the
> past to
> resolve performance problems because it runs so slowly that anything I
> try
> doesn't repond. Do I need to reinstall?

Here are the most common causes for PC slowness:

1. Malicious software (malware)

2. Certain programs that are designed to combat malware (e.g., Norton
and McAfee). Ironically, they can slow things down because they simply
use way too many resources. Sometime they cause conflicts with other
programs. And their default mode is to scan your entire hard drive each
time you boot up.

3. Too many of *certain types* of programs always running in the
background -- with or without your knowledge.

Use these sites to determine what these programs are and to learn how to
configure them not to always run at startup:

http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_content.php#THE_PROGRAMS
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/startups/
http://www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm

Sometimes it is recommended to use msconfig to configure the programs to
not run at startup. A better, more thorough program is Autoruns:

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

4. Not enough RAM, which causes the PC to overly rely on the pagefile. A
quick way to determine if this is happening is to open Task Manager
(Ctrl+Alt+Del) and click the Performance tab. Then note the three values
under Commit Charge (K): in the lower left-hand corner: Total, Limit,
and Peak.

The Total figure represents the amount of memory you are using at that
very moment. The Peak figure represents the highest amount of memory you
used since last bootup. If both these figures are below the value of
Physical Memory (K) Total, then you probably have plenty of RAM.
Otherwise, you may want to explore this further by running Page File
Monitor for Windows XP:

http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_pagefilemon.htm

5. You might also want to check that your hard drive's access mode
didn't change from DMA to PIO:

http://www.technize.com/2007/08/02/is-your-hard-disk-cddvd-drives-too-slow-while-copying/

and

http://users.bigpond.net.au/ninjaduck/itserviceduck/udma_fix/




.

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