Unusual slow star-up - advice requested.

Daave wrote:
> "X-Eyed_Bear" <gladly528.nospam.RemoveThis@ntlworld.ccom> wrote in message
> news:aAgqj.52$875.44@newsfe4-gui.ntli.net...
>
>> Task Manager confirms that it takes just about 9 minutes to start,
>> with
>> the largest memory user being WUAUCLT.exe (I've written that in UC
>> because people have mistaken this for WUAUDT, when written in lower
>> case). The amount of memory it needs at peak is not significant.
>
> Whether or not this will address your issue, I would switch from
> automatic updates to manual updates.
>
>> What is significant during start up is that the largest consumer of
>> CPU resource is the System Idle Process at about 98%.
>
> That's not a process; that's just an indication of what is *not* being
> used.
>
> If you're determined to find the culprit, it will involve disabling half
> your startup items and noting if there is improvement or not. If there
> is, then you can disable half of what you have left, etc. until you
> figure it out by process of elimination.
>
> I believe you stated elsewhere you believed that Norton informed you
> that you were completely malware-free. It's possible you're not; no one
> application can guarantee this. You may want to check this out as a
> reference:
>
> http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Viruses_Malware
>
> As a last resort, you could always run HijackThis.
>
>

That's all very sensible - thanks. I have used AVG AntiSpyware before,
along with AdAware and Spybot. I removed these (ro reduce the start-up
load!) thinking that Norton and Windows Defender should suffice. I'll
scan my system with these re-installed.

I'll also embark on the ultra-painful process of eliminating start up
process in binary chunks to see if I can identify a culprit (maybe I
should divide into a Fiboncccian ratio?)

I am still wondering about he memory speed on my system....

The principle underlying Clean booting is to remove all third party
applications loading and the adding one back, rebooting and timing the
boot time. Then repeating the process for each application until you
locate which is the cause of a longer boot. Earlier you said this.

Clean boot: 80 secs. to desktop appearing; 150 seconds to system loaded
Normal boot: 125 seconds to desktop appearing; 530 seconds (almost 9
minutes!) to system loaded.

It may be easier said than done but one or two applications are adding 6
minutes to your boot time.


--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

X-Eyed_Bear wrote:
> Gerry wrote:
>> I have studied the information provided earlier and your other
>> reponses. My suspicion is that your slow start-up is the result of
>> Adobe products loading on system start-up and to a lesser extent the
>> impact of Norton Internet Security scans. You can check whether this
>> diagnosis is correct by installing Autoruns and disabling (not
>> deleting) the Adobe start up items. This process is easily reversed
>> using Autoruns.
>> http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/ProcessesAndThreads/Autoruns.mspx
>>
>> With Autoruns you can uncheck an item, which disables it from
>> starting, or you can can right click an item and then delete it. If
>> you uncheck you can recheck to re-enable the item. It is a much
>> safer approach than editing the Registry. Another useful feature of
>> the programme is that you can right click an item and select Search
>> Online to get information about the item selected.
>>
>> What are your arrangements for a pagefile? Where exactly is it is
>> located?
>>
>> Are you using Windows Defender as a standalone programme or as part
>> of Windows Live OneCare?
>>
>
> Thanks for further advice.
>
> I have stopped 2 Adobe services from running at Startup (using
> MSConfig) and similarly stopped about 5 other items. I removed about
> 10 desktop shortcuts (leaving about 20 still active). Boot time has
> reduced from 8 mins 50 secs to 8 mins 25 secs!
>
> I'll try Autoruns later this evening.
>
> I don't think that Norton nwow does any scans on strat up, but I could
> be wrong - the interface is a model of how not to deliver usability.
>
> The pagefile is 'System Managed'; located on my 'D' drive which is a
> mirrored pair of 250 Gb Sata II drives. Reading from the D drive seems
> extremely quick - for example when I am loading a 100 MB TIFF. The
> drive is about 30% full. The defrag report shows nothing red at all.
>
> Windows Defender was standalone. It has now been deleted (without any
> obvious benefit).