Desktop, XP is slow to boot?

[ImnoGuru]

Hello and thank you for taking a look at my problem.

My desktop has XP Pro SP3 & it became slow to boot. It was taking longer and longer to boot over time.
Each time I turned it on, the startup screen would show the Windows logo with a blue bar at the bottom and just before it does the keyboard check, the blue bar freezes for up to a minute.

From there, the procedure continues to the blue screen and hangs again sometimes for several minutes. (up to about 30 minutes I've tested before I switch off the power and try again.)
Sometimes it takes several attempts to get to the desktop.
Other times when I start up, the boot sequence is reasonably OK and skips through the keyboard check quickly, continuing on to the desktop and operating normally.

Is there a way I can test for conflicts that might be causing this please?

Thank you InmoGuru.

[Allan]

How long does it take to boot to safe mode? If the boot is normal to safe mode, let's try a selective startup:

Open msconfig and on the General tab choose "selective startup" (uncheck all three items) and reboot. Does the problem still occur? If not, start adding items back to msconfig one or two at a time, rebooting after each change, until the problem reappears and you'll have identified the offending process. This is clearly a time consuming procedure, but it is the best way to determine if some process loading with the system is the cause of your problem.

After you've isolated the cause, do not use msconfig to permanently disable the process. Instead, if it is a service go to START - RUN and type: services.msc (then press enter) and disable the service OR, if it a program, you can download & run a simple app such as Mike Lin's Startup Control Panel (http://www.mlin.net/StartupCPL.shtml) to enable, disable, or otherwise manage startup programs.

[ImnoGuru]

Thanks Allan.

I'll run through that procedure and get back to you to let you know what happens.

If I go quiet for a while you'll understand why.

The last few additions to programs were "Samsung Kies", "HJT", "CCleaner","Coreldraw 14 suite", "Password finder" and "XNView"

Personally I'm thinking Samsung Kies as the highest possibility in that list.

It was happening before I added Corel so I don't suspect that one in particular.

[SuperDave]

StartupLite

Download StartupLite by MalwareBytes to your Desktop.
Doubleclick StartupLite.exe to launch the program.
Ensure the Disable box is checked.
Click Continue.
A pop up message will tell you the unecessary startup items in your list have been disabled and ask you to restart your computer.
Re-start your computer.

[Allan]

With all possible respect, I'd rather the individual chooses what startup programs to enable and disable than a piece of software. We are also trying to troubleshoot the startup problem

[ImnoGuru]

Thanks Allan for your help.

This computer starts in safe mode and takes about 2 minutes to the desktop screen.
I tried it a few times to see if there was any changes in the safe mode startup.  Not so.
I don't know if that's a good thing or not. I have rarely started in safe mode.

At least it was consistent.

One thing did occur though on a restart in ordinary mode, that was, the computer cycled through the restart 3 to 4 times before settling down to useable/desktop.
However there after, the computer has started in one cycle since. So I don't know what that was about?

I picked up another 1 gig of ram and inserted it, so now this computer is running with 3 Gig of ram. Although that doesn't seem to have improved its speed or useability at all.

Another thing that I have tried, is to clean all the dust from inside the case, the fans, the thermal sink & any other area of interest, added a 1 gig ram stick, (after reseating the others one by one & testing the performance and stalling issues).
I removed the chip, cleaned it & re-administered a new cover or thermal grease, replaced all and while I was at it added a second CD, Dual layer burner. (Because it was there). ( I don't know if that was a smart thing to do or not yet, but the case was fully disassembled at the time & that's the best time to instal a burner).

All in all, there has now been an improvement in the startup procedure and it doesnt seem to be hanging any more, but the computer still takes a long time to open windows of different sorts, web browser, programs, windows media player, office/word. I would have thought the addition of an extra 1 Gig of ram would have improved it overall.

Allan, I will try the msconfig procedure you suggested and follow through with that next.

I appreciate too Superdave's suggestion and it may just speed up the process of going through things one by one. Perhaps even give me a bit of an idea where to look for any conflicts but I'll do it all by the numbers so I have a clear understanding of what I am doing. After all I have the time on my hands now that I'm not working for a while. Save for the fact that its nearly Christmas & everyone will be busy stimulating their respective economies for a while.

[ImnoGuru]

Well that was easy SuperDave.
I ran the program and this desktop now loads very quickly without hanging at all.

Maybe there was some kind of issue in one of the programs at startup.

Thanks for your help SuperDave.

Allan, as the computer seems to have settled in nicely now, I dont see the need to continue with your suggestion, however I will keep in mind if there are any detrimental effects in the future for me to try if required.

 I hope everyone has/had a great Thanksgiving.  Cheers.