Why is my computer so slowwwwww booting up? VANITY

[Blogger]

Several months ago, my computer crashed on me. Wouldn't even get to the beginning stages of boot up. Lights flickered if you hit the button, but beyond that, nothing. So, I took it to Best Buy where I bought it and where it was still under warrantee. They determined it was a fried motherboard. Consistent with the warrantee, the Geek Squad replaced it. Ever since that time, it takes about 2-3 minutes to boot up. Everything else seems to run fine, but boot up is excruciatingly slow. Any ideas why what normally took 30 seconds or so now takes 5 times a long?

[Cringing Negativism Network]

To link two bits of advice you’ve gotten so far — if you do have more than one mode of internet connection trying to connect at the same time, remember if you do disable your firewall or antivirus, to be sure you’re not accidentally still connected to the web.

Especially if your “other” connection isn’t securely behind a router.

There is one other possible course of action - but you really need to be ready to throw caution to the wind if you decide to go this route. You could use the situation as an excuse to install Linux on your machine.

Thing is, if you don’t like it, that can be a big step to try to get back from.

Good luck to you.

[the_Watchman]

RAM size could definitely be an issue. We sent one machine in for repair and it was magically missing a chip; i.e., half its memory, once it returned.

Right click on “My Computer” to select the “Properties”. Verify that the amount of installed memory is correct.

[mmichaels1970]

Okay disabled all startup programs except for my virus protection.

Ok. You appear to be down to some pretty minimal startup action with that. By the way, soft thinks launcher is some sort of OEM software that doesn't appear to be malicious and probably isn't causing your problem.

I wouldn't feel a bit bad about temporarily disabling your current anti-virus software. You'd have to look for it in your startup programs and in your automatic services.

I know that sometimes the virus software is configured to do a software scan or a registry scan on boot. That might be causing a delay.

In any case, I know you're getting a lot fired at you from many directions. It's hard to diagnose without seeing it. Just keep eliminating possibilities for as long as you can be patient.

[Blogger]

I dabble with some of this stuff and went to the Geek Squad because the computer was still under warrantee (think it is up this month). It wouldn’t start at all. I may take it back and see what happened.

[Blogger]

Thank you mmichaels. I’ve gotten some great advice here.

I run eset which is pretty non-invasive for virus protection. I will disable it temporarily and turn off the internet on the front of my computer.

I looked at the boot sequence and they were trying to boot up a non-existent floppy drive, but that didn’t fix the issue :( Will keep trying.

Thanks everyone!

[mmichaels1970]

On the other hand, if he got a freshly loaded system, then the prior occurrence was probably unrelated.

True enough. I'm sort of assuming since he mentioned a motherboard replacement and not a hard disk replacement, that this didn't occur.

I'd say I'm still sort of surprised if it didn't. I've seen many occasions where the "repair guys" didn't want to deal with malware removal, so it was easier to just tell the customer that the hard drive was fried and replace it.

[the_Watchman]

An automatic scan at bootup is a distinct possibility, especially if he boots down before it has a chance to complete. Windows used to also start building indexes for Fast Search, but I haven’t noticed that as an issue on my machines lately.

Perchance is there a CD or DVD in the drive drawer? One of the guys at work was just remarking that CD handling tends to freeze the system briefly and hasn’t improved since Windows 3.1.

[the_Watchman]

Warranty replacements will many times NOT preserve your hard drive. They find it easier to throw a new machine at you.

[mmichaels1970]

Let me know if you hit upon the solution. If the thread is dead by then, feel free to FReepmail. Every experience is a learning experience.

[valkyry1]

Some of the other hardware might be damaged also.

[ConservativeMind]

At this point, I think you have two basic areas of concern.

1. Hardware/hardware configuration - Yes, the quick memory test is what you should set the system to boot with. Also, check to make sure you have all the memory you originally bought and that the processor is the same. I assume they did not change out the hard drive, but if they reloaded everything, that is possible. A slow hard drive can make a system boot a factor of two to three slower (going from a truly speedy 7200+ RPM to a slow access 5400 RPM would be an example. For those interested in throughput differences, look at StorageReview.com graphs).

2. Infection. Yes, you have NOD32, but even that isn't 100%. The Malwarebytes.org free cleaner is a good one. So is the free Spyware Doctor in the Google Pack, just uninstall it after use (or disable it fully, which requires more work). Download your choice, update it, then run it against your hard drive. (FYI, Spyware Doctor leaves stuff in memory and in the boot, plus Google Pack has its own updater, which you again don't need...).

Make sure you can go to Windows Update and assure you have all your critical patches as a start. In Internet Explorer, go to Tools, then Windows Update. Follow all the prompts. If you can get to where it says you have no Critical or High-Priority Updates, but it let you do a Custom scan, you are likely not infected.

[AFreeBird]

Might be a harddrive problem. You said they replaced the MB, but problems there could have have affected subsystems. (like I said, tough to tell here) And HD problems will affect overall system speed. And I’m not talking about defrag issues. Defrag will help some, especially on an older system that’s seen lots of use, but for a relatively new system, and boot and basic system files, it should not be THAT BIG an issue. Now a CHKDSK on the other hand would not be out of line. Whatever you do, I’d back up the system. Full and complete. Also a separate back up of just data - C:\USERS\USER_ID, and where ever you store stuff, as an additional measure. Systems can be rebuilt, personal data can’t.

[cva66snipe]

RAM size could definitely be an issue. We sent one machine in for repair and it was magically missing a chip; i.e., half its memory, once it returned.

That and many Big Box stores usually sell them with just barely enough functional RAM. As cheap as RAM is now that doesn't make sense to me.

[Blogger]

I bought an external harddrive that I backup once a week after the system crashed. They retrieved my data, but I learned a lesson.

[Blogger]

I bought extra RAM.

[Blogger]

I did have some Malware on the drive. Was surprised at that. Cleaned it off and it still boots slow. Had two Windows updates to install. They are loading now.

With all of the stuff I’m fixing tonight, this should be the healthiest computer in town.

[Blogger]

I think they did a hardware check is the only thing that makes me think that is not the case. Everything but the MB was operating okay.

[Blogger]

system did have malware.

Gone now. Didn’t know eset wouldn’t protect from that.

[Blogger]

Learning a lot tonight!

Thank you!

[AFreeBird]

They retrieved my data, but I learned a lesson.

That's usually the best teacher.

Did they replace the HD? As CM mentioned, going from a fast drive to a slow one will slow things down. If would also be interesting to know if you got a "like" component for component replacement. It is not outside the realm of possibility that lessor parts were substituted. Not trying to lay blame (or even suggest that's a standard practice - it's warranty why should they) on BB or GS, but such things have been going on for millennium.

Good luck.