Long time to boot up - is my hard drive the cause?

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ittesi259

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May 25, 2011
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My build is 4.5 years old and my boot drive is a 1TB Seagate Barracuda. When I restart or turn it off, it literally takes 2-4 minutes to hit a Windows login screen and then after putting in my password another 5+ minutes before my computer is usable. Could the hard drive be worn out or the problem? Its only 40% full. System details (if needed) are i5 2500K, 8GB DDR3-1600, 2GB Radeon 6950.

Please don't tell me to just get an SSD (I already know this). And please keep the fanboyism/brand hate to a minimum. Buying an SSD isn't in the immediate cards. Just looking for technical info, not to be told how to fix it for good I already know this.
 
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elbert

elbert

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Jan 11, 2005
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Could be sector errors or just really fragmented. I suggest using advanced system care to clean everything up and seatools to gcheck your HD. Do a smart, generic, and self test. Use advanced system care to optimize your startup, defrag your HD, remove junk files, and much more. It also has boost that allows turning off windows services to speed startup. After everything is done you can shut it down which its changes remain so no worry about it costing performance or bloat.
http://www.iobit.com/en/advancedsystemcarefree.php

http://www.seagate.com/support/downloads/seatools/
 
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S

sykozis

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Dec 17, 2008
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I'd recommend the built in cleanup utility or CCleaner over advanced system care. No reason to add bloat to the system.

Run the built in Cleanup utility (free with Windows) or download and run CCleaner to remove temp files. Run chkdsk (free with Windows) and then defrag the harddrive (also free with Windows).

Even Wise Disk Cleaner (available from here: http://www.wisecleaner.com/wise-disk-cleaner.html ) would be a better option than anything from Iobit....
 
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photonboy

photonboy

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Jun 20, 2006
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It's probably either:
1) failing HDD, or

2) software issues

My dad's laptop had Windows Vista and the thing took SEVEN MINUTES to boot up. When we got Windows 8.1 ($40 promo) the same HDD booted up in about FORTY SECONDS.

You should run HDD diagnostics, but if you see nothing there then I'd consider reinstalling Windows if it's been on there for a long time.
 
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photonboy

photonboy

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Jun 20, 2006
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I guess that leaves a failing HDD. Run the diagnostics for the drive (see manufacturer support site).

Here: http://www.seagate.com/ca/en/support/downloads/seatools/

Run Seatools for Windows.

*Start with DST (Drive Short Test)

I can't think of another reason at the moment.
 
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I

ittesi259

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May 25, 2011
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Ran chkdsk didn't report any bad sectors (didn't do /F or /R though). Downloaded SeaTools the only test I didn't do was the Long Sequential Read.....it passed DST, SMART(though not sure this is a SMART drive) and the short sequential read test. I did download the free version of CCLeaner and cleaned up registry errors, cleared out temp files (6GB worth) and disabled a few startup items. It seemed to boot better and be usable faster but my HDD LED has been going crazy for the 20 minutes Ive been back up and runnin. So not sure what the deal is.
 
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