Another Slow Startup Issue

gjarnos

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Feb 1, 2011
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I am running Windows XP SP 3.

The computer reaches the log in screen very quickly with no problems. After I click the account to log in the computer takes over 3 minutes to get to the desktop. The task bar appears with no detail on it and no icons appear. It just hangs with a half made task bar for over 3 minutes. I have stopped 75% of the startup programs in msconfig from running but nothing changes. I am running free AVG. There is 2 GB of RAM and a Dual Core processor with an integrated GeForce 7300 LE GPU. The computer runs fine after it finally starts up.

What are some options to fix this startup issue?
 
Since you know how to turning off startup program, I assume you have already defrag your drive. You said you turn off 75% of the program at start up, but it is still slow. I think you haven't isolate the culprit program. Try disable all nonessential program, disconnect from internet and see it this improves. Then turn on internet to see if searching for network is not the culprit (usually apply for wifi). Then enable the nonessential program one by one.
 

gjarnos

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Feb 1, 2011
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I have defragged the hard drive. I have also disconnected the internet. Still the same issue. I also did a full system scan with malware bytes in safe mode and updated it. It get a few problems. I also ran a spybot search and destroy scan in safe mode. They both had a few infections but it didn't speed up the start up time.
 

bigglesworth1

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Jan 14, 2008
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I don't know if this will help or not, but I used to suffer from slow start ups as well, UNTIL I found a nifty program called 'Tune XP 1.5'. You can defrag boot files AND use a method called 'ultra fast booting'. This combined with Microsoft Bootvis solved these problems and now my pc boots in less than 30 seconds (I'm using XP SP3 BTW). Tune XP also speeds up your shutdowns and is totally free. Here are the links:

http://download.cnet.com/TuneXP/3000-2086_4-10290929.html (read the user comments on the download page to get an idea of what you're dealing with, also read the program documentation as well)

http://www.softpedia.com/get/Tweak/System-Tweak/BootVis.shtml (NOTE: click on trace then click optimize system)

Use bootvis before using Tune XP, because this is what I did and everything is working beautifully.

Finally, Make sure your prefetch files are not being deleted because this can slow your start up time considerably. Good luck.