Windows 7: PC Boot Time now 15+ minutes, no indication of problems..

Alright, so this is a very recent problem I'm having with my desktop (working from laptop currently).

For the past week or so, I have had my desktop on for extended periods of time, maybe 12+ hrs straight on multiple occasions, all without issue. Given that typical start-up times used to be 10-12 seconds, I am extremely surprised to find that it now takes the desktop almost 20-25 minutes to finish booting (it remains stuck at the Windows logo screen, with the HDD light showing HD use).



Specs:

Windows 7 64bit, i72600K 3.4Ghz, 160GB Intel SSD, 16 GB DDR, ATI Radeon 6870, Bigwater 760, ASRock P67 mobo

any other specs needed?

I also managed to make a boot trace file (*.ETL format) and I have uploaded it to:
Boot_Trace.rar


It's not as if I have any scans scheduled for boot time, so I have no idea how this ballooned from a perfect 10-12 sec to an astronomical 25 min or so.


Please help!

Hello Aeris,

You might see if using the tutorial below may be able to help ID what the cause is.

Troubleshoot Application Conflicts by Performing a Clean Startup

Hope this helps,
Shawn

One question: in your tutorial, when you click on the disabling of all services other than MS services, it turns out that both the "Load startup items" and "Load system services" end up as unchecked on the main MSConfig screen: was that your intent? I ask because in the earlier screenshot on that thread, you mention that only the "Load startup items" box should be unchecked, showing the "Load system services" as still checked implying that is how it should be.

In the procedure you outline, both boxes end up unchecked, and the net result is a having chosen a 'Selective Startup' with nothing under it except the "Use original boot configuration" box, which cannot be unchecked.

As for the latest update on the situation: I ran the tutorial, did not really see a major improvement in boot time.


However, I do want to point out that the average boot time for the last 3-4 boot ups has been about 3.5 minutes each. This 'shortened' time (from the original, ridiculously long 15-25 minute boot ups) came after Windows installed its most recent couple of updates.

After restarting the desktop with all services enabled (Normal startup), it was still about 3 minutes, so I do not think the issue is in either the startup or background services.

Most currently, I just ran the SlimDrivers freeware to see if drivers were updated, and it found updates on about a dozen different aspects of the desktop (audio, SATA controller, etc). The most recent boot was about 2 minutes, so it seems to be slowly getting back down to its original value, but what in the world would cause it to take so long at the Windows logo screen? I just can't imagine what kind of change was made to the PC that would result in anything like that happening.


Edit:

I also wanted to point out that shutdown times have been very quick, maybe 5-8 seconds max. This is in line with what I expected my start up time to be, and at 10-15 seconds, it was working precisely as expected. Now with this sitting at the Windows logo screen....I just don't get it

So far so good.

The "Load startup items" check box is not as important so long as the startup items are actually enabled again.

About 2 minutes is not so bad, but you might also look at least the # 7, 15, and 17 options in the tutorial below to see if they may be able to help some.

Optimize Windows 7

Maybe gathering some info would help: Gathering a Startup, Shutdown, Sleep, Hibernate, or Reboot Trace

@WHS: I have run the boot trace, it's link is located in the first post :P

Can you diagnose it for me? I cannot make much sense of the data.

I've asked trace author Cluberti to look at your trace.

Meanwhile work through these Troubleshooting Steps for Windows 7

Thanks Greg. Analysing this thing is not obvious.

Alright, as soon as the desktop decides to finish starting up, I'll work on the checklist.

As a thread update, boot times are back up to 10+ minutes, the problem only abated for a short time. I have no clue what could be causing this, but I think it is something quite simple.

I want to point this out, in case someone can spot a possible inconsistency:

I have 3 drives connected to SATA ports for the boot order: the SSD is first, the DVD-RW is second, and the 2nd HDD is third. I noticed that when I had the SSD connected to the 2nd SATA slot in the motherboard, it would not want to boot first, even though it was set as such in the BIOS. I found that putting the drive that was supposed to boot #1 into the SATA slot designated as "1" would cause it to be the first drive the PC looked to boot from. This didn't make too much sense, as before I thought that as long as all drives were connected, regardless of to which SATA port, they would all boot according to how the BIOS was set. As it turns out, and maybe newer motherboards have me wrong in this assumption, the placement on those SATA ports does matter and even supersedes whatever settings the BIOS has. In this case, the BIOS (it is the UEFI one for ASRock mobos) has the 2nd HDD listed as first and the DVD drive as second. This is odd to me, given that with these settings, the desktop would boot from the SSD still in maybe 12 seconds just a few weeks ago. If the problem did originate from the BIOS/boot settings, why would it take until now to manifest? That's why I don't think that is the issue directly, but it could be something I don't see. It is also possible that the motherboard needs a BIOS update, which I am not very sure of how to do (pointers would be much appreciated). Also, shouldn't the SSD show up in the BIOS settings as a possible drive in the boot selection?

Edit: I know that the settings in BIOS originally were set to SSD as first, but the observations of the current settings found something different...I have no idea how they would change, as neither myself or anyone else accessed the boot order to change it.