Where do I find out what Windows is doing during 10 minute boot?

macnab · 19 Mar 2013

@Magissia: All my connections are straight, no problem there. But I have 4 HDDs and 2 optical drives, so I have a lot of cables. This gives me problems because they are all pushing against each other.

ICIT2LOL · 19 Mar 2013

Well it might be worth running hard drive test on the boot drive try SeaTools for Windows | Seagate

JimLewandowski · 19 Mar 2013

Have you looked in the Event Viewer log for:

Application Services and Logs
Microsoft
Windows
Operational

Look for 100 events.

Cut and paste here by double-clicking and then when the popup opens, COPY tile in lower left.

gregrocker · 19 Mar 2013

Test the HD now using the maker's HD Diagnostic extended CD scan followed by a full Disk Check with both boxes checked.

I'd also work through the other Troubleshooting Steps for Windows 7 to go over it good.

One important thing to know is if the boot time improves with any or all of the other HD's unplugged. If so then figure out which HD is culprit.

ICIT2LOL · 20 Mar 2013

gregrocker said:

Test the HD now using the maker's HD Diagnostic extended CD scan followed by a full Disk Check with both boxes checked.

I'd also work through the other Troubleshooting Steps for Windows 7 to go over it good.

One important thing to know is if the boot time improves with any or all of the other HD's unplugged. If so then figure out which HD is culprit.

Yep Greg I saids to test out the boot drive in post #12 cos I thought it sounded like it was a Seagate out of the 4 drives the OP has in but didn't hear anything back.

macnab · 20 Mar 2013

I cannot get the problem to occur again. The only thing I did/change was replug on of the data drives.

In light of the problem disappearing, I am closing this ticket.

Thanks to all for the suggestions.

Layback Bear · 20 Mar 2013

I'm assuming you completed the suggestions in post #10 by Magissia and so far it has solved your problem.
Is that correct?

macnab · 20 Mar 2013

I have been having problems with boot time for a few days.

I can go for weeks without accessing my E: drive. Yesterday I noticed a problem writing to it (disappearing from Explorer.) I fiddled with the cables and it came right.

Because I so seldom access it, it could have been the source of my boot problems, without me being aware that the drive was giving problems.

I hope it was, because that will mean that the problem won't occur again.

CatchMyDingo · 23 Jun 2013

I had a this exact same issue myself recently and the system would take anything from 15 - 20 minutes to fully boot and without any apparent causes. Although on my Windows XP machine I suspect this issue can still affect Windows 7 machines also. The eventual culprit turned out to be a faulting Seagate Barracuda SATA drive (D-Drive) which kept disappearing from the system at boot. Eventually the drive failed S.M.A.R.T. testing which eventually led me to the culprit.., a CORRUPT RECYCLE BIN on the D-Drive!!

Evidently the corruption occurred when the faulting drive kept disappearing, and I only later discovered this when Seagate sent me a replacement drive. As soon as I formatted the drive giving it the same partition letter the error message appeared. I followed an online tutorial on how to delete the corrupt recycle bin so that Windows could recreate it and BINGO.., the slow boot problem was gone.

Given that you have also been experiencing disappearing drive issues this may be worth investigating, a faulting hard drive or dodgy cable can easily cause corruptions to occur which then impact on the systems integrity.

Hopefully this helps? :)

macnab · 23 Jun 2013

Well, I have had the problem since - just jiggle the cable each time. I will look for the Recycle Bin solution for Windows 7 and give it a go. Can't do any harm.