Help interpreting a boot trace please

Hi.

This is really part and parcel of another thread I have here:

PC frozen for c.30 secs after boot

but this question is rather incidental to that, so it seemed better to start a separate thread :)

I ran a boot trace using Process Monitor, trying to get to the bottom of the problem explained in the other thread. I have kept the pml files it created, but would like to ask how to interpret the duration column. I see that, for instance, my desktop All_CPU gadget shows as loading in 68 seconds (?!). But does that mean that that software is causing the delay? Or is it that the delay I am experiencing in being able to run programmes after the desktop is visible, (and created by something else entirely), caused the gadget to load only after that interval of time? In other words, does that 68" delay represent cause, or just effect?

Hope the question is clear! Thanks.

imo it could be cause or it could be effect, but in either case the best next step is to eradicate that program from your system, then run another trace.

OK, will do. (To be honest though, it seems a bit unlikely that a programme I have run for several years with no issues, AFAIK, should suddenly start creating a problem like this).