Solved Windows 7 x64 suddenly slow to startup

[RAWhitelock]

All of a sudden today when I went to start up my computer, it took way longer than normal to boot up (three mionutes as opposed to the usual 30sec or less). I have turned it off and reset it and each time I turn it on, the same thing happens.

Something of note: The 'Shut Down' button in the windows tab shows the indication that there are updates to apply, but I've shut down my machine more than once and it says that it's installing the updates, yet when I turn the computer back on, the indicator is still there next to the shut down button. I have attached a snippet of what I'm reffering to just to be clear.

What could this be?

my specs:
System Manufacturer/Model Number Custom OS Windows 7 64bit CPU AMD Phenom II X4 925 Motherboard Gigabyte 890GPA-UD3H Memory 4GB KIT (2X2GB) DDR3 PATRIOT PVS34G1600LLK

 

[richc46]

Make a clean boot to help determine the problem
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135

It is most likely updates that have not been fully installed
If clean boot does not show anything make a system restore from a few days ago.
Then install updates manually, turn off automatic update.

 

[Zeplash]

Firstly check your boot up options in the bios... Most of the time the settings is just set a little slow..Make all the waiting options under boot up options as low as possible."IF 10 make it 1" Example

 

[Maxxwire]

All of a sudden today when I went to start up my computer, it took way longer than normal to boot up. What could this be?

I must not be as curious as you are because a while back my Win 7 x64 computer started about 20 seconds slower than usual and I immediately shut it down and did a 4 minute 40 second Macrium Reflect Image Restore from a week earlier. I guess I've become accustomed to taking the easy way out of situations like this.

~Maxx~

 

[kword88]

this automated fix may solve the problem. it says vista, but it works in win7 too:

How do I reset Windows Update components?

 

[zigzag3143]

All of a sudden today when I went to start up my computer, it took way longer than normal to boot up (three mionutes as opposed to the usual 30sec or less). I have turned it off and reset it and each time I turn it on, the same thing happens.

Something of note: The 'Shut Down' button in the windows tab shows the indication that there are updates to apply, but I've shut down my machine more than once and it says that it's installing the updates, yet when I turn the computer back on, the indicator is still there next to the shut down button. I have attached a snippet of what I'm reffering to just to be clear.

What could this be?

my specs:
System Manufacturer/Model Number Custom OS Windows 7 64bit CPU AMD Phenom II X4 925 Motherboard Gigabyte 890GPA-UD3H Memory 4GB KIT (2X2GB) DDR3 PATRIOT PVS34G1600LLK

It often does take much longer to boot if windows has to install updates. Have you tried rebooting to see if the problem exists?

Does it do the same thing when you boot in safe mode (f8)?

 

[Garlic]

Could be that Windows is installing/configuring some updates at startup, causing slower than normal startup. This happens to me from time to time. I would suggest to either disable automatic updates (could be dangerous though if we are talking about security updates) or install updates manually, and see if problem persists.

 

[RAWhitelock]

Okay, guys. So far I have tried clean-boot, and I have restored my system to a week ago to no avail. I'm still having the same problem. I'm also seeing the "!" indication on my shutdown button as if to indicate that there are updates to install. When I shut down the computer, it goes thru the updating proces. This happens every single time I shut it off. It's as if the update is never fully successful. Strange, no? I will try Kword88's suggestion next. Any other suggestions would be great. Thanks, all!

 

[RAWhitelock]

Hey guys. Quick thought - could this have anything to do with a problem with Norton AV? I'm getting an error message from them that I've never seen since I've had this machine.

 

[boohbah]

i had huge slow start with norton ,installed MSE and it completely cured it

 

[RAWhitelock]

i had huge slow start with norton ,installed MSE and it completely cured it

Did it happen to you out of the blue? Or was your machine always slow on startup? Because I've been running norton AV since march with no issues until now. I tried uninstalling norton and reloading it and nothing has changed.

 

[wds7]

Temporary disable Norton AV ...run Wds update 3 time ...make sure nothing else is waiting to install ..

 

[RAWhitelock]

Temporary disable Norton AV ...run Wds update 3 time ...make sure nothing else is waiting to install ..

I tried that. Also a no-go. Windows update wants to update something for Microsoft office 2010 which is a free trial version that I downloaded, but for some reason it is not able to complete the update each time. I get an error code 646. I tried to uninstall Microsoft Office 2010 and the computer in unable to do so. Strange, no?

 

[RAWhitelock]

Okay, guys. Problem solved. After googling "Error Code 646" I was able to find an automated solution from Microsoft Fix it. Here is the link to the page regarding the issue.
Error code "0x80070646," "646," or "1606" when you try to install Office updates