Solved Windows 7 x64 taking 2:30 mins to boot (Soluto)

[Jacee]

It looks like Windows Services Group is loading pretty slow ... see if this helps at all Fix Slow Windows Startup Using Windows Boot Performance Diagnostics

 

[probuddha]

Hi Jacee

Thank you for the link. I followed the instructions and rebooted, and the booting time now stands at 1:10 mins

Is there a way I could pull up the log for the Boot Performance Diagnostics?

Thanks

 

[Layback Bear]

Okay my point was that 69 sec boot using a hard drive isn't all that bad. You can chase around for a few seconds here and there for ever and gain nothing. Boot time is always a changing thing. Any thing you do on a computer from updating your anti virus to changing the appearance of Windows will change boot time. A SSD would do wonders.

You could take a look at this. Some things might help but very little when you are at a 69 sec. boot using a hard drive.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/11728-optimize-windows-7-a.html

Do yourself a favor and don't fool around with Windows 7 Services.

 

[probuddha]

Ya that's what I am thinking as well. With a standard HDD, I think that's the min boot time I can achieve...but my main concern are those intermittent black screens that stay for 10-12 secs before I get to the desktop.

Would you say that's normal with a HDD?

Do yourself a favor and don't fool around with Windows 7 Services.

I haven't messed with any of the windows services, I have kept them as is in the services menu


Many thanks!

 

[cluberti]

Some issues I see right off the bat:

• MBAM Services (both) take cumulatively about 14 seconds to start, which (as autostart services) contribute to the delay of the start of the desktop (explorer) until they're done.
• Avast takes about 2 seconds to start, and seems somewhat heavy on the disk I/O compared to some others - antivirus for some is a necessary evil, although there are lighter A/V solutions out there. What you use is up to you, but as I tell people and they don't heed until they have perf issues, choosing the "lighter" option sometimes is better.
• The Program Compatibility Assistant service takes a long time to start (a LONG time), also delaying your visibility into the desktop - it's also causing the SysMain (SuperFetch) service to wait on it until it's done. Almost all of this delay is attributed to "unknown" file accesses via the System process, which is very likely antivirus. Change the start type of the Program Compatibility Assistant service to Automatic (delayed) start to try and resolve this if you're going to continue using Avast.
• Soluto is running on the system, and is doing an inordinate amount of writes to the disks (and registry queries as well - the largest consumer during this time, BY FAR) during the shell delay here - most programs designed to speed up (or even monitor) your boot process end up slowing it down. Get rid of it unless you absolutely need it (...I hate programs like this that "improve boot times" - they very rarely do anything but the opposite).
• MBAM and Avast do an inordinate amount of Reads during this time (by design, but....). I'd still recommend a lighter A/V, but that one I leave to you. However, remove MBAM if you want to improve performance and only install/use it for spot checks. Most of the things MBAM does your A/V also does (not all, but most).
• The SSDP Discovery service is the other "offender" service-wise with regards to startup time. Unless you're using the Media Center Extender service (to do DLNA-play of your WMP library over your network or the internet) or the UPnP Service (for discovering UPnP devices on your local network automatically), disable this service. I'd recommend disabling the other two I mention here as well if they're not in use, as they're not needed in that case and will only add boot delays in that case.
• On a minor note, your Realtek audio driver takes a bit longer to start than I'd like to see, so updating all of your drivers (not just this one) will help. The ATI driver takes a few seconds to initialize and start during boot as well, although finding a good and stable ATI driver can be a bit of a challenge, and isn't always the latest and greatest.

Those are my suggestions, along with a full defrag using the inbox defrag.exe (defrag C: /H /U /V) as it will help the SuperFetch service immensely understand where things are on the volume, and then a boot-time defrag after as well to improve boot-file locations once SuperFetch has an updated view of the volume (defrag C: /b).

 

[probuddha]

I'm downloading the file now.

Great! Please let me know what you find

Many thanks!

 

[DavidE]

Some issues I see right off the bat:

• MBAM Services (both) take cumulatively about 14 seconds to start, which (as autostart services) contribute to the delay of the start of the desktop (explorer) until they're done.
• Avast takes about 2 seconds to start, and seems somewhat heavy on the disk I/O compared to some others - antivirus for some is a necessary evil, although there are lighter A/V solutions out there. What you use is up to you, but as I tell people and they don't heed until they have perf issues, choosing the "lighter" option sometimes is better.
• The Program Compatibility Assistant service takes a long time to start (a LONG time), also delaying your visibility into the desktop - it's also causing the SysMain (SuperFetch) service to wait on it until it's done. Almost all of this delay is attributed to "unknown" file accesses via the System process, which is very likely antivirus. Change the start type of the Program Compatibility Assistant service to Automatic (delayed) start to try and resolve this if you're going to continue using Avast.
• Soluto is running on the system, and is doing an inordinate amount of writes to the disks (and registry queries as well - the largest consumer during this time, BY FAR) during the shell delay here - most programs designed to speed up (or even monitor) your boot process end up slowing it down. Get rid of it unless you absolutely need it (...I hate programs like this that "improve boot times" - they very rarely do anything but the opposite).
• MBAM and Avast do an inordinate amount of Reads during this time (by design, but....). I'd still recommend a lighter A/V, but that one I leave to you. However, remove MBAM if you want to improve performance and only install/use it for spot checks. Most of the things MBAM does your A/V also does (not all, but most).
• The SSDP Discovery service is the other "offender" service-wise with regards to startup time. Unless you're using the Media Center Extender service (to do DLNA-play of your WMP library over your network or the internet) or the UPnP Service (for discovering UPnP devices on your local network automatically), disable this service. I'd recommend disabling the other two I mention here as well if they're not in use, as they're not needed in that case and will only add boot delays in that case.
• On a minor note, your Realtek audio driver takes a bit longer to start than I'd like to see, so updating all of your drivers (not just this one) will help. The ATI driver takes a few seconds to initialize and start during boot as well, although finding a good and stable ATI driver can be a bit of a challenge, and isn't always the latest and greatest.

Those are my suggestions, along with a full defrag using the inbox defrag.exe (defrag C: /H /U /V) as it will help the SuperFetch service immensely understand where things are on the volume, and then a boot-time defrag after as well to improve boot-file locations once SuperFetch has an updated view of the volume (defrag C: /b).

Right now there is a problem with MBAM PRO (real-time) on startup.
If you want to use MBAM real-time, try disabling Website Blocking on startup and see if that helps.

You can read more about this here
Hi CPU usage - Malwarebytes Forum - Page 4

 

[DavidE]

MBAM posted their issue is fixed with the latest definitions.

I wanted to inform you all that as of database version v2013.04.15.09 this issue should be resolved. Please let us know if it is not.

Source: Hi CPU usage - Malwarebytes Forum - Page 4 (post #77)

 

[Quadrider10]

have you installed any other anti-virus program other then avast....like AVG?

 

[probuddha]

Thank you so much for your detailed analysis and suggestions. Please find the actions taken against each

MBAM Services (both) take cumulatively about 14 seconds to start, which (as autostart services) contribute to the delay of the start of the desktop (explorer) until they're done.

Set MBAM service to Automatic Delayed Start. Do you think it would help or would it further aggravate the situation?

Avast takes about 2 seconds to start, and seems somewhat heavy on the disk I/O compared to some others - antivirus for some is a necessary evil, although there are lighter A/V solutions out there. What you use is up to you, but as I tell people and they don't heed until they have perf issues, choosing the "lighter" option sometimes is better.

Could you please suggest some lighter yet effective anti-virus solutions that I could use to replace Avast.

The Program Compatibility Assistant service takes a long time to start (a LONG time), also delaying your visibility into the desktop - it's also causing the SysMain (SuperFetch) service to wait on it until it's done. Almost all of this delay is attributed to "unknown" file accesses via the System process, which is very likely antivirus. Change the start type of the Program Compatibility Assistant service to Automatic (delayed) start to try and resolve this if you're going to continue using Avast.

Set the Program Compatibility Assistant service to Automatic - Delayed Start

Soluto is running on the system, and is doing an inordinate amount of writes to the disks (and registry queries as well - the largest consumer during this time, BY FAR) during the shell delay here - most programs designed to speed up (or even monitor) your boot process end up slowing it down. Get rid of it unless you absolutely need it (...I hate programs like this that "improve boot times" - they very rarely do anything but the opposite).

Removed Soluto entirely from the system

MBAM and Avast do an inordinate amount of Reads during this time (by design, but....). I'd still recommend a lighter A/V, but that one I leave to you. However, remove MBAM if you want to improve performance and only install/use it for spot checks. Most of the things MBAM does your A/V also does (not all, but most).

As mentioned, have already delayed the start of MBAM services

The SSDP Discovery service is the other "offender" service-wise with regards to startup time. Unless you're using the Media Center Extender service (to do DLNA-play of your WMP library over your network or the internet) or the UPnP Service (for discovering UPnP devices on your local network automatically), disable this service. I'd recommend disabling the other two I mention here as well if they're not in use, as they're not needed in that case and will only add boot delays in that case.

Disabled SSDP Discovery, Media Center Extender and the UPnP services.

On a minor note, your Realtek audio driver takes a bit longer to start than I'd like to see, so updating all of your drivers (not just this one) will help. The ATI driver takes a few seconds to initialize and start during boot as well, although finding a good and stable ATI driver can be a bit of a challenge, and isn't always the latest and greatest.

I tried upgrading the drivers, but it says that the current drivers are already the updated ones.

Those are my suggestions, along with a full defrag using the inbox defrag.exe (defrag C: /H /U /V) as it will help the SuperFetch service immensely understand where things are on the volume, and then a boot-time defrag after as well to improve boot-file locations once SuperFetch has an updated view of the volume (defrag C: /b).

Running the full defrag now and later will do the boot defrag as suggested and report back on the results.

Many thanks once again for your help with this

 

[probuddha]

MBAM posted their issue is fixed with the latest definitions.

I wanted to inform you all that as of database version v2013.04.15.09 this issue should be resolved. Please let us know if it is not.

Source: Hi CPU usage - Malwarebytes Forum - Page 4 (post #77)

Updated the database version to v2013.04.15.09 just now.

Many thanks for your help

 

[probuddha]

have you installed any other anti-virus program other then avast....like AVG?

Nope - just running Avast Home and MBAM Pro

Thanks

 

[probuddha]

Hi Cluberti

So I followed all your suggestions (except for replacing Avast) and it seems there has been a little improvement, in the sense that the duration of the black screen that appeared after the "Starting Windows" screen has lowered. However there is still about 10 secs of black screen that appears between the "Welcome" screen and the desktop.

 

[cluberti]

Please now install update 2775511 (and reboot), and if the problem persists, please take another boot trace. That delay you see is always services slowing down the "auto start" group (all services set to automatic need to start before the user gets a desktop). If that update doesn't resolve it, gather another boot trace and I can see what's causing it to delay further.

 

[probuddha]

Hi Carl

I installed the hotfix rollup 2775511 and the subsequent hotfix 2581608 as mentioned in the article (I didn't install the 2752259 though)

Unfortunately, there hasn't been any noticeable improvement in the boot time post the welcome screen. The black screen still stays there for more than 30 secs (I wrongly stated it being for 10 secs in my previous post)

Now here's a weird part- when I ran another boot trace, the log generated stood at a staggering 7.7 GB, I thought something must have gone wrong, so I re-ran it and it came up as 7.25 GB. After compressing the file size stands at around 770 MB

Is this normal?


Many thanks!

 

[cluberti]

Yes, that's normal - really chatty, but normal. The hotfix 2581608 is actually included in 2775511 (but the reg value is not, however you're not on a domain so you don't need it), but it's not any problem it was installed either - all is well on that front.

That fix package (2775511) contains a fix for a network delay at that juncture, so the fact it's installed and doesn't fix it means it's possibly not network-related. If you've got another trace and it's been compressed, upload it and we'll have a look. 770MB is a lot, but it's not totally abnormal either.

 

[probuddha]

Thanks Carl - I am uploading it to my dropbox account now. Will drop the link when it's done

 

[AddRAM]

If you`re still unhappy after all your efforts, reinstall windows, Don`t add any programs an see what the boot time is. You could make a disk image of windows now, so you have a way back if the reinstall doesn`t improve anything.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/663-backup-complete-computer-create-image-backup.html

 

[juliaDexter]

Sorry to interrupt in the discussion. But here are some important lines, might be helpful for you.

Slow startup is usually caused by an incompatible device/driver.
The first thing I would recommend is disconnecting everything that's not essential, and see does that
solve the issue. If it does, then add devices back over time to see if/when the problem returns.
if its drivers, then make sure you update them all, that and go into windows update and install anything
available there, and if it is USB devices, what u can do, is while ur in windows, unplug all usb devices and
then re-plug them, it should get the newer drivers off windows update for it

 

[probuddha]

Hi Carl

Here's the link to the Boot trace file. After compression, it stands at 427 MB. Uncompressed at 7.25 GB


Please have a look and advise

Thanks