Startup help please - things do not seem to startup properly...

Mudchild · 06 Nov 2015

Excuse the vague title.

Computer is Intel quadcore q9450 (about 7 years old) with 8Gb RAM

For ages now, startup is unsatisfactory in the following ways:

- generally very slow, takes 10 minutes before I can actually start opening things and getting on with stuff
- Crashplan cannot connect to backup engine. Have spoken to CP, they say reinstall, I do and it works for one restart, generally. On subsequent restarts it tends to not work.
- Comodo doesn't start properly, and needs to be started manually.
- Avast is now not starting properly (recent development)

Some other background stuff, which is supposed to be there, does start OK, albeit all quite slowly.

Once the computer is up and running it's not too bad.

I generally keep the machine de-crapified using CCleaner - startup stuff is things like dropbox, keyboard/mouse software, one or two other things.

Would much appreciate advice on where to start troubleshooting this if possible.

Many thanks,

Mud.

Ztruker · 06 Nov 2015

First fill out your System Specs.
2nd please Run the PCPitstop Full Tests, here: PCPitstop Full Tests

You must use Internet Explorer as it needs to install an ActiveX program.

Note: Vista/Windows 7 users with UAC must first Right-click IE - Select "Run as Administrator"

If you haven't already registered, Click - Sign up now! (left hand column in User Login)

Register and create a password
Accept the ActiveX component to allow your machine to run the Full Tests
Registering and accepting the ActiveX are both SAFE and FREE.

The Full Tests take less than 5 minutes for most machines.

Once you have your Results, please post the URL (the http:// stuff) back here into this thread for review.

Note: Vista/Windows 7 users, please close your instance of IE "Running as Administrator" after you are finished reviewing your Results.

Caution: During the testing of Video Adapter, a variety of patterns, shapes, colors and text are “flashed” onto the users monitor screen. In the many thousands of daily uses of the PCPitstop Full Tests over several years, two individuals who suffer epilepsy experienced discomfort and temporary dizziness when viewing the flashing patterns.

If you know that you are susceptible to photo driven seizure, please look away from your screen during the Video Adapter testing sequence.

Note: The PCPitstop Full Tests Results is a free service, but is supported by various paid product advertisements for utilities that "could" remedy the OP's problem.

Since this site is a "free-help" forum, we do not recommend or endorse purchase of automated utilities, and will assist you in manually correcting any problems and settings necessary to optimize your machine's performance. Ask your questions here. We'll help you walk through any necessary steps.

Layback Bear · 06 Nov 2015

Make sure you only have one anti virus program installed.

Take a look at the Forums Tutorial by Brink here. Lots of good information. You probably won't need to do all the things. Take your time and read through it.

Optimize Windows 7

Mudchild · 10 Nov 2015

Thanks folks. I've filled in my System Spec and done the PC Pitstop test, results here

Also thanks for the link to Optimization tips - however it's not so much Optimization I'm seeking, as specific solutions to my issues.

Another issue, I guess unrelated, is with regard to Sleep - I have been through all the setting for this but at some point it stopped working properly. Sending the computer to Sleep does not turn the power off, have to do this manually.

Any clues on any of this would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Mud

Ztruker · 10 Nov 2015

PCPitStop indicates your free drive space is low. That can have a negative impact on performance and should be fixed. 10% free is the recommended minimum free space.

You have a ton of musical software installed. Any of it starting at boot?

How does it run if you boot to Safe Mode with Networking. If better then it is most likely something starting at boot that is causing the slow boot time. If not software then a driver. Try using Clean Boot to identify the cause then uninstall the cause and see if there is a newer version available if you need it.

Perform a clean startup to determine whether background programs are interfering with your game or program

The hardware isn't too bad, Intel 2.6Ghz Quad Core and 8GB of ram.