Acer Revo 3700 Fresh Win 7 64bit takes 15mins+ to boot

[Seanantasy]

Hi Guys,

I have an Acer Revo 3700 I'm trying to setup as a Media Station.

Spec:
Acer revo 3700
Dual Core 1.8ghz
4GB DDR3
64bit capable

I am trying to install a SSD Drive for reliability/speed, I have tried both a Kingston SSDnow vseries 30GB and Kingston SSDnow300 120GB


Windows 7 ultimate 64bit installs fine without problems.
Bios is set to AHCI
Bios is set to SSD as primary boot device
Both SSDs freshly formatted NTFS (tried format during install and fresh format attached to laptop as external drive)

Nothing else installed yet, nothing else attached except a mouse.

The 30GB SSD was installed and ran fully with all updated drivers and VLC media Player and everything worked fine, though Graphics a bit glitchy at times, only main problem booting takes 15+ minutes. Just hangs on the "starting windows" screen for 15minutes or more and eventually goes through and everything works fine. This of course is absurd for SSD startup times.
So I reinstalled, but same thing.

I reinstalled again but on a 120GB SSD.
Still the same, just hangs on the Starting Windows screen (AHCI enabled) for 15minutes or more.

Now I'm at a loss

 

[gregrocker]

Was this 30gb SSD actually a chip used for caching on a larger HD? If so see Install Windows on MSATA (SSD) Drive - Windows 7 Help Forums

Work through the steps to Troubleshoot Windows 7 Installation Failures - Windows 7 Help Forums

Is there a newer BIOS update?

Is this a UEFI BIOS? If so did you boot the installation media as UEFI device to install? Is there a EFI System Partition on the disk now, as seen in Disk Mgmt?

Run a few Startup Repairs to see if it finds anything.

Establish a Clean Boot and change your AV to recommended, from Troubleshooting Steps for Windows 7

Compare the install you did to the perfect one compiled in Clean Reinstall Windows 7 particularly as pertains to drivers.

 

[Seanantasy]

I've done a "windows startup repair" but no problems found, as soon as it restarted it of course took 15 minutes again.

I've now installed win7 64bit on a freshly formatted normal 500GB Seagate Hard Drive, the original that came with the Acer Revo. AGAIN it is hanging for 15 - 20 minutes on the "Starting Windows" screen. Once in... everything seems fine.


In Device manager there is only 1 partition the Primary C:
On the SSD there were 2 partitions 1 partition Primary C: and the other "unallocated space" 100mb.

All BIOS settings are set to Factory Default, except in Advanced settings I changed IDE to AHCI.

BIOS Firmware should be the latest version I believe.

 

[whs]

The AHCI has to on when you install the OS. And check whether it is also on in the OS.

In HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services go to msahci > Start and check whether it is 0 (zero). If it is 3, set it to 0.

If you don't want to venture into the registry, set the BIOS to IDE.

 

[Seanantasy]

The very first win7 instal I did to my SSD with Bios set to IDE. So I thought ahh that explains slow startup. I Changed it and BIOS has been set to AHCI ever since.

I believe I'm on the 8th fresh instal now, nothing touched/changed/no drivers and stil taking 15 minutes every time on "starting windows" screen. So odd

I used the same win7 disc to instal windows on also the same brand/type of SSD on my Dell laptop over a year ago, and my laptop starts up in 9-11 seconds and everything runs smooth.

@gregrocker: I followed the troubleshoot and clean install windows guides. I did another new fresh/clean install using the Command Prompt as described in the guide. But still getting my 15 minute start-up time.


I'll check the registry key whs.


I have noticed the following:
During installation (loading windows - installing windows) there is a restart, and it loads in seconds through the "starting windows" screen and pops to the Install Windows > completing installation bit... then does another restart, which again takes seconds,.... then it checks performance etc. and you get the setup windows screen where you create user account/wi-fi/win-updates settings etc...... then finalizing settings screen.... another restart >>>>>15 minutes later windows loads for first time (preparing desktop screen etc. ).... and 15 minutes to start/restart windows at any point after that.

So I guess this must be something that happens during the finalisation of settings. I only type in a computer user name, no password, windows updates set to "ask me later" and tried "recommended"... wifi "skip" and tried with wi-fi setup fully....

 

[whs]

One possibility is that some update is stuck and that it tries to finalize the installation.

 

[gregrocker]

I asked you specific questions which still need answering to proceed. A 30gb SSD is normally an onboard MSATA caching chip which must be dealt with properly or it could very well cause such a problem.

You also ignored the question about UEFI BIOS. Which is it and how is it being installed? What are the related BIOS' settings.

Where did you get the installation media and how is it created?

 

[Seanantasy]

Sorry guys,

@whs: I don't think it is an update because originally I had the computer running for several months with the incredibly long start-up and just lived with it. So it would have finished the update in the many start-ups in those months.
I also did a fresh install at one point and disabled/skipped the wi-fi setup part of the installation process, so the installation wouldn't have been able to get updates during the installation to get stuck on.

@greg: Right the 30GB SSD is just a normal Kingston 2.5" SSD drive, I formatted the drive using a USB adapter on my laptop and then installed it in the Acer Revo (and have tried installing using the SevenForums clean installation guide). So I'm not sure what you mean about onboard MSATA. This just a standard 2.5" SSD Drive. Besides I also tried to install on a 120GB SSD and a standard 2.5" 500GB Hard Drive (that came with the Acer) but all 3 different Hard Drives all have the 15 minute boot time.

UEFI BIOS or EFI BIOS I'm afraid I haven't a clue, I had a look through the BIOS settings but couldn't find much about UEFI or EFI or any of the others. I will have another look for you. But for most of my installation attempts I had the BIOS settings set to Standard and only adjusted the IDE to AHCI setting.

My installation media is a standard Win7 ultimate 64bit DVD, I used the Microsoft ISO USB tool to place the WIN7 installation onto a 4GB USB drive, and that is what I've been installing from. I've also tried using the original win7 DVD in an external USB DVD/BLURAY drive to install win7.
Both installation ways have had no issues, as in the installation runs smooth without any requests for drivers/errors/flashes/BODs etc.
I also used the same windows 7 64bit DVD to install windows onto a Kingston 60GB SSD drive in my laptop a year ago. My laptop also has a Dual Core processor, 4GB ram, similar spec and similar SSD drive to the Acer Revo. However my laptop starts up in 9 to 11 seconds.
Hence my confusement with the Acer Revo, because I know the SSD drives work, I know the Win7 installation disc works, I know the USB and External USB DVD drive all work as I have tested them all through my laptop and other PC.

I will check the BIOS again and tell you if it is UEFI/EFI type as soon as I finish work tonight.

 

[gregrocker]

Post back a screenshot of Disk Management - Post a Screen Capture Image
so we can look for ourselves if you have a EFI System partition and at the configuration.

Is there some reason why you cannot work through the list I gave you in an orderly manner and report back response to each question and test?