Slow Startup

[jgeeman]

Hi, apologies if this has been asked before or is in wrong forum.
My computer has become very slow on start-up. On start-up it seem to be OK until the Windows Logo (starting windows) appears, from this point it takes about 7 minutes to move to the "enter user password" screen. I enter the password and hit enter but no characters appear in the password box? After about anther 3 minutes the desktop appears and all is OK.
If I turn computer off and then back on straight away it will only take about 2 min 30s from start to desktop. If I leave it off for 30 mins or more it goes back to taking about 10 mins to get to the desktop.
I read there can be start-up problems caused by large numbers of restore points and installed the "hotfix" but to no avail. Help please!

 

[Brink]

Hello jgeeman, and welcome to Seven Forums.

You might see if using the tutorial below may be able to help ID what may be causing the issue.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorial...ation-conflicts-performing-clean-startup.html

Hope this helps for now,
Shawn

 

[jgeeman]

Thanks Shawn I'll give it a try and get back to you. Cheers

 

[jgeeman]

Hi Shawn, no joy with that. No difference at all in fact, took the best part of 15 mins.

 

[Brink]

Just to be safe, I would recommend to do a full scan of your system with the free Windows Defender Offline at boot and/or with Malwarebytes Anti-Malware to make sure your system is clean.

 

[jgeeman]

Hi Brink, tried both your recommendations plus SuperAntiSpyware scan for good measure but still the same. Can't understand why if I turn the computer off and then turn it back on straight away it only take about 2 min 30 secs to get to the desktop and ready to go but if I leave it for 30 mins or so it takes about 14 mins?

 

[Brink]

Not sure either, but since you were dealing with viruses, you might consider doing a clean install.

 

[jgeeman]

Really trying to avoid that if at all possible but I expect that will be the eventual outcome. I'll try and put up with it for a while longer to see if anyone can hit on a solution.

 

[gregrocker]

Work through these Troubleshooting Steps for Windows 7 which cover all the basics.

Be sure you have all of your Important and Optional Windows Updates installed after enabling Automatically deliver drivers via Windows Update (Step 3) .

Are there any drivers in error at Startup?

If all else fails you can try Gathering a Startup, Shutdown, Sleep, Hibernate, or Reboot Trace - Windows 7 Forums or take the time to get a perfect Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7 which after setup can be saved as a Backup Image so you never have to reinstall again if these problems arise.

 

[jgeeman]

Hi Gregrocker, I'll give these suggestions a try but it could take a while as I have to turn computer off for approx 30 mins before restart to see if it's been successful as if I shutdown and turn straight back on everything is ok. Watch this space!

 

[jgeeman]

Hi a little more info, I don't know if it helps but when I looked at the event viewer I found the errors sshown in the screenshot below repeat every 5 secs from the moment I press the start button until the password screen appears. Does this shed any light on the problem I'm having?

 

[liverpal]

I read a good article in diagnosing boot time in win 7! Take a read here: Use Windows 7 Event Viewer to track down issues that cause slower boot times | TechRepublic

 

[jgeeman]

Cheers Liverpal I'll have a read!

 

[gregrocker]

You would have already checked the Performance log if you'd followed the Troubleshooting Steps for Windows 7.

The article explains it more in depth.

 

[jgeeman]

Hi Gregrock I did check the performance log when working through the Troubleshooting steps for windows 7 and as I'm not that knowledgeable I thought this article might help me understand it. However I was unable to find any information to help me understand the results so thought I would ask for some further advice.

 

[gregrocker]

Check for a newer BIOS update and chipset to install on the PC or mobo's Support Downloads webpage.

If you decide to get a Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7 check for the BIOS update first, follow the steps to prepare and reinstall while deleting all partitions to create new, then install all updates including drivers before importing any drivers or installing programs, report back performance.