Wierd browsing boot up problem after new build

[TORB]

Hi Good Peoples,

I have just reinstalled all my software onto a new SSD. All is well except for one problem.

I have set Outlook and Firefox to load at boot up time. Once the computer has booted, (less than 50 seconds) Outlook immediately opens as per normal. However, it takes almost 3 minutes for Firefox to load. If I try and load IE manually, it takes the same time and opens when Firefox opens. So this problem effects both browsers. However, Outlook email downloads normally.

I have watched the task manager processes, and the processor is about 99% idle during the wait time. Firefox shows as being at 5064K for the three minutes wait, and then changes to about 83800K once the program launches.

Here are the steps I have been through to try and work out what is the cause of the problem.

1. Disabled all extensions and add-ons in Firefox and rebooted. Did not fix (Dnf.)
2. Tried above but took Firefox out of Startup Menu and then manually tried to open it once system had rebooted. (Dnf)
3. Used MS Config to turn off all non Microsoft Services and all Start Up items. (Dnf)
4. Re-enabled back to normal configuration, and restarted in Safe Mode with Networking, and Firefox loaded as soon as the shortcut was pressed.
5. Started in normal mode and problem is back again.

Once either browser has loaded once, if it is closed, it reopens in the normal time.

As its happening with both browsers, it seems like it a windows issue and not a specific browser issue.

Any suggestions please?

 

[A Guy]

I'd be looking at your Security program(s) or firewall. See if they remained active even after disabling the services and start up items (not unusual they will not allow themselves to be terminated in this manner). Since the clean start had no effect, but safe mode works fine, it would be my 1st guess. A Guy

 

[TORB]

Easy enough to get the Firewall disabled so that it did not show up in the Task manager but to completely stop the (four letter words) Avira Anti Virus I had to do a complete uninstall of the program.

Then I tried it with all the Firefox extensions and add-ons disabled, but it did not fix the problem!

 

[A Guy]

As you say, with 2 different browsers, it's not a browser issue. Even a delayed start service wouldn't take 3 minutes. Do you have any external USB devices connected during boot? It's possible Soluto will give you a clue as to what is loading just before the browsers start working again.

Soluto - CNET Download.com

There are lots of good programs to show what autostarts with windows, but most don't have a timestamp. It's an odd one. A Guy

 

[TORB]

Thanks for the suggestion. Downloaded and installed Soluto and after removing the **** ad wear that came with it, finally worked out how to use it.

The boot took 38 seconds, the longest item being the System that took 9 seconds, followed by Avira which took 8 seconds.

No crash reports with more than 1 instance.

So, it look like info is not going to be much help.

 

[A Guy]

Sorry about the adware, I linked to CNET as the orignial site wants you to sign up to download. Apparently what Soluto considers the end of boot is long before whatever occurs to allow FF to connect. You might try pinging a website as soon as able after booting, see if the connection is there, or open Windows Update which uses IE to connect. See if the ping or WU works before the 3 minutes. If both work, it's the opening of the browsers that are the issue. Do you have anything in common? Add-ons, or ExploitShield, or WOT, etc? A Guy

 

[TORB]

I think we are getting somewhere, but the trouble is I am not sure "where" we are getting. :shock:

Interesting....... As soon as it booted, I used ping and it responded positively, so we do have a connection.

Next, I used the Task Mangler to kill Firefox which showed it at about 5000k. Then I hit the Firefox shortcut and bingo. It opened immediately and the Task Mangler showed it at approx 84000k. That sounds like something is stopping Firefox from loading completely, so now I guess we have to work out that that something is.

Edit
I have not loaded anything into IE as I virtually never use it.

I downloaded Chrome and installed it too. When I rebooted, I could open it immediately unlike IE and Firefox.

Then I deleted the Firefox shortcut from the Startup items and rebooted.

Well %^$#&* me. I then hit the same shortcut and Firefox opened straight away. :huh:

 

[TORB]

Any other suggestions please?

 

[A Guy]

So the only issue is FF in startup at boot? Not opening the browser manually from any shortcut? How are you setting FF to autostart? Have you tried the same method again after deleting it? Never know it just may work. A Guy

 

[TORB]

100% correct. If I click on the shortcut after boot up, it loads normally (provided its not attempting to start automatically.)

I have tried the auto boot a number of way. Firstly, but using msconfig. Then I tried putting the shortcut into the Startup Folder. Finally I tried adding the shortcut by adding it to Code Stuff Starter.

When it boots up, FF is obviously stuck in some weird holding pattern as it shows about 6,000k in the task manger, but when it finally finishes loading, its >150,000K.

 

[UsernameIssues]

No guarantees that you will find anything - but I would download, unzip and copy the EXE for Process Monitor directly into either startup folder. Just use the default filters. Reboot and let it gather data until Firefox starts. You can mouse over the icons on the toolbar menu to see what each does. Maybe you will see what is causing the delay.

 

[TORB]

Thanks for the help guys.

Unfortunately none of the suggestions fixed the problem however, more than by good luck than good management, I managed to resolve the problem.

I deleted my Firefox Profile and built a new one from scratch. The interesting thing is that all the add ons etc are the same as the original, but something in it must have been corrupted.

 

[A Guy]

Ahhh, good find. That was an odd one. Glad you got it sorted

A Guy

 

[UsernameIssues]

Glad that you got it working...
...sad that we don't know why it barfed.

But such is life

 

[TORB]

Unfortunately its not solved!

It was a coincidence that the new FF profile made it look like that was the issue, but the same old problem is back. However, I now a further lead that may help resolve the issue.

Just to recap, if I have Firefox starting automatically, it loads partially and then goes into space for about three minutes and then opens. I have also noticed that my Clipboard Recorder does not open. And another symptom has come to light. If, whilst I am waiting for FF to open, I click on, or open a command prompt, my keyboard does not type and the command prompt freezes.

However, if I use the task manger to kill the partially opening FF first, I don't have the keyboard issue. Also, once its been killed, and I click on the FF shortcut, it opens properly.

Next major consideration.... If FF is not started by auto method, everything works normally and I can start FF as soon as the system has loaded.

Now, here is the new bit of info that may help narrow the cause down.

In all of these trial and error attempts, when the computer booted, it did not require a user authentication or password. However, I have discovered something new by accident. After going into NETPLWIZ and setting a log on password requirement, it boots up and once the password is entered, it loads properly and opens FF the way it is meant to work. Now I am totally and completely .

No requirement for a password and its back to its old, naughty self.

(The reason I thought it was solved was that the new FF profile was done at the same time as the temporary setting of a start up password.)

 

[UsernameIssues]

Are you using a shortcut in the start up folder to automatically launch Firefox with each boot.

Did Process Monitor show what Firefox was doing during the delay?

 

[TORB]

Yes, I am using a short cut. Its a copy of the same shortcut that I use in the Taskbar.

I did install the Process Monitor, but there are hundreds of items in the list and I have no idea what I am should be looking for, and it adds stuff at a blindly fast rate.

 

[UsernameIssues]

Stop the data collection after the Firefox window appears.

Find any entry for Firefox.exe
Right click on that entry
Select Include > Process Name
Scroll to the bottom - then work your way up.
I'm hoping that some failed operation will be repeated thousands of times.

I wonder if a pinned shortcut is a bit different than the one on the Start Menu or ones created by Explorer's context menu option to send to desktop.

 

[TORB]

Thanks. I deleted the original shortcut, opened Code Stuff Starter and copied the original Firefox.exe into it's Startups page.

There are a number of items with multiple entries and I am not sure what they mean and then how to fix them, so I have attached the file and would appreciate it if you could please have a look at it for me.

 

[UsernameIssues]

Please read thru to the end of this post before taking any action.

Thanks for the logfile - it looks like Process Monitor started gathering data after Firefox started loading. It shows most of the normal things that should happen when starting Firefox, but not the items causing the delay. There are only a few seconds worth of info on Firefox, not the 3 minutes like you mention in the OP. It is possible that the delay is caused by an app other than Firefox, so you will want to save all events to a log file. Such a log file may be too big to upload to the forum, but we can deal with that later.

If you want, you can create a batch file* that...
...starts Process Monitor and then starts Firefox.
Put that batch file in your OS startup** folder:

See the notes below for info on Procmon64.exe***

start C:\Procmon64.exe
ping 1.1.1.1
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe"

(The info below is verbose. This is not meant to insult the reader. Others reading this might require this level of detail.)

*If need be, show most OS file extensions using this tutorial:
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/10570-file-extensions-hide-show.html
Create/open a new text file on your desktop.
Copy/paste the info from above into that text file.
Save/close that text file.
Right-click on that new text file.
and select Rename from the context menu.
Rename the file to test.bat
Click on an empty spot on your desktop to complete the renaming process.
Right-click on the file named test.bat
Select Copy from the context menu.

**Click on Start > All Programs
Scroll (if need be) to locate the folder named Startup
Right-click on that Startup folder.
Select Open from the context menu.
Once the Windows (file) Explorer window opens,
right-click in an empty spot in the right hand pane,
and select Paste from the context menu.
That should paste test.bat file into that folder.

***(I'll forego the verbose instructions for this part.)
Procmon64.exe is created by the 32bit version of Process Monitor when it detects a 64bit OS.
Manually start the Process Monitor app using Procmon.exe.
Look in C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Temp for Procmon64.exe.
Copy Procmon64.exe to into the root of the C drive for this test.
(Hopefully, readers know how to copy/paste a file by now.)



When you said:
"Yes, I am using a short cut. Its a copy of the same shortcut that I use in the Taskbar. "
I figured that you had copied the file for that pinned task and placed into one of the startup folders. If all you did was to copy the info from the Target field while viewing the properties of the pinned task (then pasted that into the Starter app) then it would not matter if you used a pinned task to get the info or a desktop shortcut or a Start Menu shortcut or....

I've not used Starter by CodeStuff so I'm not sure where it puts info that you entered on the Startups page. For the batch file test, you will want to remove or deselect the entry that you made for Firefox in the Starter app. I would also suggest that you simply copy the batch file to your OS startup folder.


If you want, you can skip all of the testing above and try these verbose steps first:
Remove or deselect the entry that you made for Firefox in the Starter app.
Click on Start > All Programs
Scroll (if need be) to locate the shortcut named Mozilla Firefox
Right-click on that Mozilla Firefox shortcut.
Select Copy from the context menu.
Scroll (if need be) to locate the folder named Startup
Right-click on that Startup folder.
Select Open from the context menu.
Once the Windows (file) Explorer window opens,
right-click in an empty spot in the right hand pane,
and select Paste from the context menu.
That should paste the shortcut named Mozilla Firefox into that folder.
Restart the computer and see if Firefox starts in a reasonable amount of time.