Computer start-up slowed to a crawl

Hi all --

I have floated this problem by the Maleware and Hardware forums and they recommended that I post here.

The extremely short version of my problem and background:
Last month, my (reasonably fast) Lenovo T61 start-up slowed to a crawl. Nothing was added that I know of (e.g., new drivers, new applications), there doesn't appear to be any Malware, and the harddrive seems physically fine.

A very detailed description of my problem (including various logs such as combofix and mgtools) can be found at
http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?p=1145713&posted=1#post1145713

There was also more limited discussion at
http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?p=1145716&posted=1#post1145716

Much thanks for your help and time

- J

 

I didn't see where anyone pointed you towards this read me:
Basic computer maintenance everyone should do

If the problem, isn't hardware or malware related, then it probably is software related.
Cutting down your startups, eliminating un-needed processes, removing junk files, and a regular defragging (not too often and not too far in between. Monthly or bi-monthly, if really needed) seems to help most PC's pep back up. All that is detailed in the guide.

 

Thanks -- I'd actually found that guide in my own digging around, however. Any thoughts for next steps?

 

Ah -- definitely not such a strong statement. My computer is certainly running more quickly overall (in particular, it was badly fragmented). However, it is still not performing the way I believe it should be in the sense that it is much much slower than it was the day before I started having these problems; it simply should not take 10 minutes to start up.

 

Over in the hardware forum, I detailed how long each phase of start-up lasted. It seemed worthwhile to me to repeat that information here:

0:00 - power on
0:10 - windows splash screen starts
3:40 - windows splash screen ends; screen goes black
3:45 - log-into win XP appears on screen
7:45 - full desktop shows (e.g., all icons are there)
11:45 - computer fully operational (e.g., I've successfully started Firefox or Outlook)

Note that in answer to an earlier question, it was taking 15-16 minutes prior to running the various maintenance that was suggested, so this is an improvement in that sense, but it's very slow given that a few weeks ago it took maybe 5 minutes.

Again, thank you for your help.

 

It still sounds like too many startups. What all are you running at Startup and how many processes are running when fully up?

 

Surprisingly, not that much. Startup is:
TpShocks
ccApp
VPTray
TPOSDVC
Acrotray
YahooMessenger
portbl32 (this is from my firm's doc management system, interwoven)
VPN Client

I've copied the boot, win, and system ini into the attached text file for further information (in that order) again, not much there, at least to my eyes -- maybe I'm missing something obvious, though.)

I don't know the process number at start-up right now (b/c I don't have the time to restart my system), but there are 45 processes running at the moment and the only programs open are Firefox and Outlook.

The services list:
Application Layer Gateway
Apple Mobile Device
Application Management
Windows Audio
Automatic LiveUpdate
Background Intelligent Transfer Service
Bluetooth Support Service
Symatec Event Manager
SMS Agent Host
Symantex Settings Manager
Cryptographic Services
Cisco Systems VPN
SCOM Server Process Launcer
Symantex AntiVirust Definition Watcher
DHCP Clinet
DNS Clinet
Error Reporting Service
Event Log
COM+ Event System
Intel PROSet/Wireless Event Log
FLEXnet Licensing Service
Help and Support
HID Input Service
ThinkPad PM Service
Infrared Monitor
Server
Weorkstation
TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper
MAchine Debug Manager
Net Logon
Network Connections
NLA
Plug and Play
IPSEC Services
Protected Storage
Remote Access Connection Manager
Intel PROSet/Wireless Registry Service
Remote Registry
RPC
Intel PROSet/Wireless Service
Security Accounts Manager
SavRoam
Task Scheduler
Secondary Longon
System Event Notification
WindowsFirewall/ICS
Shell Hardware Detection
Symantec SPBBCSvc
Print Spooler
System Restore Service
SSDP Discovery Service
Symantec AntiVirus
Telephony
Terminal Services
Themes
ThinkPad HDD APS Logging Service
Distributed Link TRacking Client
Windows Time
WebClient
Windows Management Instrumentation
Automatic Updates

Again, thank you for your time and help.

 

Wow, that's a good laptop! Just to compare, my cheap Dell with 128MB RAM boots up in <3 minutes. Obviously something broke, have you checked device manager for driver issues and/or events, may give you an idea of where to look next. Other than that, disable your 3rd party start ups to see if any are the culprit. Also, try booting into safe mode first to see the difference, if any.

 

This you could take out of your Startup:
YahooMessenger
This you could put on delayed startup:
TpShocks
Acrotray - I read that this is hard to remove from startup

And I see you are running Norton AV. I f you have a choice you could uninstall it (takes a little work) and install an AV, such as Avast, which would also help with your boot-up time

I counted 61 one in your list. 45 isn't bad for XP, but 61 is alot.

 

Safe mode is different, but still fairly slow.

I've attached my event logs in both text and .evt form; maybe this can help.

The system log shows DNSapi errors on startup as well as a paging error from the disk cache. This strikes me (a guy who knows just enough to get into a lot of trouble) as the likely culprit. However, I'm not sure how to fix.

The application log is pretty straightforward; I had a problem with Outlook this morning at one point but that's not a reoccurring event. I do notice the following error whenever I shut down the computer, though:

Windows saved user DC\LichtmanJason registry while an application or service was still using the registry during log off. The memory used by the user's registry has not been freed. The registry will be unloaded when it is no longer in use.

 

Ah, I mean 45 processes in task manager. Not 45 services...

But... My slow computer is a new problem. My start-up was plenty fast three weeks ago and Norton, Acrobat, Yahoo, and Shocks were all running at that point... While it's never a bad idea to speed things up as a general concept, I guess I'd be really surprised that making those four changes would cut 7 minutes off my start-up.

 

Unfortunate, to be sure. (actually, I haven't rebooted since removing -- I was simply observing that I'd be surprised if those changes cut 7 minutes off of my start-up)

 

One thing I just noticed in my event log; whenever I log-on:

The Security System detected an attempted downgrade attack for server DNS/chia.arin.net. The failure code from authentication protocol Kerberos was "There are currently no logon servers available to service the logon request.
(0xc000005e)".

The Security System could not establish a secured connection with the server DNS/chia.arin.net. No authentication protocol was available.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

Any idea what this could be?

- J

 

(incidentally, I notice that this error started appearing on April 9, roughly the time my computer started taking forever to start-up)

 

Yes, I was able to fix this (though the problem was a little different than the one described there). Sadly, didn't solve my overarching problem. But at least there's no more error message, which leads to a visceral feeling of happiness with which I can enjoy my slow start-up

 

Can someone merge the two threads?
http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=157964