Please help!! Slow Windows XP Boot.

Firstly, hello and apologies in advance for this long post. I thought it a good idea to try all these things myself and then describe the results here to try and save everyone some precious time.

Thank you so much for your time reading this and your help, it is much appreciated.

Problem: Windows XP takes about 8 minutes to load (3 minutes to get to the black screen with the windows logo and another 3-4 minutes until the blue welcome screen loads). The computer is also slow once loaded.

Assessment so far:
Having spent 9 hours straight (I’m not joking either) scanning the computer with 6 antispyware, 2 anti-rootkit programs and a thorough virus scan without finding anything I am reasonably sure (I understand one can’t be 100%) it is not spyware, adware, malware or virus related. Also to my untrained eye the hijack this scan log (sorry I forgot to save it and will post it here when I return to my friend’s house to try and fix the computer again) and the list of processes running on startup didn’t look unusual or excessive.

Having performed clean-up and maintenance tasks (please see below) without any change, my guess is that it is one of these three problems:
- Windows XP itself is corrupt
- The hard-drive itself is defective
- Another problem exists which you experts (compared to this newbie) can see

PLEASE HELP ME, ALL SUGGESTIONS, COMMENTS, IDEAS (NEGATIVE OR POSITIVE) ARE WELCOME AND DESPERATELY NEEDED!!!!!!!!!

Computer Specifications:
- Fujitsu Laptop (also has Siemens written on it)
- Intel Celeron 1.86ghz
- 448MB Ram (I realise this is not much, but 8 minutes to boot XP is excessive)
- 80GB Harddrive (80% Free Space)
- 56k Modem (with 512k DSL Internet Connection)
- Windows XP SP2 – Fully updated from windows update site
- Windows Firewall & Automatic Updates turned on
- Avast Pro 4.7.1098 – latest virus def file
- Zone Alarm Pro 7.0.462.000 (latest version & anti-spyware def file)
- Microsoft Office XP
- No other major programs installed

Clean-up/Maintenance tasks to solve problem tried so far:
- Ensured Windows was up-to-date with security patches
- Checked startup programs/processes and removed adobe autostarter.
- To my untrained eye no unusual items in the list of startup processes nor the hijack this scan log (I shall post it here when I return to fix the laptop)
- Cleared C:\WINDWS\Temp, Firefox and Internet Cache, Passwords and Browsing History
- Set windows wallpaper to a blank screen and removed unnecessary desktop icons
- Uninstalled all non-essential programs on the laptop
- Ran Ccleaner and cleared all items under ‘Windows & Applications’
- Defragmented Harddrive – No problems found
- Ran Windows Diskcleanup – Only 2MB space cleared
- Tested the harddrive for errors with (windows error checking tool under harddrive properties, tools tab then error checking) – No errors found
- Went to my computer, properties, advanced tab, settings and deselecting everything except:
* Animate Windows when minimizing and maximizing
* Smooth edges of screen fonts
* Smooth-scroll list boxes
* Use drop shadows for icon labels on the desktop

Ran the following programs in safe mode (except where stated otherwise):
- Online scan with ewido and bit-defender – nothing found
- Boot-time scan with Avast Pro – nothing found (other than 3 corrupt archive non-system files)
- ZA Anti-spyware (latest def file) – nothing found
- AVG Anti-spyware (latest def file) – nothing found
- Spybot S&D (latest def file) – nothing found
- Adaware 2007 Plus (latest def file) – nothing found
- Superantispyware (latest def file) – nothing found
- A squared (latest def file) – nothing found
- F-secure Blacklight (latest version) – nothing found (note: does not run in safe mode)
- AVG Anti-rootkit (latest version) – nothing found (note: does not run in safe mode)

 

Hi LauraR,

Thanks for your prompt response.

My friend has the Windows Firewall turned off and runs ZA as the sole firewall.

Any tips, suggestions or other comments are more than welcome.

Thanks in advance!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

My XP also takes about eight minutes to boot up. Booting up in safe mode is slow as well (but doesn't take eight minutes). I've tried everything to speed up the boot up process, but boot up seems to take longer over time. I think us XPers are out of luck.

 

XP users are hardly out of luck, but you'll need to start your own thread if you are after support rather than just the chance to share your misery

 

Dear All,

I would like to thank each and every one of you for the time and support, it has been absolutely fantastic!

The problem has been solved and related to a problem/corruption within Windows system files.

After many hours, and following all the helpful advice here, system restore appears to have fixed the problem.

I realise the advice provided on here is given by wonderful people who do so without financial reward, and I cannot express my sincere appreciation enough in words.

So please know that you REALLY helped a person in need and that the kindness you have shown will be returned to you somehow by somebody in life and provide you with help and reward when you need it!

Many thanks again, I am extremely grateful and wish you all the best for the future.

ZA_avastfan.

 

Hi, ZA_avastfan

You could try some speed tweaks, as there may be more than 1 type of problem slowing your computer. It may well be spyware autoloading when your windows starts as well plenty of junk files on your computer.

You could also try CrapCleaner.

The site below has some useful speed tweaks all displayed on one page for quick access.
It is the most useful page for tweaks I have come across.

http://www.pccallouts.co.uk/freexpspeedtweaks.html

It covers 18 Windows XP Speed Tweaks.

They include:

1. Remove/Replace Windows Background image
2. Edit Boot.ini to disable GUI boot
3. Disk Cleanup
4. Disk Defragmenter
5. Visual Performance
6. Windows Explorer Performance
7. Applications Autorunning on Startup
8. Cleaning the Windows Registry
9. Remove viruses, trojans and spyware
10. Apply Windows updates
11. Disable performance counters
12. Optimize your internet connection
13. Remove windows fonts
14. Disabling indexing service
15. Turning off system restore
16. Speed up boot sequence
17. Disable unnecessary services
18. Setting manual IP addresses