Computer takes 40 minutes to boot! Help!

I run a Dell Inspiron 8100 laptop with Win XP Pro SP2 (upgrade from Win XP Home) op system, 256 RAM, 1.0GHz CPU, a 30 GHz hard drive 70% used.

Have had multitude of problems of late: (1) TheSearchMall Hijacker invaded. Fixed now by running tons of cleaners, anti-spyware, and virus software. (2) Computer lost internal CD burner and DVD external burner. Now fixed but required going into registry was required. Followed instructions from Microsoft on 711 error messages and it worked. (THIS PROBLEM STARTED WHEN I LOADED NERO OEM BURNER SOFTWARE SUITE THAT CAME WITH THE CYBERLINK EXT. BURNER.) I uninstalled Roxio Easy CD Creator before installing Nero.

New problem: After fixing the above, boot-up was slow. Booted normally up to the Windows splash. Then screen went blank for about 12-15 seconds before the boot resumed. After boot up all programs worked OK except none of the NERO Suite programs would work and I have not been able to burn anything on DVD or CD. I installed a Dell BIOS upgrade. Uninstalled Nero and reinstalled, ran McAfee antivirus, ad-aware, Spybot, and all is now clean.

Now, boot up takes up to 40 minutes after the Windows Splash screen before boot-up continues. When trying to open and use Nero Express, it freezes. Using Task Manager to close it doesn't work and Task Manager also freezes. All programs eventually start to freeze. Have to shut down computer by holding the Inspiron on/off button for 6-8 seconds. I went to the Nero website and downloaded the most current upgrades to the suite but nothing changed. If I open Internet Explorer, any of the Microsoft Office programs, or other software, they all work fine.

When I try to system restore to an earlier date, I get the message- unable to restore to the selected date, and to choose another one. No matter which date, I cannot restore!

Please can anyone help? I am trying to backup my computer files in case I get a hard drive crash so I don't loose all my data, pictures, etc, but now neither my CD or DVD burner works because of the software problems.

 

uninstall Nero completely and try booting without it. There are some free programs you can use to burn your stuff.

CDBurnerXp

 

I agree, try COMPLETELY removing Nero using ALL of their Cleaning Tools:

General Clean Tool
Clean Pack
Nero 6 Clean Tool
InCd Clean Tool

Get them here

Reboot and then search your registry for any "Ahead" or "Nero" keys. You will probably find some left over. Be careful about the search results and be sure any "Ahead" results are for NERO. Don't waste your time with deleting MRU's or Recent History results.

Then reboot. If it still takes 40 minutes, then it's not Nero.

Good luck,

Rick

 

A 40 minute bootup time is indicative of a highly unstable operating system. A virus or other infection or a pending hard drive failure was my initial impression while reviewing your post. Do you clean & defrag your hard drive on a regular basis? MG's download site offers several freeware programs for hard drive testing/diagnostics. Hopefully, the problems are not hardware-related.

You need to reduce the demand on your system's resources. McAfee AV is very resource-intensive - the combination of McAfee AV monitoring, attempted CD-burning & probable parasite infection(s) demands more resources than your system has available. You should consider adding another 256MB memory card - cost is approx. $100 & installation is a snap (no pun intended). This is assuming your hard drive is in good condition.

Try booting up in safe mode. Press F8 on initial startup & keep pressing until a screen with several options appears. Select the safe mode option & log in. Select Start, right-click on My Computer & select properties. Click on the Hardware tab, then press the Device Manager button. Any hardware items not functioning properly will be indicated with yellow circle & explanation point. Make a note of any items so indicated (if any) & close Device Manager. Select the System Restore tab & check the empty box in front of Turn Off System Restore. A warning message will appear, assure the system that this is what you want to do. This step is needed to delete the corrupted restore points. In addition, many parasites infect this part of the system since it is inaccessable to AV & other detection scanners - deleting the restore points is the only option available to completely remove the scumware & avoid reinfection.

The next two steps involve changes to the startup config for certain programs & system services. The following two web sites are excellent reference sites for startup programs & system services:

Startup programs - pacs-portal
System services - blackviper.com

Go to Control Panel/Administrative Tools/Services. Disable Error Reporting Service and Messenger. Highlight the service, right-click & select properties. A window will appear with a drop-down box in the center. Change to option in this box from Automatic to disabled, press the apply button & close. Close out all open windows.

Select Start/All Programs and open Windows Messenger. Select Tools/Options/Preferences & uncheck to box 'Run Windows Messenger when Windows Starts'. Close Windows Messenger.

Select Start/Run and type msconfig in the empty cell. Select the Startup tab & use the recommendations on the pacs-portal site to determine which programs to remove from startup. Just uncheck the box in front a program to remove it from startup. You should select any program that was not designated Y (Yes) by Pacman including those designated with a U (User's Choice), Close & reboot in normal mode. Post your findings to this thread for further assistance.

I hope these steps will result in a normal bootup time & allow you to save your data. Review the sticky on HiJackThis log posting by "Major Attitude". This is the next step in the process. The ultimate goal is to resolve as many system issues as possible and post a HJT log without ticking off Major Attitude. If you become uncertain at any point in this process, stop & post back to this thread.

Best wishes for success - a 40 minute boot time folllowed almost immediately by system freezeup violates the Constitutional ban on cruel & unusual punishment.

Take care,

Slim