not sure what forum this belongs in

I am on a laptop that runs on Windows xp. Yesterday it began to start up really slowly. I would turn it on, and there would be a black screen for more than 15 minutes, then it would go to the Windows XP startup. If I click on a key when the black screen is on, it would immediately begin the startup screen. Once I log in, I can't open a program for 5 or 6 minutes (I'll click on it, but it will take that long to open). After that, everything runs fine.

I did everything in the "How to: Spyware, Trojan And Virus Removal", then I ran Hijack This and compared it to the tutorial. BTW, I also can't run in Safe Mode. The computer goes straight from the black screen to the windows startup. I've tried all the F buttons and more.

 

Hi, and welcome to MajorGeeks
Once your computer has booted and is running normally, go to Start-Run, and type msconfig. This should show a list of running processes. I'm curious about this, as you said that you completed the spyware procedure on the sticky note, and the problem still exists. It may be that some program loading at startup is causing your problem. Other, more experienced members, will probably jump in and offer advice!

 

I went and saw that there were many programs loading at startup, and I disables most of them (I left about 4 or 5). That fixed the problem of not being able to do anything once it has started up...but I still have the problem when I first turn on the computer. If I hit any key when it's on the black screen (even just a few seconds after I turn it on) it will automatically go to the acer screen for a split second, then to the windows. But while I'm at the acer screen I can't press f2 to go to the setup (nor f8 to change it to safe-mode).