Windows 7 VERY SLOW STARTUP

Hello everyone, I have a problem with my HP P6130Y model desktop. When the pc boots up, it takes a tremendous amount of time to boot up. I have actually timed it at 20 minutes exactly to boot up. Once I boot up after 20 minutes, it is fast again and becomes responsive.

I have reformatted the computer and it is still doing the same thing. I have checked the disk for errors but found nothing. I believe my hard disk drive is still the culprit. It will shut down as normal, but my only problem is starting up. Could this be a hardware issue?

 

I also forgot to mention that months before, I had memory corruption problems. Reformatting the PC did the trick though. This time around,I wasen't so lucky. I also removed the RAM and reinstalled them. I am currently running 8gb of RAM that came with the pc.

 

Apart from running a clean boot (msconfig- stop all but microsoft services)
I would suggest trying this tool
http://support.microsoft.com/mats/slow_windows_performance/
Have you run a memory diagnostic? A single faulty stick can cause problems- try with only one stick, and work up from there.

 

Have you any other connections to the computer- extrnal hard drive, webcam, printer etc:
If so disconnect everything you can do without and try it for speed.
If you have a video card installed, and are not using the on-board- check the drivers.
click start, right click my computer, click manage, click device manager, and look for any exclamation marks, in case it is looking for a missing/faulty driver.

 

Yes, I have ran a memory diagnostic but no errors were found unfortunately

 

I would suggest trying this tool, then
http://support.microsoft.com/mats/sl...s_performance/

 

There is one BIOS update for a black screen on restart. I only mention it to rule it out. If the slow boot is happening after any type of Microsoft/Windows screen appears then the BIOS update would not be relevant to your problem.

 

There are no driver errors. I do not have any of the exclamation marks. Although I do have lots of peripheals attatched to the back of the computer, I will remove them. I have always had those peripheals on the computer before the problems started, but I will still unplug them.

I have tried this tool. I did find some startup problems but they were just programs. I have allowed this fix and it asked me to restart my computer. After restarting my computer, it is still booting up slowly as before.


I have the volume up on my computer, I have noticed that while it is booting up, it will play the logon sound, but the screen will still be frozen as if it was still booting up.

 

Doing as has been suggested and pulling absolutely everything out of the back apart from the power and vdu data cables and then rebooting does usually help pinpoint the culprit in cases like this, but if it doesn't then it's time to delve into Event Viewer and see what errors are being thrown up there.

 

When the logon sound comes- try pressing control + alt +del buttons to bring up the task manager, and see what is loading/loaded- it might give a clue to it.
Try 1 stick of ram in a different slot, only, and restart, changing ram stick each time (only one ) and see if it boots quicker.
Click start, right click my computer, click manage , click event viewer, to see if it shows critical, or, other errors.
If using just one stick, it still does the same, you may need to consider the motherboard, as the first memory source problem.
Have you tried-Start,run, and type in CHKDSK /F ?- If there are hard drive errors, this can often fix it.
File system errors can sometimes be fixed using sfc /scannow,
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929833
Good luck, let us know how you get on.
Soory Earthling, I was typing out when you mentioned event viewer, so just another nudge.

 

I disconnected all the peripheals and left the mouse and keyboard, and I am still having the same problem. Could this be a hard disk issue? Could it have gone out on me?

 

I'd go for Event Viewer next. Expect to find loads of them - everyone does - but it's those that are happening at boot time we are interested in. By double clicking an error you can copy the report details and paste here.

 

Besides this, I have researched this issue , and racking the old grey cells, I wondered,

Have you got computer set to start up with hard drive as first boot device ?

Wireless card ?-your model shows it as removable- could be playing up, removing temporarily would eliminate that - on laptops this has caused me problems before.

If you have a router connected, try without it. It seems that some routers can be a problem with your model.

Have you got Zone alarm ? this did affect some with slow start up

McFEE , and AVG antivirus have caused slow startup

Sata cables- try changing for a new cable.

have you got AHCI mode enabled in the BIOS ?- When you re-installed -did you check ?
If for whatever reason it is not, then I would read this up

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/61869-ahci-enable-windows-7-vista.html

although this fix is not what is showing- worth reading through
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922976

I also came across this post in seven forums that reminded me of a similar problem in XP , and it appears the registry key is the same still in Windows 7-
GeneO SAID
Note the same registry key in the article is still valid in Windows 7. I assume the added key will be recognized in windows 7 but maybe that has changed and the fix may not work in that case.
and below that, and see that rob1302 found it helped, in W indows 7
He Said
i've had this problem with XP years back too and that exact fix is how i got it working. I just tried it now and it seems to be working, it let me change it to Ultra DMA mode now.
http://www.sevenforums.com/performa...-changes-pio-mode-4-cant-change-back-dma.html


Lastly, I see that your model came with a 300w psu- and you are at the top of the range with your processor for this board- could be worth checking the voltage output on 24v and 5v rails.
Well I cnnot think of anything else right now, but will say that in my research I found people had changed hard drives, and still had the problem , so unless you have a spare hard drive, to try, a new hard drive may not be the answer, although it is possible.
Good luck:major

 

I really appreciate all the help guys! Well I have looked through the event viewer and found this under the critical category,


http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m260/graysilverado/Untitled-1.png

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m260/graysilverado/error1.png

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m260/graysilverado/error2.png



It just says Kernel Power.. Could this mean the power supply unit?

 

Well after fiddling with it a bit more, I was able to solve the problem. In the Error log on event viewer, I noticed that the NVidia driver was failing to start up. I went to the device manager and updated the driver. Even though there was no exclamation marks, I updated all NVidia drivers installed on the PC. After restarting the computer, it worked like a charm. I still don't know how the Nvidia driver could have been the culprit to such a problem because it did not show up as a problem on the device manager.

Thank you for your help guys! I seriously couldn't have done it without your help. -Rolly32

 

That's great news rolly32 :cool Video drivers are a common source of startup problems.

btw, if you double click an error a new panel opens up with a Copy button on it, which puts the error detail in text form onto your clipboard. That's what I was asking for but fortunately not necessary on this occasion.

 

Pleased that you found that it was a driver, although it never showed the yellow asterisk-
So, it is worth adding to my archive that the slow boot could be a graphics drive -
Thanks for letting us know,as there will be others wth a similar problem, who, finding this post may now try that first.