lakero
asked on
Extremely slow startup
On a routine restart (WinXPProSP2) my system was still showing the “Windows is shutting down” screen after ~30min, so I powered off. I turned the system back on ~15min later, and noted that it seemed to be taking a very long time to boot. In fact, it took ~10min to get to the “Windows is starting up” screen, and >30min later that screen was still there.
So I did a Last Good startup with the same results. A Safe startup seemed to begin okay, but when it got to the black screen nothing seemed to happen any more, and I gave up after ~30min. (The disk activity light would blink very briefly every few minutes, but nothing else seemed to be going on.)
I had created a second installation of Win on a second hard drive, so that I would have access to my system if the main install ever gave me trouble. (I periodically booted to this install and backed up my main install; I figured I could restore a recent backup and get going again.) But this second installation also hadn’t gotten beyond the startup screen after >30min.
So I booted my WinXP install CD, planning to run chkdsk from the Repair Console (figuring it must be my C-drive that was the problem). As I write this (on another computer, obviously), the “Setup is starting Windows” message is still on the screen, nearly an hour later. (The file loading seemed to have been maybe a little slow, but not remarkably so, and I wouldn’t have noticed a difference--if there really was one--had I not been looking for it.)
This is obviously a hardware problem, but I'm not sure where to go next. I’m running an AMD 1.85GHz with 2x512MB RAM on an Asus A7N8X-E. Any help would be appreciated. This is my main system, and I need it badly!
So I did a Last Good startup with the same results. A Safe startup seemed to begin okay, but when it got to the black screen nothing seemed to happen any more, and I gave up after ~30min. (The disk activity light would blink very briefly every few minutes, but nothing else seemed to be going on.)
I had created a second installation of Win on a second hard drive, so that I would have access to my system if the main install ever gave me trouble. (I periodically booted to this install and backed up my main install; I figured I could restore a recent backup and get going again.) But this second installation also hadn’t gotten beyond the startup screen after >30min.
So I booted my WinXP install CD, planning to run chkdsk from the Repair Console (figuring it must be my C-drive that was the problem). As I write this (on another computer, obviously), the “Setup is starting Windows” message is still on the screen, nearly an hour later. (The file loading seemed to have been maybe a little slow, but not remarkably so, and I wouldn’t have noticed a difference--if there really was one--had I not been looking for it.)
This is obviously a hardware problem, but I'm not sure where to go next. I’m running an AMD 1.85GHz with 2x512MB RAM on an Asus A7N8X-E. Any help would be appreciated. This is my main system, and I need it badly!
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ASKER
First thing I tried was simply removing my Promise card-->normal bootup.
So I put the card back in, and disconnected all except one of the 4 drives attached to it, etc. My G-drive turned out to be the problem (a new Maxtor 250GB just installed a couple of weeks ago).
I put the drive in another system as the only HD, and tried to boot to spinrite, but never got beyond the inital freedos screen. Looks like it's RMA time.
So I put the card back in, and disconnected all except one of the 4 drives attached to it, etc. My G-drive turned out to be the problem (a new Maxtor 250GB just installed a couple of weeks ago).
I put the drive in another system as the only HD, and tried to boot to spinrite, but never got beyond the inital freedos screen. Looks like it's RMA time.
ASKER
Thanks everyone!
I had the same problem a couple of weeks ago, the drive causing the problem didn't have any data on it at all. As soon as I disconnected it the PC booted up normally. A diagnostic test revealed a couple of hundred SMART errors.
ASKER
BartPE shows same slowdown.
I have 6 HDs; I will try disconnecting them as you suggest. (I've already tried Maxtor's utilities and Gibson's Spinrite, but their CDs won't boot either.) It could be the C-drive, since it's the boot drive regardless of which is the system drive.
Thanks!