Login prompt takes long to come up
This is a problem that has always stumped me for years. I always run into one or two computers on the network that just take forever to display the log-in prompt. Yet these computers have the exact same hardware as any other machine on the network. Re-imaging always seems to fix this problem, but this is not always a good solution. I know it must be something software based since a re-image always seems to fix it.
What steps can I do to make this prompt display quicker? These machines always seem to be on a screen that says "applying network settings" or "preparing connections" Or something along those lines. Yet I don't see the hard drive light or network lights doing much. There must be a trick or a fix to this can somebody help me?
What steps can I do to make this prompt display quicker? These machines always seem to be on a screen that says "applying network settings" or "preparing connections" Or something along those lines. Yet I don't see the hard drive light or network lights doing much. There must be a trick or a fix to this can somebody help me?
I would bet that it's some connection timing out. i.e. DNS, mapped network drive, etc. Try to itemize all the resources your system uses when booting.
Make sure the FIRST DNS server in your list is your file server
Can you check the system and application event log for errors and alerts during the time that you booted.
ASKER
The way that all the clients are configured is like this.. When you go to Advanced TCP/IP properties under the advanced section and go to the DNS tab, we have the domain names listed in a hierarchical manner. under "append these DNS suffixes (in order):
miami.man.internalnetwork.
man.internalnetwork.com
internalnetwork.com
The "Register this connection's addresses in DNS" is ticked on all machines. The user with the problem is not in office at the moment so I can't check the application log for startup errors. Once the computer starts up everything works fine, but it just takes so long like almost 5 minutes before you get the log in prompt.
miami.man.internalnetwork.
man.internalnetwork.com
internalnetwork.com
The "Register this connection's addresses in DNS" is ticked on all machines. The user with the problem is not in office at the moment so I can't check the application log for startup errors. Once the computer starts up everything works fine, but it just takes so long like almost 5 minutes before you get the log in prompt.
When the system boots it looks for these DNS servers in order. If it doesn't get a response it will wait for some specified amount of time before moving on.
My feeling is that you should remove the entries one by one from the DNS list to see if it helps.
Again, make a note of the removed entries in case you need to replace them later.
My feeling is that you should remove the entries one by one from the DNS list to see if it helps.
Again, make a note of the removed entries in case you need to replace them later.
ASKER
Hi 97WideGlide,
I tried just about everything you suggested but it still takes forever to boot. I really have no idea why this happens.
Another problem I have been having is that another machine will allow you to log in quickly, but it takes about 2 minutes after you log in and everything loads for the litlte network monitor lights to appear in the system tray. The time before those lights load you cannot access the network connection properties. The thing is it is not like these are slow computers. They have 2GB of RAM with a 2.4GHZ Core Duo processor and lots of hard drive space. It loads everything else fast except for anything that has to do with the network.
I tried just about everything you suggested but it still takes forever to boot. I really have no idea why this happens.
Another problem I have been having is that another machine will allow you to log in quickly, but it takes about 2 minutes after you log in and everything loads for the litlte network monitor lights to appear in the system tray. The time before those lights load you cannot access the network connection properties. The thing is it is not like these are slow computers. They have 2GB of RAM with a 2.4GHZ Core Duo processor and lots of hard drive space. It loads everything else fast except for anything that has to do with the network.
Anything at all in the event log during boot?
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Check the DNS settings on your network adapter. Go into the TCP/IP properties for each connection, click Advanced and go to the DNS tab. Make sure that "Register this connection's addresses in DNS" is unchecked, and that the DNS Server Addresses list is empty (If there's something there make a note of it in case you need to reference it in the future).