Extremely long boot up time for XP

[snoggert]

Hello. this is my first post here, but I'm trying to salvage my computer without having to spend any money. So here is my problem...

About a week ago my computer started making a loud (repeating) popping noise through the speakers (along with the lights on my audio interface blinking on and off with the popping noises) when I would shut it down. That mixed with my computer running pretty badly, I figured I would just do a clean install of winXP and see what that would do. So once the computer started rebooting during the setup of windows, it would freeze up for very long amounts of time (15+ minutes). I tried starting over again and that didn't fix it. Now that I have windows up and running, if I restart windows...it literally takes close to 20 minutes to get back into windows. It goes like this. The first screen that comes up with the processor information freezes up for about 2 minutes, and then it runs through everything till right before going to the login screen. The screen then goes black and sits like that for 15+ minutes before finally going into windows. Does anyone have any suggestions of how to fix this or what might be wrong?

 

[DjKraid]

what computer do u have? -specs?

might be the hdd...if u have something connected to the PCI-ports, disconnect it...and then try to reboot...

 

[kimsland]

Please run a Drive Diagnostics on your HardDrive

Please put your System Specs information in your Profile

If you have a brand name computer (like Dell; HP; or other) please place the Computer name & Model number in your Mobo field of your Profile

 

[snoggert]

I have a home built PC. Here are the basic specs (don't have a my other HDD's and audio interface hooked up yet):
- P4 3.06GHz
- 3 gigs DDR 400 RAM
- elitegroup 865PE-A mobo
- geforce fx 5700LE
- onboard audio (while trying to figure out the problem)
- WD caviar 320gig HDD
- USB 2.0 expansion card (PCI)
- Firewire expansion card (PCI)
- Antec Solution SLK3700-BQE Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case Single fan 350W SmartPower ATX12V Power Supply
- Windows XP professional SP3

Here are the results from HD Tune:
HD Tune: WDC WD3200AAKS-00VYA Error Scan

Scanned data : 305123 MB
Damaged Blocks : 0.0 %
Elapsed Time : 84:40


HD Tune: WDC WD3200AAKS-00VYA Health

ID Current Worst ThresholdData Status
(01) Raw Read Error Rate 200 200 51 0 Ok
(03) Spin Up Time 156 153 21 5166 Ok
(04) Start/Stop Count 100 100 0 126 Ok
(05) Reallocated Sector Count 200 200 140 0 Ok
(07) Seek Error Rate 100 253 51 0 Ok
(09) Power On Hours Count 90 90 0 7926 Ok
(0A) Spin Retry Count 100 100 51 0 Ok
(0B) Calibration Retry Count 100 100 51 0 Ok
(0C) Power Cycle Count 100 100 0 125 Ok
(C0) Power Off Retract Count 200 200 0 36 Ok
(C1) Load Cycle Count 200 200 0 126 Ok
(C2) Temperature 98 95 0 49 Ok
(C4) Reallocated Event Count 200 200 0 0 Ok
(C5) Current Pending Sector 200 200 0 0 Ok
(C6) Offline Uncorrectable 200 200 0 0 Ok
(C7) Ultra DMA CRC Error Count 200 200 0 0 Ok
(C8) Write Error Rate 200 200 51 0 Ok

Power On Time : 7926
Health Status : Ok

HD Tune: WDC WD3200AAKS-00VYA Information

Firmware version : 12.01B02
Serial number : WD-WCARW0341453
Capacity : 298.1 GB (~320.1 GB)
Buffer size : 16384 KB
Standard : ATA/ATAPI-8 - SATA II
Supported mode : UDMA Mode 6 (Ultra ATA/133)
Current mode : UDMA Mode 5 (Ultra ATA/100)

S.M.A.R.T : yes
48-bit Address : yes
Read Look-Ahead : yes
Write Cache : yes
Host Protected Area : yes
Device Configuration Overlay : yes
Automatic Acoustic Management: yes
Power Management : yes
Advanced Power Management : no
Power-up in Standby : yes
Security Mode : yes
Firmware Upgradable : yes

Partition : 1
Drive letter : C:\
Label :
Capacity : 305234 MB
Usage : 2.09%
Type : NTFS
Bootable : Yes

***it should be noted that I had absolutely no problems like this before reformatting and doing a clean install of windows.

 

[gbhall]

***it should be noted that I had absolutely no problems like this before reformatting and doing a clean install of windows.

Wait a minute ! It was hardware problems that caused you to do a clean install (post#1) true or false? You sat 'running pretty bad' and 'noises'. If that does not indicate a serious hardware problem, my brain is a swiss cheese.

All you have done so far is test the HDD, and it may not be that. You should strip down the PC, taking off every device you can while still being able to start Windows, then add them back one by one hopefully revealing which device is the cause.

Unluckily you do not have motherboard graphics, but try to borrow any old AGP or PCI video card to check your video card by replacement. No need to install drivers for the donor card, it will run fine in VGA mode. If the first thing you noticed was popping noises, then maybe that is the trouble, and only a new motherboard will solve that.

 

[snoggert]

gbhall - let me try to explain the situation a little better.

As long as I can remember, my computer has made a single popping noise (through the speakers) when I shut it down. About a week ago, it started doing the thing where it would keep making the popping noises repeatedly until it shut down. The computer wasn't running terrible, just not as well as it did when I first put it together (general windows slowing down from adding/removing programs). I decided to go ahead and reformat/reinstall because I thought that maybe the OS was screwing up when shutting down and causing the problem. This is when the current problem began and the popping thing on shutdown is still there as well. Windows runs absolutely perfect once it finally gets loaded up, but it takes around 20 minutes to get into windows (mostly spent sitting on the black screen before going into windows). I'll try stripping everything down in a little while after I finish my lab report and see if I can locate anything specific. I can't help but feel like it's a mother board issue though.

 

[gbhall]

Try this - when booting, bang away merrily on the F8 key. Once you get the screen offering various ways to start Windows (most people see this as a way to start in safe mode), you should choose the option in which you manually approve the start of each and every step.

By doing this, and making a note of what each one is before saying carry on, you have a chance of identifying exactly what is starting when the screen goes blank.