Huge delay on rebooting Windows XP Home

[arwe]

On either powering up or on restart, my computer will freeze at the very beginning of the Windows XP splash page, when the screen is just starting to brighten. So I end up just barely being able to make out the page, all in gray. Nothing happens for about 25 minutes (I've been through this many times and these times are pretty consistent), at which point it finally brightens, the colors fill in and then it freezes again, with the blue bars in the center unmoving for another about 9 minutes, after which the reboot continues normally and I finally get my computer back. All told, I have a consistent 30 to 35 minute wait to reboot.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I'm about ready to toss this thing out the window.

 

[BlameCanada]

35 minutes !! That`s not good !

If you installed any hardware or software before the problem, uninstall it.

Go into msconfig start up and uncheck everything.

Disconnect all non essential hardware.Just leave Hard drive.

Uninstall Norton/Symantec if you have it

Try System Restore.

Download BootVis Tutorial HERE

that may tell you what Windows is waiting for.

 

[AlbertLionheart]

You could also run a manufacturer's diagnostic software over the hard drive.

 

[arwe]

Still at a loss

Since receiving the comments above, I have:

run configsys and all items are unchecked at startup

removed all updates that I am able to uninstall that were downloaded in the days surrounding the problem (altho some of them I was not able to uninstall since they do not show up in Control Panel/Remove Programs (?)

downloaded and run BootVis many times

discovered in Device Manager that my "1394 Net Adapter" either "cannot start (Code 10)" or "is not working properly because Windows cannot load drivers required for this device (Code 31)" - tried to update drivers and was informed that it "can't find better drivers than those already present"

pursuant to Troubleshoot advice, uninstalled and reinstalled the 1394 Net Adapter--no help, now at "cannot start" (see above)

in the last two days I have probably rebooted about 19 times, 6 of which were normal 30-35 second boots and the others were either around 2060 or 1550 second boots

according to BootVis, the delay seems to consistently occur after the Disk boot and corresponds to a Driver Delay by both "ohci1394.sys" and "1394bus.sys"; the Disk boot stops at about 0.7 sec, at which point both of those Drive delays begin in the Drive Delay bar graph, which stop about 30 sec before the end, at which point the boot proceeds normally

I have not been able to discover any logic as to why 6 boots were fine and the others were delayed. Hope the above will help someone out there to point me toward a solution.

 

[BlameCanada]

All the drivers referenced can be related to Firewire and Firewire networking.

Do you have a camcorder or some Firewire device or usb wi fi maybe?


The 1394 net adapter can be downloaded from HERE


The only other thing is that you run Chkdisk and maybe HD diagnostics from the

manufacturer of your HD as Alberttheheart said.

 

[arwe]

Huge Delay

Actually, before the problem started, we had major problems attempting to download pictures from our digital camera (Canon PowerShot A520) via USB: initial photos downloaded fine, then the entire PC slowed to a crawl, with pictures downloading at about one every 2 or 3 minutes. Had to cancel and
then remove memory card from camera and insert in card slot of printer. Pictures downloaded fine and thought PC was fine after a reboot (no delay)

 

[AlbertLionheart]

If you disable the 1394 adapter in the device manager, does this cure the slow boot?
At least then you could make a decision about perhaps fitting a card if you needed the port.

 

[arwe]

Thanks Lionheart. I haven't done this yet but, if I do, can I do without the 1394 adapter? Will that have to be replaced or would this be a permanent fix? Any theories as to how this whole mess started?

 

[BlameCanada]

The 1394 adapter is a 'Firewire adapter with networking capability'.

It is only needed if you want network via Firewire.

You can disable or uninstall it without any problems.

Did you try the System restore and Chkdisk/HD diagnostic options ?

 

[arwe]

OK, here's the latest: I disabled the 1394 adapter in Device Manager, then rebooted with no delay.

System Config Util comes up (as it always does since I am using Select Startup) , I look at Startup and the only things checked are "NvCpl" and "ctfmon". I leave these checked, click OK, exit without restart, and then do Start-Turn Off-Restart: another delayed boot (the usual 25 or 35 minutes).

Again it opens to SysConfigUtil, click OK, open Startup, disable all, apply, close, restart: boots with no delay.

Then I do the exact same things I just did in the last paragraph, restart: delay (26 min).

This next time, I check Device Manager, 1394 Net Adapter is disabled as it should be, but "Cisco Systems VPN Adapter" is also disabled (hadn't been the last time I was here), I enable it, Start-Turn Off-Restart: I am now sitting through yet another delayed boot.

Canada: I did a system restore when this first happened and it did not help. Should I do it again? I also did a CheckDisk and defrag: didn't find any problems and didn't solve the problem.

What's next?

 

[BlameCanada]

Well, just leave "NvCpl" and "ctfmon" disabled then :grinthumb

Completely unnecessary items.

If you still get problems after that, the only other things I can suggest are -

1.You run the Hard Drive diagnostics as mentioned.

2.Follow Microsoft`s instructions for the dreaded Advanced Clean Boot

 

[arwe]

Last update before I give up for the night: at the end of the delayed boot referenced in my last post, I went through SysConfigUtil, only thing checked in Startup was NvCpl (this always gets checked in the reboot process when I uncheck it before reboot); I leave it checked and exit without restart.

Then I opened Device Manager and both 1394 adapter and Cisco Adapter are disabled (remember that I enabled Cisco before running this last reboot). So does this mean something is triggering this to disable?

One other observation: in Device Manager, the "NVidia WDM TVAudio Crossbar" is marked with a yellow "!" and the manager states: "not present, not working properly, or does not have all its drivers installed (Code 24)" Don't know if this is relevant but thought I should mention it.

Lionheart and Canada: thanks for the interest and suggestions, but I'm still at a loss as to what's causing this and how to solve it.

Anybody else want to take a shot at it? I'm desperate.

 

[BlameCanada]

Firstly NvCpl should not recheck itself,if you have disabled it in msconfig.

It just provides the display properties icon in the system tray,and is non essential.

There is spyware with a similar name to NvCpl,but I`m guessing it isn`t spyware.

My final suggestion is you install the latest video drivers for your card.

After that I suggest you start a new thread with a brief list of the things you have tried.

You might even attach an HJT log,then people will know exactly what is running.

 

[AlbertLionheart]

One amswer, bit of an overkill perhaps, is to reinstall the OS from scratch. Personally, I do this every 12/18 months anyway to get rid of all the dross.