Windows hangs on boot, but does boot... eventually

[TorturedChaos]

Here is the issue I'm having. The computer I use at work hangs for a while on booting, but it does boot eventually. When I log in, I get the windows loading music, I see my desktop background, but then it hangs there for 30 secs or so. Finally, I my icons and task bar load. I tried searching for the issue, but all I get is issues of it hanging on windows splash screen, which it is not doing.

Now I can access the computer, but the added load time is annoying, and I worried it may get worse, or not boot at all.

The computer is running Xp sp2. Its a custom built machine with AMD Athlon 64x2 Dual 4200+ CPU.

Any help would be great.

Thanks

 

[Eric Legge]

Maybe installing SP3 would fix the problem.

Anyhow, I have a boot CD of Ubuntu Linux that doesn't install itself, allows internet access, etc.

Whatever the problem, software or hardware, if it works without showing any of those symptoms, it's a software problem, and if you still get the symptoms, it's a hardware issue.

 

[kimsland]

It can be any number of Windows startups
One way to test for this is to disable them from starting using this tool

Sometimes it can be a service, such as Windows automatic updates
You can have a look at which Services have started by going here Start->Run-> services.msc
It can also be a software corruption issue, have a look at running CheckDisk on the drive
I'd even suggest running CCleaner to remove any temp files, slowing it down