Windows XP (SP2): Slow startup

[TECHinternee]

HI,
I've been using my system for the last 3 months but recently I've the problem of slow boot up. The system starts normally but shows Welcome screen for 30 seconds and after that it shows desktop and no taskbar or icons for almost 2 minutes. After that it suddenly shows taskbar and icons and doesn't pose any problem. The speed is normal and I am totally satisfied.
Please advise how to speed up the launching and what is wrong with desktop without taskbar and icons for 2 minutes.
Thank you!
Rashid

 

[gbhall]

This is not an unduly long time, but could be better, you need a good spring-clean is the whole answer. http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Optimize-Windows-7-for-better-performance is a reasonable guide as to what to check out. The link is not specific to Win 7, despite the title. BTW SP2 is no longer supported for many months; for security reasons alone, you should upgrade to SP3

 

[TECHinternee]

Desktop with no icons and taskbar for 2 minutes!

Actually I am curious to know why the desktop appears on the screen for 2 minutes without taskbar and icons. Don't you think it's weird and should be considered a problem?

 

[gbhall]

Not really, after the desktop shows, all the programs set to start for the logged-in user begin, the icons on the desktop (if any) are retreived and displayed. When you have far too many unnecessary start-up programs and dozens of desktop icons, then you will see what you see. It is even worse if you have an active desktop http://kb.iu.edu/data/aodm.html

Your symptoms can come from your startup programs, an active desktop setting or from a HDD problem, maybe it is struggling to read certain parts of your HDD. You can run a disk check and a system tidy from built-in procedures in XP (did you know that? If not try your help and system support - there is a front-page performance and maintenance topic)

 

[TECHinternee]

HDD scan

Thanks for your considerate reply! I've now found an option of checking the HDD for errors by running a scan on the startup. Probably it will solve the problem or at least tell me some surface errors on the HDD for replacement. I'll post another comment shortly.

 

[medo997]

try using another copy of the iso file

it will work