Member Avatar for megadeth_666_

hey
i noticed a few weeks ago that my windows xp is taking 5-15 minutes to load to the login page.. if i try going into safe mode it just freezes and wont load..
any help on this would be great
i also hav removed some unnesisary files from my start up and hasnt helped :sad:

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by Lightninghawk

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The behavior described by @megadeth666 — long pause before the logon screen, Safe Mode freezing, then normal performance after logon — usually points to something that runs or times out during early driver/service initialization (hardware, storage controller, or a network resource), not to a user‑level startup item. and offered useful high‑level options; the diagnostic steps below aim to gather evidence before resorting to a full reinstall. (learn.microsoft.com)

Collect a boot log and check Event Viewer for startup/service errors. Enable “Enable Boot Logging” from the F8 advanced‑boot menu (or use msconfig) and examine C:\Windows\ntbtlog.txt for drivers marked “Did not load.” Open the System log in Event Viewer and look for Service Control Manager timeouts (Event IDs like 7000/7011) around the boot time — those point to services/drivers that are stalling. Use the log entries to note exact filenames and driver/service names for targeted research. (flylib.com)

Quick hardware checks that often explain this symptom: check drive SMART and run memory tests. From an elevated command prompt:

wmic diskdrive get status, model, size
notepad %SystemRoot%\ntbtlog.txt

A non‑OK SMART state or failing long tests from vendor utilities (Seagate SeaTools, WD Data Lifeguard/Kitfox) suggests backing up immediately and replacing the drive; intermittent RAM errors can also hang Safe Mode — run Memtest or Memtest86+ from a USB stick. (woshub.com)

If disconnecting the network adapter (or unplugging the PC from the LAN) shortens or removes the delay, the machine may be waiting on a mapped home folder, roaming profile, or slow network share during startup — a well‑known cause covered by Microsoft KB articles. Also verify BIOS boot order so the system isn’t waiting on PXE/network boot timeouts. If diagnostics point to hardware failure, back up data and then follow a reinstall; otherwise, use the exact driver/service names found in the logs to roll back or update only the offending component. ()

Summary checklist (in order): disconnect network & USB devices; enable boot logging; review ntbtlog.txt and Event Viewer for 7000/7011 entries; run SMART/vendor disk tests; run Memtest; act on any failing hardware before reinstalling.

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Member Avatar for Lightninghawk

Unless you have a lot of files that are irreplacable. I would just say re-format.

But how does it run once you get into windows? Still slow or semi normal speeds?

Member Avatar for megadeth_666_

it runs great when i log in like it always has
its just when i hav to restart or if i shut it down
and i havnet seen much on this before so im not to sure

Member Avatar for chrisbliss18

There are a few things you can do to improve boot performance and OS load times. Reboot the system between each step.

  • Turn off unused devices in the Device Manager (Control Panel, System, Hardware, Device Manager). Find devices that you may not use, such as modems or card readers, right-click them and select Disable. Make sure that you can disable the device or you may lose access to key components.
  • Fix any potential problems with core Windows files. Do this by running "sfc /scannow"
  • Fix disk errors. Right-click your main drive, select Properties, select Tools, click "Check Now...", select both "Automatically fix file system errors" and "Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors", and click Start. It may ask you a question about scheduling the process to occur at the next reboot. If it does, accept the scheduling and reboot your system to perform the scan.
  • Run Microsoft Bootvis. You can find information about Bootvis here. Bootvis allows you to explicitly tell Windows to optimize the boot process.

Let me know if this improves performance for you.

Member Avatar for Lightninghawk

chrisbliss18 is stalking me. LoL, Great to have someone around that seems to be quicker at replying than me.

And I was looking for Bootvis but I couldn't remember the name. I was searching for bootopt for boot optimising. Thanks.

Hope this helps you out megadeth_666_

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