4:20 minutes from power-on to desktop. Why such a long boot time on i7 system?!

KatanaDV20

KatanaDV20

KatanaDV20

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Hey guys...

My specs are in the sig. Any of you with similar systems...whats your boot time?

By that I mean pressing the power button -----> Desktop with a quiet hard drive. I used a stopwatch to time mine and stopped the clock ONLY when the hard drive stopped reading and I was on the desktop.

This was 4min 20sec :confused:

C'mon fabled Windows 7 are you THAT slow! What boot times are you guys seeing?!

In my msconfig startup tab, I see this list:

Catalayst
Comodo Firewall
HydraGrid
Microsoft Security Essentials

You mean these four programs make an i7 system take this long to get going?

My laptop runs Vista and is on the desktop with a resting hard-drive from power-on in about 70 seconds! And that laptop is also running Microsoft Security Essentials & Comodo Firewall.

Any geeky ways to shorten the boot time...ok it aint life or death but heck I can make a coffee and come back up and its still bootin (well the drives still reading away!).
 
Try unplugging all the USB stuff on your PC and reboot.
It would appear that something is trying to be read or taking a longtime to be read in the startup.
MSE doesn't slow down my boots by more than a second or two. KIS used to add 30 seconds. Unsure if Comodo is having an effect for you, but with that length of time, I'd remove all the hardware first.
 
Try the USB thing. I've got about 15 things plugged into mine and my desktop takes ages. When I have just the mouse, keyboard and printer plugged in it's much faster. Still haven't bothered isolating what it is that's taking ages though. :p
 
Aside from lots of hardware slowing it down - it could be a dodgy service. Sometimes they screw up and take a while.

Someone posted a link to an application that gives you a break down of what is loading and how long it took. Can't seem to find it though. Might be worth a try.
 
I think that's pretty much the norm. Windows has delayed startup services that can start way after you've got access to the desktop. Vista was worse, it'd be unresponsive until it's fully finished and you're just have to wait.

Also, there've been big advances in processing power, RAM sizes and disk sizes, but disk throughput hasn't followed. Roll on the SSD revolution!
 
With my ssd i can boot in to windows 7 in under 30 seconds, it takes longer to check my seven sata drives than it does to load windows.

Which part is taking a long time for you, is it the bios checks or the windows load ?

if it is the windows load do you have an SSD if you don't then the bottleneck is the HD.
 
groen said:
With my ssd i can boot in to windows 7 in under 30 seconds, it takes longer to check my seven sata drives than it does to load windows.

Which part is taking a long time for you, is it the bios checks or the windows load ?

if it is the windows load do you have an SSD if you don't then the bottleneck is the HD.
Click to expand...

I think your timing different end points. The OP is timing until all HDD activity has subsided. Even on an SSD this will take much longer than 30 seconds.
 
From the moment windows actually starts to load until all my software has loaded it takes under 30 seconds. Once i log in to windows all my software pretty much loads instantly. This is with an SSD.

With bios check taking about the same time as it has to go through all my sata drives.

so from power button press to fully loaded in about 1 minute. give or take a few either way.

I don't use any anti-virus or software based firewalls however.
 
Hmm thanks for the all the replies guys I will dig around some more in msconfig to see what I can do. Will also check to see what Services are firing up.

Which part is taking a long time for you, is it the bios checks or the windows load ?
Click to expand...

BIOS checks are quick but once they are done....there________is__________a ________long_______pause________and then the Windows log-in screen appears! I put in my password & then..well I go do the dishes for 5mins or so to wait for the boot to be done.

The OP is timing until all HDD activity has subsided.
Click to expand...

Hee hee yes you put it so much better than I said it. If I try to use Start Menu etc while the HDD is reading - it aint happening. Hourglass mouse cursor. Only once the HDD has stopped will the menu appear.

Try unplugging all the USB stuff on your PC and reboot.
Click to expand...

I have a small USB hub and a joysticks connected to that. Apart from that the mouse & keyboard are the only USB thingies attached (and they are plugged into the PCs USBs not the hubs)
 
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KatanaDV20 said:
Ok I can see Sleep on the Shutdown menu but I admit I dont know what "S3" is hee hee

:(
Click to expand...

S3 sleep is usually enabled by default on supported hardware. Click sleep, if your computer appears to completely shut-down (apart from the standby LED flashing if you have it connected) then it is in S3 sleep. It should 'boot' immediately after you wake it.

S3 basically shuts everything off apart from the ram, so the machine is basically 'off' but can start back up immediately :)
 
check event viewer for any clues

if you use fast user switching you can login to a test account
then startup sysinternals process monitor (file monitor, registry monitor, etc.)

then login to the problem account

then switch back to the test account and check the trace for clues

otherwise you can binary search for the problem:
- find and shutdown all programs/scripts that run when you login
- check that login is healthy again
- enable 50% of the programs
- check login again - if healthy - problem is in remaining 50%
- keep doing that

that technique will find 1 problem in 16,777,216 possibilities in only 24 iterations
 
S3 basically shuts everything off apart from the ram, so the machine is basically 'off' but can start back up immediately
Click to expand...

Nice 1 m8 will that out! :)

otherwise you can binary search for the problem:
- find and shutdown all programs/scripts that run when you login
- check that login is healthy again
- enable 50% of the programs
- check login again - if healthy - problem is in remaining 50%
- keep doing that
Click to expand...

Also a great idea...I will uncheck all the startup items and see what happens, will be interesting to see the boot time then.
 
IMAO > just read through this thread, and realized l have the sleep option, cheers lads. I'll use that instead of shutdown, what makes it even worse l'v been using Win 7 just over a year and my PC has been doing it automaticly.

What a silly Oldphart l'am :o, just proves your never to old to learn, if l'm like this at 55 God help me when l'm 56. :eek:
 
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