I have a question about Things that slow down system bootup:

I have a new Dell Dimension 2400, 128 MB RAM, 40GB hard disc with Intel Pentium 4. I also have experience a slow boot of the system up to 1.5 minutes. I discussed the matter with Dell. I followed their recommendations in regards to the sytem configuration and the registries. I also looked over the recommendations given in this article. I also try running a doagnostic program such as Registry Mechanic. There has been no improvement to the sytem boot up. I suspect it has to do with the installation of the Norton Antivirus program and Earthlink Total Access Internet software. It would seem to me at this point that the only option is to spend more money and upgrade the memory.

[Reply or follow-up to this message]

I doubt putting in more memory will help in the boot speed, but Xp runs better with 
at least 512mb. 128mb is purported to be the absolute minimum, and doesn't work too 
well. Start, run type in "services.msc" without the quotes and disable services that 
you don't need or use. Black Viper has some extensive coverage on what can be disabled.

http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm











On Friday, August 13, 2004 at 9:13 am, Ivan a. Gargurevich wrote:

>I have a question about Things 

>that slow down system bootup:


>

>I have a new Dell Dimension 2400, 128 MB RAM, 40GB hard disc with Intel Pentium 
4.

>

>

>I also have experience a slow boot of the system up to 1.5 minutes.

>

>I discussed the matter with Dell. I followed their recommendations in regards to 

>the sytem configuration and the registries. 

>

>I also looked over the recommendations given in this article.

>

>I also try running a doagnostic program such as Registry Mechanic.

>

>There has been no improvement to the sytem boot up.

>

>I suspect it has to do with the installation of the Norton Antivirus program and 

>Earthlink Total Access Internet software.

>

>It would seem to me at this point that the only option is to spend more money and 

>upgrade the memory.
 

[Reply or follow-up to this message]

I would dump the earthlink software and see if it helps
XP alone can easily use more than 128 megs of RAM
So anything else that is running requires the system to swap to and from the disk which will slow the system drastically
upping the RAM would really help, 256 is good enough for most users IMO but 512 is better

you could try setting Norton to not auto start but if you make sure not to connect to the net until it is back on
regards, Adam Bradley


On Friday, August 13, 2004 at 9:13 am, Ivan a. Gargurevich wrote:
>I have a question about Things
>that slow down system bootup:

>
>I have a new Dell Dimension 2400, 128 MB RAM, 40GB hard disc with Intel Pentium 4.
>
>
>I also have experience a slow boot of the system up to 1.5 minutes.
>
>I discussed the matter with Dell. I followed their recommendations in regards to
>the sytem configuration and the registries.
>
>I also looked over the recommendations given in this article.
>
>I also try running a doagnostic program such as Registry Mechanic.
>
>There has been no improvement to the sytem boot up.
>
>I suspect it has to do with the installation of the Norton Antivirus program and
>Earthlink Total Access Internet software.
>
>It would seem to me at this point that the only option is to spend more money and
>upgrade the memory.

[Reply or follow-up to this message]

I have ran WinXP on a 200Mhz with 128Meg RAM with no startup problems. The system started up faster than Win ME. So I feel this is a software/hardware/driver issue (not RAM issue). Try to uninstall what you feel is the problem. Also try to uninstall what you don't need. And also try to see if Dell has updated drivers for your system. If there is then download and install them. If that doesn't work try to reinstalling WinXP with Dell's Restore CD. If that doesn't work try to clean install with Dell's Restore CD and install the newest drivers. If that does not work, then try to see if Dell would swap machines for you. Or see if Dell would check out the machine for you. For this maybe a hardware issue.


On Friday, August 13, 2004 at 9:13 am, Ivan a. Gargurevich wrote: Things that slow down system bootup
>I have a new Dell Dimension 2400, 128 MB RAM, 40GB hard disc with Intel Pentium 4.
>I also have experience a slow boot of the system up to 1.5 minutes.
>I discussed the matter with Dell. I followed their recommendations in regards to
>the sytem configuration and the registries.
>I also looked over the recommendations given in this article.
>
>I also try running a doagnostic program such as Registry Mechanic.
>
>There has been no improvement to the sytem boot up.
>
>I suspect it has to do with the installation of the Norton Antivirus program and
>Earthlink Total Access Internet software.
>
>It would seem to me at this point that the only option is to spend more money and
>upgrade the memory.

[Reply or follow-up to this message]

I had the same problem with a Compaq notebook computer I purchased a couple months ago. It was a 2.4 Ghz P4 and 256Mb of ram and it took about 2-3 minutes to start completely. I though this was absurd for a new system with 2.4 Ghz processor. The way I fixed this issue, and in my opinion is was the best fix, was to start completely over with a new OS. I deleted the partition on the hard drive, created a new partition, format, and started over. I used the recovery discs that came with the computer. One contained the XP Home OS. This blew me away! No extra crap on the OS.... Just the essentials, as it should be! The second disk labeled "driver recovery disk" was then loaded to install all the necessary drivers. To my surprise, this disk contained all the companion software (a.k.a. CRAP) that was slowing down my system. After a fresh and stripped down OS, current driver install, Windows updates, and only the software I wanted... My system now starts in about 30 seconds and shuts down even faster. The key is to find a way of formatting and re-installing the OS without all the Crap. This was not possible on my home PC because the recovery disk is on a separate partition on the Hard Drive. When you do the recovery from that partition, it puts all the factory companion software and junk right back on. I guess if this is the case, you could try uninstalling every program you don't need and clean up your hard drive with utilities.

[Reply or follow-up to this message]

The new Dell's are shipped with a bunch of stuff that automatically runs on startup - there's even a Java update notification from Sun! Run msconfig and the last tab should show you what is set to run on startup. Look these up on Sysinfo and uncheck the ones that you don't need. Norton 2004 is a real hog though if you're running that. Restart after you uncheck the programs you don't want to run and it should be faster.


On Friday, August 13, 2004 at 9:13 am, Ivan a. Gargurevich wrote:
>I have a question about Things
>that slow down system bootup:

>
>I have a new Dell Dimension 2400, 128 MB RAM, 40GB hard disc with Intel Pentium 4.
>
>
>I also have experience a slow boot of the system up to 1.5 minutes.
>
>I discussed the matter with Dell. I followed their recommendations in regards to
>the sytem configuration and the registries.
>
>I also looked over the recommendations given in this article.
>
>I also try running a doagnostic program such as Registry Mechanic.
>
>There has been no improvement to the sytem boot up.
>
>I suspect it has to do with the installation of the Norton Antivirus program and
>Earthlink Total Access Internet software.
>
>It would seem to me at this point that the only option is to spend more money and
>upgrade the memory.

[Reply or follow-up to this message]

Dear Terry: I think your comments are quite correct. I am no expert on this. But I ended up re-installing Windows XP, the drivers, and applications on my computer. It now starts annd reboots the way it should, and performs much faster. Thank you.


On Friday, August 13, 2004 at 9:20 pm, Terry G. wrote:
>I had the same problem with a Compaq notebook computer I purchased a couple months
>ago. It was a 2.4 Ghz P4 and 256Mb of ram and it took about 2-3 minutes to start
>completely. I though this was absurd for a new system with 2.4 Ghz processor.
>The way I fixed this issue, and in my opinion is was the best fix, was to start completely
>over with a new OS. I deleted the partition on the hard drive, created a new partition,
>format, and started over. I used the recovery discs that came with the computer.
> One contained the XP Home OS. This blew me away! No extra crap on the OS.... Just
>the essentials, as it should be! The second disk labeled "driver recovery disk"
>was then loaded to install all the necessary drivers. To my surprise, this disk
>contained all the companion software (a.k.a. CRAP) that was slowing down my system.
> After a fresh and stripped down OS, current driver install, Windows updates, and
>only the software I wanted... My system now starts in about 30 seconds and shuts
>down even faster. The key is to find a way of formatting and re-installing the
>OS without all the Crap. This was not possible on my home PC because the recovery
>disk is on a separate partition on the Hard Drive. When you do the recovery from
>that partition, it puts all the factory companion software and junk right back on.
> I guess if this is the case, you could try uninstalling every program you don't
>need and clean up your hard drive with utilities.

[Reply or follow-up to this message]

I'm glad to hear all is well. Keep learning from this board. It has saved my butt more than once. There are so many people here that know so much more than you and I. It's a great resource! Terry G.

[Reply or follow-up to this message]

Adding extra RAM would deffenitley improve your start up time, i disagree with that guy who said more ram wouldnt make a difference, lol yeah right


On Friday, August 13, 2004 at 10:49 am, phantom wrote:
>

>I doubt putting in more memory will help in the boot speed, but Xp runs better with
>at least 512mb. 128mb is purported to be the absolute minimum, and doesn't work too
>well. Start, run type in "services.msc" without the quotes and disable services that
>you don't need or use. Black Viper has some extensive coverage on what can be disabled.
>
>http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

[Reply or follow-up to this message]

How is more RAM going to improve my startup time when I have a maximum memory usage of about 400 MB during boot, and 512 MB of RAM? Adam is right on track--above 512, assuming you have trimmed out unnecessary junk, the bottleneck is the hard drive seek time for reading required files, not virtual memory.

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