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Windows 7 Takes a long time to boot before login screen


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#1
Leif W.

Leif W.

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Hi,

This may or may not be a problem. I have a brand new Dell XPS 9000. It has Window 7 64-bit Home Premium. It's about 3 weeks old. When I first got the system, upon powering up the system the screen that displays "start Windows" prior to the login screen, would only be up for 6 to 10 seconds. The login screen would then be displayed. Recently, it started taking about 1 minute before going to the login screen. After logging in, the system runs fine. Also, if I select "Restart" from the start menu, only about 6 seconds is spent on the "Start Windows" screen after restarting. It's only if I actually shut down the system and power up, does it stay on the "Start Windows" screen for about 1 minute. During this time I don't see the hard drive light flashing except for the last second or two before the login screen. I'm pretty confident that I don't have any sort of infection. McAfee security center has been running with all options checked since day one. I also have SpywareBlaster installed. Just as a precaution I ran Malwarebytes and everything is clean. I also ran a SuperAntispware scan and, except for a few tracking cookies, no issues.

So what's changed. There has been no hardware changes. Windows Update has installed security updates. McAfee installed an update. I also added a printer that's attached to a Windows XP machine that I have. There may have been other updates installed behind the scenes. I don't recall exactly when this slower start time began in relation to any updates.

This behavior may be normal, but I got used to the quick start time. So my question is this, is this normal behavior? I can live with it, but I was wondering if there are some standard settings that I can check. I'm wondering if a Windows update changed something or if McAfee changed something.

Thanks,
Leif W
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#2
Broni

Broni

    Kraków my love :)

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I assume, since you bought it, you installed some new programs?
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#3
Leif W.

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I assume, since you bought it, you installed some new programs?


Yes. SpywareBlaster, MalwareBytes, VLC Media Player, Microsoft Office 2010 Professional and Company of Heroes.

I had installed SuperAntispyware but it would crash when I tried to run it. I uninstalled it without issue. I then downloaded the portable version and ran that without a problem.

I forgot to mention in my prior post, that the PC came with Adobe reader pre-installed. It updated itself to a newer version. Also, the PC came with a free version of Office that had limited functionality and ads. I uninstalled this version, as I had a full version of Microsoft Office 2010

I'm pretty sure this is all of the software changes.

Thanks,
Leif W.

Edited by Leif W., 18 August 2010 - 08:45 PM.

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#4
Broni

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Well, there you have it.
Probably, some of those programs added themselves as startups and thus the boot time difference.
If there is no dramatic change, it's quite normal.
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#5
Leif W.

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Well, there you have it.
Probably, some of those programs added themselves as startups and thus the boot time difference.
If there is no dramatic change, it's quite normal.


I thought that might be the issue. Does it make sense that the startup time being longer even before I get to the login screen?

Thanks,
Leif W.

P.S. I meant to say thanks for the super fast response!
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#6
Broni

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You're welcome :)
Some modules may be loading before Windows starts.
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#7
Leif W.

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You're welcome :)
Some modules may be loading before Windows starts.



I think I figured out my issue. I thought I'd post the resolution here in case it helps someone else. As I mentioned Adobe Reader updated itself shortly after getting the system. I checked the settings in Adobe. There was a setting to check for updates and automatically download, but let me choose when to install them. I changed this setting to not downlaod and install automatically. Once I did this, my fast startup time returned.

Leif W.
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#8
Broni

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Thank you for posting back :)
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