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My computer is suddenly taking about two minutes to boot


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#1
adifrank

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Hi. A few days ago my computer suddenly started taking forever to completely boot up. I'm running Windows XP (SP3), though it seems that Windows is actually booting normally. It's during the later part of the booting up, when all the programs set to run during boot start up, that the process suddenly hangs.
I'm kind of thinking it has to do with a program called NeoScene by Cineform. There is a process related to NeoScene called CineFormActiveMetadataStatusViewer.exe which is set to run during startup. I've had this software running without problems for about a month on this computer. The reason I have a feeling that this process might be causing the slow bootup is because during what seems to be the lag time which isn't normal - I can see on the bottom of my screen what looks like a minimized window on the taskbar which says Cineform and with the Cineform logo.
This minimized window of Cineform during boot up is familiar, but normally it appears for just about one second whereas now it stays there for nearly two minutes.

If I try to do anything - like open a window, start an application, even open up the Task Manager - while this minimized Cineform window is visible in the taskbar, it will cause the computer to freeze up completely. Then I have no choice but to force a restart. If I wait the minute or two, the minimized Cineform window goes away and I can continue working normally.

Just to clear any questions - I did not install any new software or updates just before this started happening.

I tried restoring Windows to a restore point two days before this started happening but this did not help.

Can someone please help me figure out how to resolve this problem?
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#2
rshaffer61

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The most logical approach is to temporarily halt this program from starting up and seeing if your bootup speeds back up.
To do this you need to get to the Msconfig Startup by doing the following.

Lets see what you have in your startup

Please click on
Start and then to Run
Type in msconfig and press Enter
Now click on Startups
Then uncheck everything that has to do with either CineFormActiveMetadataStatusViewer.exe NeoScene or and restart.
IMPORTANT! In case of laptop, make sure, you do NOT disable any keyboard, or touchpad entries.
If system boots correctly and is running smoothly and faster then we have a startup problem
Try going back into msconfig and check one item and reboot
Keep doing that till you have found the problem or all are finally checked.
Post back with the results
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#3
adifrank

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Hi rshaffer61. Thanks for your reply. I disabled CineFormActiveMetadataStatusViewer.exe from running on boot. This unfortunately did not solve the problem. In fact, now it makes it more difficult to tell when the computer has completed it's long boot process before I start working because now the NeoScene minimized window no longer shows up on the task bar. And if I start to soon, the computer starts to freeze up requiring a reboot and another long wait. I have no idea what is causing this long delay (I may have been mistaken before, it actually takes 3-4 minutes I think). Is there any way to diagnose this?

Thanks! :D
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#4
rshaffer61

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Diagnosing the culprit takes steps and I am going to start with the most logical first.
Have you tried to boot into safe mode and if so does the issue happen there?
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#5
adifrank

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Hey rshaffer61, I booted in Safe Mode. No issues there, and not only that somehow it seems to have fixed the problem! My next boot after having booted in Safe Mode was normal again with no strange lags and delays :D
All I did was:
1. boot in Safe Mode
2. run a quick scan with MalwareBytes - all clean
3. standard clean and registry scan with CCleaner - it dumped the normal temp files and found a few issues in my registry which is standard.
4. then rebooted in standard mode.

I had already tried steps 2 and 3 before booting in Safe Mode and they did not help at all, but without understanding what I was doing or knowing if there's any difference, I decided to run the scans and cleanups again while in Safe Mode.

Bottom line is that my computer is back to normal. But I'm curious - does booting in Safe Mode in itself have some kind of fixing effect on Windows? Or do you think that it was running the cleans and fixes while in Safe Mode that did the trick?

Anyhow, thanks very much for helping!!
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#6
rshaffer61

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Safe mode really is a tech diagnostic area. The clean and fixes may have corrected a hidden issue and that is why it now works. Either way I'm glad it resolved your issue but I will monitor this topic for a few days to make sure.
Congratulations. :D for a successful resolution for your issue.

You are very welcome. I'm glad we could help and please let us know how everything works out for you.
If there is anything else we can do to help please feel free to ask. I appreciate that you allowed me to assist you with your issue and for your patience.
Thank you for choosing GeeksToGo for help. ;) :D
This issue now appears to be resolved.


If other members are reading this and have a similar problem please begin a New Topic and someone will assist you as soon as possible
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