How long in average does it take for x220 to comletely boot?

[petko8680]

hi there,
i have x220 i5 2520M with 4GB RAM. When it's turned on till the moment it's comletely booted up it takes an average of 3-4 min. Takes quite long between Starting Windows screen and the desktop screen. Is that normal or not as i re-install the OS for second time and almost no difference. cheers

[Cigarguy]

The biggest factor on boot time is HDD speed. If you got a 5400 rpm spinner that'd be the slowest but 3-4 min is awfully slow even for a 5400 rpm drive. I don't have a X220 but do have a X60T and X201 with a SSD in each. The X60T boots up in about 45 seconds and under 30 seconds for the X201. Of course the number of programs you are loading at start is a factor. My startup load is "normal" if I were to classify it.

[petko8680]

Yeah, it's a 5400 rpm, but as you said it's very slowly. Any idea why?

[redburgundy]

Run msconfig and see what programs automatically start at bootup.
Uncheck those that you don't need.

[petko8680]

I've done that last week, but no change. Do you think it might be a hardware issue?

[Cigarguy]

There's seem to be an issue somewhere. We need to know a lot more history and info from you. Such as machine type, HDD size, speed, OS and did this occur recently. If this occur recently what changed?

I would start looking at HDD speed and driver issues. Beg, borrow or steal a faster HDD or SSD from someone and see. I highly recommend a SSD. Keep in mind whatever HDD/SSD you use, chances are you are going to wipe it clean by installing a OS over it.

[Bánh mì]

Unhide the boot partition and defrag/optimize that might help. 3 to 4 mins is too long with any kind of HDD. Your unit should have EE but even without it seems a snails pace.

[petko8680]

Hi,
I bought it couple o weeks go( second hand/used) and immediately wiped the HDD and did fresh OS install as wasn't sure what might be install on it( spyware, malware etc.). Machine type is 4291, HDD 320GB 5400rpm, OS win 7 Ultimate 64bit. Actually machine is not upgraded or something. It i in same condition as it ws when bought from Lenovo. No modifications made.
BTW Only boot up is slow. After boot up everything is running fine according to me

#Banh Mi- how to "Unhide the boot partition and defrag/optimize" as i am not sure how to do it.

[Cigarguy]

I'm thinking it's just the slow HDD. When you get a chance upgrade to a SSD, that beauty deserve that and watch her fly.

[Puppy]

A bit over half a minute, the same configuration as yours. I don't use any antivirus software and removed most of bloatware. Also remove Lenovo RapidBoot Shield since it is no longer supported http://support.lenovo.com/maintenance.h ... D=HT075364

[petko8680]

Well, I do have an antivirus actually, but can that be so fatal? BTW what's "bloatware". At startup only skype, utorrent and three INTEL apps are loading...

[Cigarguy]

Bloatware is anything that is loaded on your system but is not needed. Most come factory installed from the manufacturer. Some software (like McAfee and Norton) are just resource pigs and IMO are bloatware. When getting a new or new to me used machine I always prefer a fresh OS install then only install those software that I find useful.

[petko8680]

That's what I did as well. But even after fresh install it boots up slowly. BTW the link in your first post seems not working. So you think it is definitely an software issue and not a hardware one?

[Cigarguy]

If it seems to be working fine once the OS is load, then I think you just have a slow HDD. I highly doubt it's a HW problem.

[tim S]

Uncheck ALL startup programs in msconfig and reboot and see if that makes any difference.

The OS re-install you did, was it from the restore partition or from an OS CD?
If it was from the restore partition, then Lenovo adds a ton of 'stuff' that you don't necessarily need.

Disable your anti virus and see if that makes a difference. McAfee and Norton are hogs, they check
everything on boot up. Microsoft Security Essentials is much better in that regard and it's free too!

I have an X200 tablet with an SSD and Windows 8 (32bit). My boot time is on the order of 25 seconds
including swiping a fingerprint reader password!

Tim S

[petko8680]

I did a fresh install from a USB flash drive as I don't have an external DVD ROM. I disabled everything on startup, but no difference. I am start thinking of a windows issue and i will most probably do a new install this evening. I onyl haven't tried that boot partition defragment as I don't know how to ddo it.
BTW what's best win 7 version(Home, Home Premium, Ultimate, etc) to install?

[tim S]

Without question get Windows 8. The speed of the new OS coupled with the upgrade
price of $40.00 (in the US) make it a no brainer.
Luckily there are free start button add-on programs available for the desktop which
make it pretty much a Windows 7 machine except faster.

Tim S

[Bánh mì]

I PM ed you on how to do the boot defrag. Too lazy 2 copy it here again. BTW antivirus and firewalls should be the last thing you would want to disable just to speed up things. The risk/reward ratio of doing that is not in your favor should malware be present.

[petko8680]

Can someone tell me which of those services can I stop without having important services stopped as when I stop all of them i don't have WiFi, audio, native taskbar. thanks

[Bánh mì]

Can someone tell me which of those services can I stop without having important services stopped as when I stop all of them i don't have WiFi, audio, native taskbar.

Moderator edit: Excessive quoting snipped.

IMO tinkering with the services is overkill. Just look at MSCONFIG and disable programs you don't use. Leave all Intel, Thinkvantage, mouse, firewall and antivirus and disable the rest for startup. I also think relative to services most of the defaults as set up Lenovo are on delayed start. But the plethora is too many to discuss. If you are that obsessed with faster boot and start then why not just go into recovery mode after backing up your data?

[petko8680]

I am not that obsessed about it, but the thing that most of the people don't have that issue makes me think how to fix it. BTW what do you mean by "going into recovery mode"?

[Neil]

Did your fresh Win7 install boot fast when first installed, before you added any applications? I mean just after install...before adding AV, uTorrent and whatever else you mentioned above.

What is the slowest part of the boot process? Does it stay a long time on the Windows splash?

And what is the full seven character type number for this ThinkPad?

[Bánh mì]

I am not that obsessed about it, but the thing that most of the people don't have that issue makes me think how to fix it. BTW what do you mean by "going into recovery mode"?

What I meant is recovering your Thinkpad to factory shipped state using the hidden parition or the CDs assuming you have any and/or didn't nuke the hidden partition. I think you are missing the EE settings and that is the main culprit.
Can also try this hack. lol
http://www.nextofwindows.com/speed-up-w ... -start-up/

This reminds me of people hot rodding a Hyundai til the point the engine blows up trying to get it to run like a Porsche. Just let it be. Few seconds wont change the outcome of any work done on your Thinkpad. lol

[petko8680]

Did your fresh Win7 install boot fast when first installed, before you added any applications? I mean just after install...before adding AV, uTorrent and whatever else you mentioned above.

What is the slowest part of the boot process? Does it stay a long time on the Windows splash?

And what is the full seven character type number for this ThinkPad?

Hi,
before adding any other software, boot time was about 45secs.( i only installed some drivers, but no additional software.) machine type is 4291-5cg
Slowest part is when I see the Welcome message. It stays like that for about 30 secs or more and than i have a black screen with mouse cursor for another minute or so. Sometimes it stays for a while at the Starting Windows screen( the one with windows logo/flag).

#Bánh mì Unfortunately I don't have the recovery CD and I haven't done any image of it as laptop was bought as used and no CD/DVD was offered with it. That's why I can't restore to factory( I also thought about this, but no CD )

BTW might that hack be harmful for the thinkpad?

[Neil]

Eliminating the GUI during boot won't to any harm to your hardware, but probably won't significantly change your boot time either.

My guess is that your anti-virus app is doing a boot sector scan (or more) every time you boot. I recently had to make a change from one AV app to a different one because of issues that was really crippling my machine. I recommend that you completely un-install the anti-virus, and just see if that solves the problem. If it does (and I think it will), find a better (or at least different) anti-virus app to use instead.

[petko8680]

I might see and try later on today. Thing is that i am using the same AV on my desktop PC and don't have that problem, but might be because it's a desktop after all(hdd speed and other things like that).

[Bánh mì]

I might see and try later on today. Thing is that i am using the same AV on my desktop PC and don't have that problem, but might be because it's a desktop after all(hdd speed and other things like that).

If its is still under warranty maybe you can plea Lenovo to give you a replacement set of CDs or perhaps buy a set. Not sure how that works nowadays but at one point in the past they did sell them on request. Personally I would just leave it be and upgrade to an SSD at some point and all your issues with boot/startup will go away.

[petko8680]

Need to call them and find out as I didn't know they can sell one to me. Thanks

P.S. Any suggestions about an AV?!

[Neil]

P.S. Any suggestions about an AV?!

If it's a PC that I alone will be using, I prefer to use the stuff between my ears to keep malware out of my computer. If I'm setting one up for someone else, or there are going to be multiple users, I prefer using Avast or Microsoft Security Essentials. The settings one uses can also make a big dif in the impact on performance.

[Bánh mì]

See if someone is willing to loan you theirs before buying a set IMO.
BTW have you changed the boot order in the BIOS to have the HDD accessed first?