XP Pro Boot times...

[tockki]

I am wondering... I've been noticing that it takes a bit longer to boot up my T60 lately - so I did the regular steps like the ones in http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/usin ... eperf.mspx and also disabling some of the startups using http://www.sysinfo.org/startuplist.php as a reference.

I have been averaging 2 minutes and 15 secs for complete boot.

Power on = Time 0 sec.
Power on to Welcome screen: 35 sec.
Welcome screen to desktop screen: 1 min. 15 sec.
Complete loading of applications: 2 min. 15 sec.

Strange thing about it is that the loading of the welcome screen has increased times many times fold compared to the earlier weeks where the welcome screen just flick on for couple seconds and then proceeded to the desktop/task screen.

(I am using a 7200 harddrive with 2 Megs of Ram... with a 7400 Processor.)

I am wondering what the boot times are for you guys (to have an idea for a reference) and whether anyone might have an explanation and a fix for the increased screen time of the "welcome screen"

PS. I realize that due to the immense difference of applications of others times will vary... I guess I just wanted to focus more on the welcome screen.

[tockki]

Another things is that I just don't understand how my dell desktop dimension 5300 still boots up windows way faster than my thinkpad. Similar applications are in there... I really like the thinkvantage software but is it really that heavy?

[Crunch]

Do you have a lot of applications that are set to automatic startup, meaning every time you start XP??

[Marin85]

Some Lenovo apps can significantly increase the startup times of windows installations. A few to mention here are R&R, SU (both mainly because of the tvt services associated with them, one can disable /set to manual start these from within services.msc, alternatively one can set SU to manual update and hence no need to start with windows), CSS, PM. ATI CCC can be a startup hog as well.
Also, windows generally tends to become slower at startup over time (even with good maintenance) due to M$ upadates (which of course doesn´t mean one shouldn´t update). There are also programs like winamp, skype, icq etc that like to put themselves in the startup menu of windows.
For reference, my Vista needs about 40-50 secs to boot up to a level of usability (i.e. you can start browsing with Firefox). Without ATI CCC and Lenovo PM enabled at startup Vista needs about 10 secs less.
As for XP, after upgrading from Toshiba 120 GB 5400rpm to the much faster Hitachi 7K200 I experimented once installing XP with SP3 slipstreamed. It toke it less than 30 secs to boot up to a level of usability (I´m not sure about the exact time, but I remember the XP load bar "loaded" 2 time and then I saw the desktop and could immediately start browsing, but that was of course on a fresh install). In any case, even "only" 2 minutes for XP to start up would be far too much for a configuration like yours.
Updates, installing, uninstalling, reinstalling, inproper tweaking and similar could make windows search for something at startup that cannot be found.
If you post some kind of a list of your programs as well as of your startup items in msconfig, we might be able to help you out

Cheers

Marin

EDIT: Desktops are in general faster than laptops. And yes, TV software could be heavy (depends on which programs in which versions). If you like it, you don´t have to remove it, only to tweak it a bit where possible

[tockki]

Here is the list I have running (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE (all uses) Run registry key:

ACTray
ACWLIcon
AwaySch
BLOG
BluetoothAuthentication
ccApp
cssauth
DLA
EZEJMNAP
GrooveMonitor
MSPY2002
PHIME2002A
PHIME2002ASync
PWRMGRTR
SoundMAX
SoundMAXPnP
SynTPEnh
SynTPLpr
TP4EX
TPFNF7
TPHOTKEY
TPKMAPHELPER
TpShocks
TVT Scheduler Proxy
vptray

What other things should I get rid of?

[Pascal_TTH]

http://www.bahamassecurity.com/eeepc/BootTimer.exe

http://forum.tt-hardware.com/fichiers/u ... 125116.png

Add bios init time witch is about 10 seconds.

[Marin85]

What other things should I get rid of?

Just getting rid of things can make it even worse So, just stay cool for now (and try to reboot less as it would make you nervous ). Now seriously onto the matter:
1. I would keep AC. It´s a nice piece of software and simply uninstalling it will increase your startup time (because it will make windows search for these things that cannot be found )
2. AwaySch refers to the Away Manager (if I remember correctly). The program itself doesn´t really provide any surplus in functionality (at least in my opinion) as one can do all these things manually. So, you can disable this item (or even remove the whole program). I believe just disabling the item won´t break the program as its scheduling is based on the TVT that can be found at the end of your list.
3. I have always disabled any bluetooth entries in msconfig in XP, but I also remember I once had an issue with bluetooth disappeared. I don´t believe disabling BluetoothAuthentication would cause any problems, but you had better leave it like this for now, I´m really not sure about that. Maybe someone with XP could shed some light on this.
4. If I remember correctly, ccApp is a part from Norton Antivirus. It´s not a good idea to disable it. If Norton is not your preference for AV at any rate, you could uninstall it and go for something else (free or paid). You can search the forum, there are here quite many discussions about that. Norton is known for startup delays! (The same applies to the vptray entry).
5. If you want to keep CSS, don´t touch cssauth. Disabling the entry would make you unable to log on.
6. DLA is no problem, but if I was you, I would go for another burning software.
7. EasyEject is a minimal starup hog. Disabling its entry will make it unusable and you would benefit only 1-2 secs from that. So, if you don´t want it, you will be better off with removing it entirely (I personally like EasyEject feature as it´s hotkey).
8. Groove is part of Office 2007 tools, it´s something about synchronization. I think it´s safe to experiment with disabling the entry.
9. According to google MSPY2002 and PHIME are part of M$ language support and can be hence safely disabled. I think the corresponding feature can be manually enabled when needed. You can try out disabling these.
10. tp4ex is Alt + F8 utility. I prefer not to install it, so this key combination then calls mouse properties where I can adjust everything (not just on/off). Keep it or get rid of it is purely a matter of taste
11. TPFNF7 is probably the presentation director onscreen. If you like the program, leave the entry as it is, otherwise remove the whole program.
12. TVT Scheduler Proxy is relevant for System Update, R&R and Away Manager. I don´t use R&R (as it is not that productive to me), if I keep SU, I update manually, and I don´t need Away Manager, so in this case I can safely disable it. (A side note: you see there are sometimes more complex dependecies, so it´s all up to what you want to keep and what you want to get rid of.) Also, in services.msc (windows key+r -> type services.msc) you would probably find some more TVT... services. These are also startup hogs, but I don´t remember which one refers to what.

Do not remove these entries from the registry as you may make your XP install unusable! You only have to uncheck these entries in msconfig (windows key + r ->msconfig)!

Good luck and post back

Marin

EDIT: I just realized, it´s windows key, not ctrl

[sktn77a]

Go to Start>Settings>control Panel>add/remove programs. Delete anything you don't use. Check in here if you're not sure.

Go to Start>run>MSconfig. Delete any start up items you don't want (check here again, if you're not sure). I wouldn't mess directly with the registry unless you really know what you're doing.

Norton AV usually scans at startup and that can slow things down significantly.

[sarbin]

1. I would keep AC. It´s a nice piece of software and simply uninstalling it will increase your startup time (because it will make windows search for these things that cannot be found )

what things?
ac is one of the first items i uninstall and i've never had slower boot-ups because of it.

[tockki]

I figured what the heck and download the BootTimer program...
I ran it and

Boot time: 36 sec
Desktop: 47 sec
User init: 53 sec

Running processes: 56
C:/pagefile.sys 2046 4092

Boot Score: 11.2

Seems that the boottimer program doesn't take into effect the programs that are loading once the Desktop is shown... (But thanks for the program ^^)

I used "Startup" program by Mike Lin to toggle the registries on/off. I used the list which was very informative about the processes! Thanks Marin!

Using boottimer, it show that I have 56 running processes... Is that the norm?

Barely made a dent in the secs... maybe 5 sec at best?
Hmm... I searched further on the "prolonged welcome screen" and really haven't found a valid excuse... Wonder if anyone knows what types of programs are loaded during the "welcome" screen. Maybe that may help...

Appreciate all who have replied...

[sarbin]

Using boottimer, it show that I have 56 running processes... Is that the norm?

i've got 38 running right now and that includes a software firewall (2 procs), antivirus (2 procs), firefox, thunderbird, excel, media player, a disk monitor (2 procs), task manager and an ethernet bandwidth meter. i tend to be quite aggressive with setting up my startups, though.

[tockki]

About AC I like the program with it's peer to peer community program... I can see by lguessing at the loadup time via the taskbar that the program would take some time... but I think the program is worth it....

[Marin85]

Wonder if anyone knows what types of programs are loaded during the "welcome" screen. Maybe that may help...

Norton, CSS and RR usually have the longest startup times (there must have been a program from NeoSmart that gives a nice overview of the "share" of each process at the startup delay, it was for Vista though, but AFAIK it worked in XP too, maybe someone knows the name of it...), so I´m pretty sure that these 3 are present during the welcome screen (but I really have no idea what is the corresponding process called). Actually, what you should be looking for, is rather how long it takes which process to load during startup. That´s why I think it this utility might be helpful to you.

Cheers

Marin

[Marin85]

About AC I like the program with it's peer to peer community program... I can see by lguessing at the loadup time via the taskbar that the program would take some time... but I think the program is worth it....

Believe me, from all preloaded Lenovo stuff AC is your smallest problem


EDIT: There is a tool by M$ called BootVis (=Boot Visualization) that can monitor the boot process for XP. However, it has quite controversial fortune as it was believed at some stage that this tool caused more problems than it solved (I don´t have that experience with it...) and so it was eventually discontinued by M$. One can still find it here. It also presents an option for fast boot, but it works just once, means afterwarrds you have to set it up again. Also there is another program called TweakXP or XPTweak v1.5 (being the last version of it) or something like this that has an option for rearranging the boot files for "utrafast boot" and there are people having reported success with that (unlike the vast majority of stupid tuning, tweaking or whatever XP tools). I don´t recommend using any such programs!