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Old 05-09-2015, 02:51 PM   #1
Mudchild
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Default My computer takes SO LONG to boot it's not even funny

I clicked restart about 20 minutes ago, and I'm just about reaching the point now where I can start using the thing. Ridiculous. windows 7, quad core, 8gb RAM. Works ok generally, but the startup time is a nightmare. I have been though some process disabling exercises in the past, and I use ccleaner to make sure I havent got a ton of shit starting up. I do have a few things admittedly, avast, crash plan, box, comodo, little else. Can't be right surely? Anyone got any good tips on this?

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Old 05-09-2015, 03:07 PM   #2
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Is the computer performing a antivirus scan on boot? That could possibly explain the long boot time.


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Old 05-09-2015, 03:46 PM   #3
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does your computer have a so called "UEFI"-bios?
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Old 05-09-2015, 03:53 PM   #4
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Hi both - no indication of a virus scan happening, and no UEFI (just googled that, never heard of it - this PC is a few years old admittedly)
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Old 05-10-2015, 01:39 AM   #5
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Check msconfig for startup entries you don't need, and double check the services. Then poke around through the BIOS and see if there is any setting to do a memory test or a long post message or anything weird on boot. Then maybe try booting to a different hard drive, or different HDD host port I guess.

It does sound bizarrely long, even for an old machine. I have an old 3GB machine from god knows when, that still starts up way way faster than that.
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Old 05-10-2015, 02:02 AM   #6
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Did you restart since and did the bootup time change? Could be the OS was installing updates or doing other maintenance work planned for a reboot.
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Old 05-10-2015, 07:12 AM   #7
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How long since you did a full defrag on your system drive? I went from a four minute start down to a 30 second start after my last defrag. I didn't realize that a couple of years had passed since I did it last. On Win 7 also, but no services disabled. Just the usual things like turning off sleep and keeping drives running.
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Old 05-10-2015, 07:38 AM   #8
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Prior to boot up, you may want to try disconnecting any non-essential hardware - audio interface, usb/firewire devices, midi - controller, external hdd, etc just to be sure its not one of these as your source.

Also, in Device Manager, any yellow "!" showing for a device?

Every once in a while, my RME (I think) seems to cause a problem with long restarts and slow HDD access - restarting usually doesn't clear it - I actually have to power off everything, including my PC and wait for a minute. That always fixes my problem.
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Old 05-10-2015, 07:43 AM   #9
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Turn off unneccessary programs from starting up on boot.
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Old 05-10-2015, 11:51 AM   #10
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Maybe a dying harddisk? Anything noticable in system and application log?
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Old 05-10-2015, 12:38 PM   #11
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Simple question : are you sure that there are no animals (virus ) on your machine ?
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Old 05-10-2015, 12:47 PM   #12
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Switching from using a HDD to an SSD would help a lot with startup time, and generally making your operating system "snappier"/faster.

Other than that I would suggest a complete wipe and reinstall. Backup everything you need, and then start fresh - if you can. Buying an SSD would be the perfect way to do this.
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Old 05-10-2015, 02:52 PM   #13
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SDD boots way faster than HDD, but the difference is never 20 minutes. there are other reasons at work than a slow-ish boot-HDD.

most of the times when startup is extremely delayed then it is because Windows is looking for something or repairing something, sometimes Windows repairs things that are not broken.

can you throw a quick look on the environment variables? are your settings for hibernate-, sleep-, page- & swap-file ok? are the settings correct? is your C:\-drive lacking enough empty space? is your registry corrupted or not?

have a look at the drive-management of Windows to make sure your C:\-drive is active, healthy and your boot-drive.

have a look into the BIOS, is your C:\drive your first bootable item or is it your DVD and do you have a DVD in the drive?
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Old 05-10-2015, 03:59 PM   #14
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What anti-virus are you using?

In my experience anti-virus's are notorious for slowing machines waaaaay doooown.
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Old 05-10-2015, 04:23 PM   #15
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LOL OP is getting a lot of advice on this one!

Nothing I can say that hasn't been already.
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Old 05-10-2015, 04:25 PM   #16
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to add ...

Look to see if your Drives are using Windows 'Indexing'. Each drive will have this option. It is used to log every file on the drive to help speed up a user search.

A hint ... if your hardrive light shows constant activity [or a lot], this 'feature' can really slow things down. I've turned this OFF since Win95.
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Old 05-10-2015, 04:47 PM   #17
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BTW, while all these suggestions are very good, most don't consider a 20 minute boot that suddenly started happening.

For example if the hard drive is too full it can cause this, but it would happen suddenly not gradually.

If it was a warm boot that hung I'd shut the power down and do a cold boot. If it hangs again I'd do a cold boot into safe mode.
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Old 05-10-2015, 08:15 PM   #18
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Did you look in the application or system log in event viewer? The boot routine (some of it) is logged in the system log and some in the application log with timestamps. There may either be an error or warning revealing the culprit, or a suspicious gap in timestamps.

The other obvious check is when you are doing all the waiting, is the drive light churning or does it sit there only illuminating after fairly long pauses? That alone will tell you if it is scanning or other disk activity vs waiting on some other non-disk resource. That is unless for some reason the disk isn't answering but if that were the case you'd likely see the delays after it fully booted.
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Old 05-22-2015, 08:54 AM   #19
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Hi guys

I've been conspicuous by my absence - sorry about that. just wanted to say thanks to everyone who chipped in on this! Very helpful. I'm quite busy but am working my way through the suggestions. Will report back.

Thanks again

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Old 05-22-2015, 04:46 PM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Aymara View Post
Maybe a dying harddisk?
My vote for a look-see. I accidentally overheated a C: HDD and a glacial boot time is what I have now due to trashed system files.

Building an all-new rig as a consequence.
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Old 05-22-2015, 04:48 PM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by whiteaxxxe View Post
does your computer have a so called "UEFI"-bios?
I'm shopping for a new momboard for Reaper and an awful lot of them have this BIOS.

What's the problem with it?

Thanks...
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Old 05-22-2015, 05:06 PM   #22
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Heh heh, or maybe Mud has a ton of VSTs.
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Old 05-22-2015, 09:51 PM   #23
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Quote:
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What's the problem with it?
The problem is, that BIOS is not 64 bit aware, (U)EFI is. Some variants are dedicated to some boot loaders to avoid malware, which could reduce the OS choice.

That topic requires some research, because it's too complex for the forum.

Fact is BIOS is a firmware system, that was developed in the early 80ies and is no longer suitable for modern hardware and OS.

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Heh heh, or maybe Mud has a ton of VSTs.
Hehe, I see two main potential causes for this horrible boot: hardware or OS defect. The most likely hardware is the HDD and regarding the OS it can be a virus infection or more likely a destroyed registry ... registry cleaners and third party uninstallers usually cause more trouble than they solve.

I would use S.M.A.R.T. tools after a chkdsk to make sure, the HDD is ok and if it is, I would do a Windows clean install and regular backups ... and for sure I wouldn't use tools, I don't fully understand and/or I can't forsee, what they exactly (!) do ... no offence intended! It has a reason, that every company has OS specialists in their IT department.

PS: Never test software on a production system! If you do, you don't need to uninstall For testing install Virtualbox and use a virtual machine. On my Windows notebook you'll only find one software, that I will uninstall sooner or later, games. And even that is history since I use a PS4 ... no more trouble with outdated graphic drivers, DirectX, etc.
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Old 05-22-2015, 10:42 PM   #24
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Bet he has shit load up programs set to start on startup.Probably some programs scanning on boot.20 minutes is a stupid long time to boot.Probably unneeded system services set to automatic that are taking for ever for some reason. Maybe windows doing a hard drive check for errors.
I know a guy like that.Installs shit left and right and programs get added to start menu and his PC takes for ages to start.
I keep mine light and snappy.Disable all unneeded services.Make sure nothing is set to start at start up.I dont even use anti virus live protection.I just use Clam AV and scan shit when I download it as need be.
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Old 05-23-2015, 04:30 AM   #25
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Aymara View Post
On my Windows notebook you'll only find one software, that I will uninstall sooner or later, games. And even that is history since I use a PS4 ... no more trouble with outdated graphic drivers, DirectX, etc.
Can a PS4 system be used as a recording machine?
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Old 05-23-2015, 10:50 AM   #26
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Can a PS4 system be used as a recording machine?
Hehe ... well, many folks have an allround PC and not a dedicated DAW. And gaming causes many system changes regularly.
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Old 05-23-2015, 11:17 AM   #27
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Hehe ... well, many folks have an allround PC and not a dedicated DAW. And gaming causes many system changes regularly.
What I mean is it possible to use a PS4 or PS3 as a dedicated DAW? Is there any reason that prohibits it?
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Old 05-23-2015, 12:27 PM   #28
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What I mean is it possible to use a PS4 or PS3 as a dedicated DAW? Is there any reason that prohibits it?
You could install Linux on the first generation PS3 and so would have been able to use it as a DAW, yes. But with a later firmware update this feature was cancelled. Many people have been upset with Sony's decision, because some people used a dual boot between Linux and the gaming OS ... btw ... several universities built clusters of several Linux based PS3s ... the cheapest clusters available at that time

Second gen PS3 and PS4 have only a dedicated gaming OS and it's not possible to change that. You are only able to install some apps like Youtube.

I think some barebone PCs, e.g. Zotac, are a nice alternative, in opposition to the new Mac Mini, which is no longer available with a quad core, only i5 ... and it's also very expensive in comparison.
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Old 05-24-2015, 03:39 PM   #29
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mudchild View Post
I clicked restart about 20 minutes ago, and I'm just about reaching the point now where I can start using the thing. Ridiculous. windows 7, quad core, 8gb RAM. Works ok generally, but the startup time is a nightmare. I have been though some process disabling exercises in the past, and I use ccleaner to make sure I havent got a ton of shit starting up. I do have a few things admittedly, avast, crash plan, box, comodo, little else. Can't be right surely? Anyone got any good tips on this?

Thanks
Sound like malware from advertisers, they seem to think your computer is theirs to install anything they feel like.
Erase your hard disk and reinstall windows 7.
Also an SSD would give your computer a boost in performance.
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Old 05-25-2015, 12:26 AM   #30
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Quote:
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Erase your hard disk and reinstall windows 7 ...
... and never go online with an user account, that is a member in the administrators group.

The best malware protection is useless, when you surf the WWW with an administrator account, especially when Flash and Java is installed.
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