WinXp bootup

[bhath19]

I have WinXP Pro and recently noticed that it is at the Welcome screen for almost a minute, it used to just display it for only 2-3 seconds. Now, when it is at the screen the HDD light doesn't really light up very much (I don't think it's reading the HDD when it should be), but then after almost a minute is goes past the screen and everything works normally. I don't know what to do. Any ideas?

[Droppyale]

defrag your HD lately?


hmm

Are you on a LAN? What have you installed recently? Do the Ad-aware/Spybot S&D boogy.

[HeadBand]

check if mabey alot of processes are running when it starts

this is most likley related to adware/spyware

you should run fully upgraded ad-aware/spybot and also an anti-virus, if you dont have one avg is a good free one

[kevinss]

Wrong on all counts.

This issue is related to the Windows Prefetch function. When applications are installed (and subsequently started), Windows creates a file for each executable in the C:\WINDOWS\Prefetch directory that details what libraries the program loads, and in what order.

This enables Windows to load the libraries before the application actually starts, allowing the program to fetch its libs from the filesystem cache rather than reading them off disk every time.

In theory, this speeds up program start time. In practice, it simply moves all of your waiting to the time before the program starts instead of as it's starting. Kind of stupid.

There is one solution, and one solution only. You must also make a choice as to whether or not you'd like to implement a permanent fix, based on your system config and needs.

The solution (quite simply) is to delete all of the files in the C:\WINDOWS\Prefetch directory. Reboot. Notice now much faster it starts.

If you want this to be permanent, you must disable your Task Scheduler service. Windows has several 'hidden' tasks that run from the Task Scheduler; this is one of them. There isn't a way that I'm aware of to disable any particular one.

If you disable your Task Scheduler service, any scheduled tasks you have configured won't run (antivirus scans, disk cleanups, defrags, etc). If you haven't configured anything or are vigilant enough to run your own virus scans and updates, this isn't an issue.

If you want information on how to disable the task scheduler, just ask. I imagine you probably already know how to.

[kevinss]

Originally posted by HeadBand
check if mabey alot of processes are running when it starts

this is most likley related to adware/spyware

you should run fully upgraded ad-aware/spybot and also an anti-virus, if you dont have one avg is a good free one

Adware/spyware doesn't load with the system; it loads with the shell. The system start is protected by WFP, and I don't think any spyware authors are intelligent enough to write working shaded "driver files" for the OS. That surely would be spiffy, though (you know, in that sick sort of way).