• Very slow startup

    Home » Forums » AskWoody support » Windows » Windows – other » Very slow startup

    Author
    Topic
    #494090

    When turning on my PC the bios stuff shows rather quickly. The next screen says ‘loading system’ something or other. This screen stays around for anywhere from three + minutes before the login page is seen. Sometimes, instead of the login screen there is ‘a disk read error occurred. hit ctrl, alt, delete to restart.’ that does not work all the time. Many times the disk error screen re-appears. Sometimes hitting the reset button on the cpu will get to the login page.

    The process has been going on for some time and I cannot find a solution. Any help is appreciated.

    Viewing 13 reply threads
    Author
    Replies
    • #1447096

      This seems like you have an imminent disk failure. I strongly recommend you backup your system ASAP.

      Have you run chkdsk?

      Joe

      --Joe

    • #1447347

      Have not run chkdsk. What should I be looking for?

      Just ran it and the results are:

      36692-chkdsk

      What does this tell me?

    • #1447348

      Errors that are fixed by chkdsk.

      Have you backed up the system yet? Preferably an image backup.

      Joe

      --Joe

    • #1447429

      I would download CCleaner from Piriform.com and you can use it to easily disable lots of bloatware processes.

      • #1447443

        All good suggestions. Recently I saw a box that had similar problems. The air vents to the box were clogged with dust to the extent that heat was causing a slow down. I’ve seen dirty boxes before, but never one the actually slowed down. Once cleaned, the PC picked back up speed and was fine after that.

        However, don’t avoid the suggestions above. They are valuable and are critical to good computer health.

    • #1447447

      That chkdsk in read-only mode should have given more than that and especially reporting any bad sectors and should have completed by returning to the next command prompt.

      See mine then run it again to see if it will complete.

      The bad sector report will determine if your HDD is or about to fail.

      You can also tap F8 as you switch on and select Repair your Computer to navigate to the Recovery Environment and select Startup Repair.

      Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7601]
      Copyright (c) 2009 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

      C:Windowssystem32>chkdsk
      The type of the file system is NTFS.
      Volume label is WINDOWS.

      WARNING! F parameter not specified.
      Running CHKDSK in read-only mode.

      CHKDSK is verifying files (stage 1 of 3)…
      184064 file records processed.
      File verification completed.
      709 large file records processed.
      0 bad file records processed.
      0 EA records processed.
      60 reparse records processed.
      CHKDSK is verifying indexes (stage 2 of 3)…
      229576 index entries processed.
      Index verification completed.
      0 unindexed files scanned.
      0 unindexed files recovered.
      CHKDSK is verifying security descriptors (stage 3 of 3)…
      184064 file SDs/SIDs processed.
      Security descriptor verification completed.
      22757 data files processed.
      CHKDSK is verifying Usn Journal…
      35010968 USN bytes processed.
      Usn Journal verification completed.
      Windows has checked the file system and found no problems.

      121855999 KB total disk space.
      45973004 KB in 93663 files.
      66532 KB in 22758 indexes.
      0 KB in bad sectors.
      289835 KB in use by the system.
      65536 KB occupied by the log file.
      75526628 KB available on disk.

      4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
      30463999 total allocation units on disk.
      18881657 allocation units available on disk.

      C:Windowssystem32>

    • #1447524

      i agree with JoeP517 about possible hard drive failure. It’s even possible that it’s been brought on due to heavy dust accumulation preventing good ventilation. After you’ve managed to run CHKDSK all the way through it is certainly a good idea to create a system backup image as soon as possible. If you haven’t cleaned inside the computer case in a while you may wish to tackle that first.
      Obtain a can of compressed air from an office supplies store or computer store.
      Shutdown the computer and remove the power cord.
      Double-check that you removed the power cord!
      Unplug other stuff such as network cables, USB devices, etc.
      Remove the side panel (left side if looking at the computer from the front). A philips screwdriver should be the only tool needed.
      Carry the tower outside.
      Use the compressed air (do not shake the can) with its little spout/drinking straw thingy attached and blow air in short bursts onto the cpu heatsink fins, the heatsink fan, and everywhere else including the vent holes of the power supply and any vent/grille on the front panel of the case, too.
      After the dust cloud has cleared and you have sneezed at least twice, carry the tower back indoors and replace the side panel and reconnect all cables and devices.
      Turn on the computer and cross your fingers and hope it boots up.
      Run CCleaner to get rid of accumulated clutter/junk files on your hard drive. Also run the Registry cleaner portion of CCleaner. Follow instructions/prompts to save a backup copy of the Registry (in the unlikely event you should want to restore it later).
      Restart the computer and see if it boots up faster than before.
      Buy an SSD to replace your failing hard drive! Crucial makes a 480GB SSD called the M500. It’s very reliable and can be found for around $229 at Newegg.com or Amazon.com. Also, Staples office supply will price-match an Amazon.com price. That’s less than 50 cents-per-GB which is very competitive for an SSD which supports full disk encryption and enjoys a solid reputation. Also, i just noticed on Newegg.com right this minute they have a PNY Optima 240GB SSD on special for $109.99 (or $99.99 if you bother with a $10 mail-in rebate). Free shipping on that, too.

    • #1447577

      just ran chkdsk again. ‘Boot mgr missing. press ctrl, alt, del to restart. What’s next?

    • #1447580

      Run the Startup Repair as I’ve already suggested and use the other steps in http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2622803 if that doesn’t work, but you can run Startup Repair up to three times should it report that it is unable to auto fix before going onto the other steps.

      Did chkdsk report any bad sectors ?

      FYI – To post the output of a Command window, right click in the text area and click on Select all then press Enter.

      Place the cursor in the Reply box, right click then select Paste.

    • #1447591

      f8 does not work on that pc. once chkdsk has completed it vanishes from the screen as the cmd window closes.

    • #1447616

      It sounds as if there’s still something wrong with your system as the command window shouldn’t close on its own from a read-only chkdsk command.

      What is the make & model of the computer, which OS are you using and do you have an install disk ?

      Open a Command Prompt as an administrator again and enter sfc /scannow and let us know what it reports.

    • #1447621

      AMD II x4 645 3.10GHz, 4gb ram, os 8.1 pro with media center 64 bit

      scannow:

      chkdsk:

    • #1447629

      F8 doesn’t work on Win 8/8.1 because it boots up too quickly, so there are other methods to access Recovery and as I take it you may not have a built in RE, then you would need an install disk to run the Startup Repair as in the previous MS troubleshooting steps for the Boot Mgr repair.

      http://windows.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows-8/windows-startup-settings-including-safe-mode

      http://pcsupport.about.com/od/windows-8/a/open-advanced-startup-options-windows-8.htm

      The sfc /scannow and chkdsk look fine, but it doesn’t answer why the Command window auto closed after the read-only chkdsk, but if it aint broke…..

      Anyway, glad that you are back up and running.

    • #1447650

      The repair disk or install disk will get you to the recovery screens but they do not include a Safe Mode option. To get a recovery screen that leads to a Safe Mode option, Start the boot and hold the Power Off button down to prevent boot completion three times. The third time boot doesn’t complete will get you to a recover screen that will allow you to get to safe mode when you click through the recovery options. Had to do this this week to fix a client’s boot to black screen problem.

      Jerry

      • #1447675

        The repair disk or install disk will get you to the recovery screens but they do not include a Safe Mode option. To get a recovery screen that leads to a Safe Mode option, Start the boot and hold the Power Off button down to prevent boot completion three times. The third time boot doesn’t complete will get you to a recover screen that will allow you to get to safe mode when you click through the recovery options. Had to do this this week to fix a client’s boot to black screen problem.

        Jerry

        How did you discover that trick to enter Safe Mode on Win 8/8.1 ?

    • #1447684

      It was part of a Microsoft KB entry to fix the Windows Black Screen problem. I had also read earlier somewhere on the web but don’t rember where.

      Jerry

    Viewing 13 reply threads
    Reply To: Very slow startup

    You can use BBCodes to format your content.
    Your account can't use all available BBCodes, they will be stripped before saving.

    Your information: