Computer start up speed with Windows XP

Does anybody know how to speed up the start up of a computer with Windows XP?

After switching my computer on it takes 5-10 minutes before I can actually use it. I know patience is a virtue but it can sometimes be annoying.

Thanks

Check what programs are set to run at start up. The quickest ones to check are in Start->All Programs->Start Menu.

You can also check to see if your antivirus program is doing a startup scan.

If you are happy editing the registry then there are steps that can be taken - but you need to back the registry up first!!

Hi Richard,
There are only a couple of programs in the startup menu. Bluetooth Manager and Adobe Reader.

I am happy editing the registry but I do not know what to change.

Thanks

John

couple of leading questions here:
1) How much memory does the machine have?
2) What security software are you running? Is it Norton Internet Security by any chance?

In the meantime I suggest you download the free verion Superantispyware from http://www.superantispyware.com/download.html and see if it finds any malware

My laptop has 2gb of RAM. I am using Zonealarm firewall and AVG virus scan. I also have spybot search and destroy which I use about once a week.

Thanks

John

then have a look at the system event viewer and see if the hard drive is giving any errors
see http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308427 for how to get into it

I sometimes have to take the hard disk out of a computer and install it as a second hard disk in another computer. I find in some instances if this second hard disk is faulty it can take the computer a very long time to start up. So I think your problem could be down to installed hardware that is going wrong but has not failed completely. If you have anything peripheral you can unplug whilst the computer is starting (printer, external hard drive etc.) I would try that first.

Takr a look at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310560

this takes you through Msconfig, once open take a look under the startup tab, this shows you what applications are loaded at startup.


****However, don't utilize msconfig to disable startup applications. Though it functions as a basic startup manager, msconfig shouldn't be used to alter your PC's auto-start programs, because by doing that you change the registry where there are services that are necessary for hardware and booting. Once you uncheck a service in msconfig, you disable it entirely.

While disabled with msconfig, programs may not be uninstalled properly and orphaned entries often will be left behind.

Switching back to normal startup mode, the orphan entries can result in boot up errors. Msconfig does not list all applications loaded in all possible startup locations, some entry points are hidden and unknown to the user.

Msconfig does not allow the complete removal of disabled entries from its list.

Try Registry Cleaning software this will also help you to speed up the PC.

RegDefense is one of the best and simple to use software. Do the scan of your system to check any problem with your system by going to their website,which is free.

My original comments were directed towards a computer that takes a long time to get to the "Windows is starting up" stage. However that wasn't what John W. said so my second take on this problem is:

A computer that is, say, five years old with 256 Mbytes of RAM running, say, Norton Internet Security, a Hewlett Packard all-in-one printer and Skype could easily take 5-10 minutes before being usable. In such cases you could add extra RAM memory, replace Norton with something with a lighter footprint, disable the option that launches Skype with Windows but you might be better off just saving up for a new computer.

"new computer" is a simplistic answer and may be not welcome to the less well-heeled sections of society. Basically you just need to stop all the start-up options that by default install themselves on your PC and rob it of its resources without your knowledge.
Stop Windows Messenger from starting at boot-up,
Stop Skype,
Stop Google Toolbar,
Stop Yahoo Toolbar,
In fact, stop everything from automatically starting at boot-up, and then just start the programs from the start menu as and when you want to use them. This will improve your boot-up performance and put you back in control of your PC.

Suggesting that a new computer is the best option is no more simplistic than suggesting disabling all the start-up programs will work. Because you will still be stuck with your security software starting automatically and your printer-monitor software starting automatically and on the oldest machines I work on this alone can cause the start-up to take >5 minutes. Particularly if the client is unfortunate enough to be running Norton Internet Security and a Hewlett Packard all-in-one printer.

everyones missing the point with this machine. Its got 2GB of memory, and is running ZoneAlarm not Norton
sounds more like either a malware problem or a hardware faulty - quite probably a disk error. Either way, messing around disabling startup programs is not going to fix it. This machine needs someone to look at it and workout whats going on

Another possibility is that the Disk Controller has set itself into PIO mode instead of DMA. That can make an enormous difference to disk performance. The only cure that I know is to delete both the IDE channels and controller in Device Manager, and reboot. On the restart, they should be redetected and set up correctly.

IIRC, the usual cause is a disk that is having problems, if Windows gets too many bad read s through DMA, it drops back to PIO as more reliable, but about a quarter of the speed.

valid point except I would expect any laptop new enough to ship with 2GB RAM would be SATA
Can a SATA drive emulate PIO?

This is an unusual machine. What laptop do you know that was supplied with Windows XP and 2 GBytes of RAM? It's an almost unheard of combination.

For that matter, who uses ZoneAlarm these days? I hope it's the free firewall-only version and not one of their paid-for products that includes antivirus. Two antivirus programs running on the same computer can slow the computer to a crawl.

But I think Jon is absolutely correct. Someone looking at the machine could quickly hone in on the cause of this problem and in all probability quickly fix it. There are too many possible causes of a slow computer to allow us to offer much more than speculation on this forum.