??? ???
Hope you have got an idea on this one, my PC take about 8 to 10 minutes to start up after i have put the password etc in.
I am running Avast 8.4, Spybot search and destroy and my firewall is Zone Alarm, when the PC decides it has had enough time starting it is OK on the running speed, well I think it is, everything works, its just the starting of the blooming thing!!!
If I try to do something like open email before the PC has decided, everything slows down and sometimes I get the none responsive programme alert come up!
I have kept up to date with all updates of Spybot and Avast and run a weekly full scan which never shows anything other than the odd cookie.
Would appreciate any advice to alleviate this situation.
Many thanks.
Sparks.
Hi…
As a preliminary guess, I would say you either have way too much running in memory (because there is not enough system memory overall) or something is scanning or doing a job during those 8 to 10 minutes.
What are your system specs? Also, to rule out malware, run a scan here using Internet Explorer…
http://www.ewido.net/en/onlinescan/
You may need to accept an ActiveX control to use the service. Delete anything it finds, particularly any entries highlighted with a red circle. Please post a log if you get any results other than tracking cookies.
Additionally, here is a program to view in more detail what you have running in memory. It might help you in determining what’s going on…
http://www.download.com/Process-Explorer/3000-2094_4-10223605.html?hhTest=1
Best Regards…
CCleaner might help get rid of some of the junk you may have accumulated over the years. As mentioned above, too many processes may be starting up for the amount of memory that you have.
In XP/Vista, is there any useful information into Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Events, specially ‘Errors’?
Some hardware failure could be responsible to long time to boot…
xp- darn
I thought you must have Windows 2000
how much memory?
something timing out?
which version of spybot?
Top left of spybot MODE>ADVANCED>TOOLS>RESIDENT
if checked turn off one at a time t-timer sd-helper which version of spybot?
all great ideas report everything you do so there is a trail
hack hack
try DrWeb Cure it
post that EWIDO log here
update avast and the next time you have some time before you have to use the computer run a boot time scan (rt click on the ball)
Did this long startup commence after an avast prog update? Avast is known to be incompatible with some other software.
Thanks for all the replies.
I tried to download ewido, but it said I had not got ActiveX enabled so I was not able to run it.
Is there somewhere safe to get ActiveX from to install so I can try what you suggested?
Also I am running Spybot version 1.5.2.20, I tried the MODE>ADVANCED>TOOLS>RESIDENT but could not get past the advanced, it asked me ‘do I want to go to advanced settings?’, when I said ‘yes’ and clicked to go, nothing happened!!
I do run CCleaner and do that every week at least to clear all the rubbish.
Also did the Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Events, specially ‘Errors’?, but not sure what to look for to be honest, sorry! :-
Also did the 'download.com/process-explorer/300-2094. Got a lot of info on that also, but again not sure what especially I should look for.
Went to look for DrWeb Cure it, found it, but a little worried about its security, its a Russian company, are they a bit dodgy or am I being too cautious?
Again thanks for you patience and help.
Sparks
Hi…
It would help tremendously if we could get your system specs, including the amount of memory your system has.
Also, the Ewido website should ask you if you want to install the ActiveX control. If you’re running Windows XP or Vista, a yellow bar should pop down from the top of the browser notifying you of this.
Best Regards…
Sparks;
If you want to use Ewido from this site with Active X: http://www.ewido.net/en/onlinescan/
you have to use IE 6 or 7 and enable Active X in the browser.
If you want to use another browser that is possible too, see the page for info on that.
HL
Dr Web Cure It is fine
just try any of the on line AV scanners
Kaspersky, Bitdefeneder, panda, Fprotect
with all quarantine do not remove/delete
we gotta start somewhere
EWIDO
Malware Bytes Anti Malware
whatever
kaspersky and ewido may want IE, also others that use active x
system specs!
Thanks again all.
Right, I did the Dr Web and everything came up clean even on the most intense scan.
One of the reasons I cannot get EWIDO is I am not running IE6 or IE7, I have a problem with that so I use Mozilla Firefox, so I guess that that must not have ActiveX on it.
Some info on the type of system spec, I hope this is right,
AMD Sempron™ Processor
2600+
1.60GHz, 224MB of Ram
Physical Address Extension
Local Disk (C:) Capacity 76.3GB
Used space 18.1GB
Free space 58.1GB
Hope this helps.
Sparks.
Hi…
There’s your problem, I’m quite sure.
I’m assuming you’re running Windows XP. Even though it is said XP will run on even as little as 64 MB’s, for today’s applications, my advice would be a minimum of 512 MB’s, preferably 1 GB. Windows XP by itself takes up a lot of that 224 MB’s.
I don’t know if this in itself is responsible for the 8 to 10 minutes but it does explain at least some of the lag. We would be able to tell you more if you download and run Process Explorer (the link given in my first post) and post a log.
Best Regards…
I’m getting hopeful here!
Thanks again, here below, hopefully, is the log from Process Explorer.
Process PID CPU Description Company Name
System Idle Process 0 98.46
Interrupts n/a Hardware Interrupts
DPCs n/a Deferred Procedure Calls
System 4
smss.exe 488 Windows NT Session Manager Microsoft Corporation
csrss.exe 544 Client Server Runtime Process Microsoft Corporation
winlogon.exe 568 Windows NT Logon Application Microsoft Corporation
services.exe 616 1.54 Services and Controller app Microsoft Corporation
svchost.exe 780 Generic Host Process for Win32 Services Microsoft Corporation
svchost.exe 840 Generic Host Process for Win32 Services Microsoft Corporation
svchost.exe 908 Generic Host Process for Win32 Services Microsoft Corporation
svchost.exe 1008 Generic Host Process for Win32 Services Microsoft Corporation
svchost.exe 1092 Generic Host Process for Win32 Services Microsoft Corporation
vsmon.exe 1152 TrueVector Service Zone Labs, LLC
aswUpdSv.exe 1336 avast! Antivirus updating service ALWIL Software
ashServ.exe 1400 avast! antivirus service ALWIL Software
spoolsv.exe 1696 Spooler SubSystem App Microsoft Corporation
CTSVCCDA.EXE 1996 Creative Service for CDROM Access Creative Technology Ltd
SAgent2.exe 2020 EPSON Printer Status Agent SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
svchost.exe 200 Generic Host Process for Win32 Services Microsoft Corporation
MsPMSPSv.exe 284 WMDM PMSP Service Microsoft Corporation
ashMaiSv.exe 1048 avast! e-Mail Scanner Service ALWIL Software
alg.exe 2536 Application Layer Gateway Service Microsoft Corporation
ashWebSv.exe 2888 avast! Web Scanner ALWIL Software
lsass.exe 628 LSA Shell (Export Version) Microsoft Corporation
explorer.exe 1984 Windows Explorer Microsoft Corporation
ezSP_Px.exe 2192 ezSP_Px MFC Application Easy Systems Japan Ltd.
ashDisp.exe 2256 avast! service GUI component ALWIL Software
qttask.exe 2272 Apple Computer, Inc.
zlclient.exe 2352 ZoneAlarm Client Zone Labs, LLC
SOUNDMAN.EXE 2424 Realtek Sound Manager Realtek Semiconductor Corp.
ctfmon.exe 2464 CTF Loader Microsoft Corporation
TeaTimer.exe 2484 System settings protector Safer Networking Limited
WINWORD.EXE 3616 Microsoft Office Word Microsoft Corporation
procexp.exe 2828 Sysinternals Process Explorer Sysinternals - www.sysinternals.com
firefox.exe 2588 Firefox Mozilla Corporation
Many thanks for your patience, its been a real blessing.
Sparks
Hi Sparks…
Ok, that’s better
I don’t know if all of these are set to be loaded into memory upon bootup but here’s what you can turn disable (from being loaded into memory first thing) by clicking on “Start”---->“Run,” they type in “msconfig,” click on the “Startup” tab and disable the following:
qttask.exe
As an option and if you don’t need these services immedietely available, you can also disable…
SAgent2.exe 2020 EPSON Printer Status Agent SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
CTSVCCDA.EXE 1996 Creative Service for CDROM Access Creative Technology Ltd
SOUNDMAN.EXE 2424 Realtek Sound Manager Realtek Semiconductor Corp.
ezSP_Px.exe 2192 ezSP_Px MFC Application Easy Systems Japan Ltd.
Just so that you are aware, if you choose to accept these suggestions, you will lose functionality from the toolbar (and possibly toolbar icons) that these services would normally provide but should still be accessible from the start menu. If you discover you need them and/or they’re not available from the start menu, just go back (using msconfig) and reenable the ones you want.
I also don’t know if this will solve your particular problem as I believe the lack of RAM (memory) is responsible for what you are experiencing.
If you are interested in purchasing more RAM would like to provide us with your computer’s “make and model,” I think we could help you in determining what kind you need and (options in) where to buy it.
Best Regards…
Here’s a useful site for helping to determine what can often be safely disabled from startup. http://www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm
It looks like Winword can also be disabled, unless you need it running. (If you use Ms outlook, and use HTML for emails, it uses word, so you would need to change the email settings to text only.)
It seems to me your choices involve adding more RAM (I totally agree with Aardvark. 224 was enough when XP first appeared, program updates/upgrades over the years have resulted in that being inadequate. Todays programs use more resource), or "leaning’’ down the computer… tweaking it so that the RAM you have is available for essential tasks.
That second is do-able, but will result in some loss of functionality. It is also likely to result in an excellent learning process, as you find out what can (and shouldn’t) be disabled. Eventually the frustration of it will trigger you to get a new PC, or at least more RAM.
(Been there, done that.)
A site for XP tweaks that can reclaim a bit of performance: http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/supertweaks.htm
Do this at your own risk. They work, but if you do it, I’d suggest keeping a diary text file somewhere of what you did and when, so as to make troubleshooting easier down the line.
[edit] PS, one more thing: tried a defrag, recently? This can help a bit, if it hasn’t been done for a while.
Black Viper is back-- great news --I thought his site was down (years ago)
hiS TWEEKS CAN REALLY SPEED (damn caps lock) up Windows 2000
XP too
Hi all sorry for the delay in replying.
I tried the system msconfig did two items.qtask and ezsp then i was asked to restart, which I did, and got a message saying that the system was in diagnostic mode or something, I clicked the box to stop the message coming up again, as it said it would every time I started Windows.
Just as a point of interest, i started the PC up the other day with the internet connection switched off, so my PC showed ‘no connection to internet’ a ‘cable is unplugged’, but the PC started a lot faster, i then switched on at the socket to connect to the server and got going that way, but I don’t want to switch the sever off at the wall every time I turn the PC on!
Is the system trying to start with the internet and everything else as well, which slows it down even more?
Thanking you again.
Sparks
I had similar problem to yours a while back and the reason was that avast was loading at the same time as everything else, firewall, internet connection etc. What worked for me was to right click the blue avast ball, select program settings, then troubleshooting, and tick ‘delay loading of avast! services until other system services’. Mine then loaded much quicker, and I then could untick this box. All has been ok since
Whilst being in full agreement with previous comments of your PC being starved for memory, I think from the part of your latest post I have quoted, that you should also look very closely at what software is setup on your computer to automatically look for, and/or download updates. Typical items are Antivirus & Firewall software, Windows itself, Adobe products - the list goes on, and with a permanent internet connection these products could all start to look for and perhaps start to download updates as soon as the computer has loaded the necessary system components at bootup.
Remember that whilst having everything set to automatically update means you don’t have to remember to do it, one of the negatives (and there are a number of them) is that you place your own use of the PC virtually as bottom priority. It will do the updating and you have to wait. One alternative of having it advise when updates are available, rather than automatically dowloading and installing them will help, but can still use a reasonable amount of time. Full manual control will minmise the problem, but you then have to have a strict manual houskeepinh policy.
I tried the system msconfig did two items.qtask and ezsp then i was asked to restart, which I did, and got a message saying that the system was in diagnostic mode or something, I clicked the box to stop the message coming up again, as it said it would every time I started Windows.
I get this words from Black Viper’s website
“Do not use “msconfig” to disable services, type “services.msc” in the Run box instead!”
For more detail go this website http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm