Start up taking longer and longer

#1 pusssykatt

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Posted 22 July 2010 - 06:28 AM

I'm running XP Home. For months my start up has been taking longer and longer. It initially started out taking 12 minutes, but it is up to 20 minutes now. It appears that after my Avast loads, the lag time occurs and then my sound icon appears in the task bar, then the freeze is over. However, whenever I do a boot-time scan with Avast, after the scan is done it starts up immediately. I've used Start Lite, and my start up menu is Avast and ctfmon.exe.

Thanks.

#2 Broni

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Posted 22 July 2010 - 08:00 PM

That long boot time can't be caused by excessive number of startups.
Your computer is either infected, or you have some hardware issues.

With the information you have provided I believe you will need help from the malware removal team. I would like you to start a new thread and post a DDS log HERE and include a link to this thread. Please make sure that you read the information about getting started before you start your thread.

It would be helpful if you post a note here once you have completed the steps in the guide and have started your topic in malware removal. Good luck and be patient. Help is on the way!

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#3 pusssykatt

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Posted 22 July 2010 - 08:27 PM

I went through a malware cleanup recently with removal team, and my machine is clean. They worked with me on the startup problem, but were unable to find the problem, and suggested I post here.

#4 Broni

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Posted 22 July 2010 - 08:44 PM

I see...

Run hard drive diagnostics: http://www.tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=287 (or http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/ind...ive+diagnostic)
Make sure, you select tool, which is appropriate for the brand of your hard drive.
Depending on the program, it'll create bootable floppy, or bootable CD.
If downloaded file is of .iso type, use ImgBurn: http://www.imgburn.com/ to burn .iso file to a CD (select "Write image file to disc" option), and make the CD bootable.

NOTE. If your hard drive is made by Toshiba, unfortunately, you're out of luck, because Toshiba doesn't provide any diagnostic tool.

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#5 pusssykatt

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Posted 22 July 2010 - 08:52 PM

Just on a hunch, I went into my start-up services and unchecked Windows Audio, and my restart worked, however, I now have no sound.

#6 Broni

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Posted 22 July 2010 - 09:00 PM

Hold on with hard drive test for now...

Go Start>Run ("Start Search" in Vista/7), type in:
sfc /scannow
Click OK (hold CTRL, and SHIFT, hit Enter in Vista/7).
Have Windows CD/DVD handy (with Vista/7, most likely, you won't need it).
If System File Checker (sfc) will find any errors, it may ask you for the CD/DVD (rarely in Vista/7 case).

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#7 pusssykatt

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Posted 23 July 2010 - 07:32 AM

It ran okay...I assume, it ran and then shut off.

#8 Broni

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Posted 23 July 2010 - 11:07 AM

How is startup time?

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#9 pusssykatt

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Posted 23 July 2010 - 12:36 PM

It's still slow start up...about 20 minutes. At this point, it's an older computer, and aside from the startup, it runs fine. I don't want to take up the time of this forum solving a problem that I can live with. I love this place and they've been so helpful, so I can live with my slow startup. Hopefully I'll get a new one sometime soon.

I appreciate your help and all the help I've received from others.

Have a great weekend.

Thanks....
Billie

#10 Broni

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Posted 23 July 2010 - 12:38 PM

Quote

I went into my start-up services and unchecked Windows Audio, and my restart worked, however, I now have no sound

Try to reinstall your sound driver.

Also...

Download Autoruns for Windows: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinte...s/bb963902.aspx
No installation required.
Simply unzip Autoruns.zip file, and double click on autoruns.exe file to run the program.
Go File>Save, and save it as AutoRuns.txt file to know location.
You must select Text from drop-down menu as a file type:

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