BleepingComputer.com: Very Very Slow Boot

I have a Toshiba laptop with Vista home premium os, ram 3GB. processor-intel 2 duo core @ 2GHz.....It takes about 30 min. to boot.I don't remember downloading anything that has given me a problem and I don't know when this started since I rarely turn laptop off. When first powered the Toshiba logo appears on screen and then screen darkens with some back light. After 20-25 min.the cursor appears and the bar with the green lights start scanning, indicating start up. Once booted everything works great. Strictly a booting issue. Power supply seams fine. Battery shows charged when shutting down and after finally booting. I have booted with just battery and with just ac adapter. I ran full Malwarebytes scan....no virus. I tried resetting ram chips. I also removed each ram chip and tried then individually in each slot...booting was not better. I downloaded and ran ccleaner...no help. Is it possible this is still booting registry issue? It is just a little aggravating to wait so long but not the end of the world since once booted all the other functions are fine.
Thank You

My first guess would be the problem is hdd related.
Could be an over heating issue, too.

What is the percentage of free space left on the hdd?
Have you defragmented the hdd recently?

Not to disagree, but while I suppose it might very well be a problem with the hd or overheating, those would not be the first things I'd look at.

What happens when you boot to safe mode - is it quick or slow?

This post has been edited by Allan: 19 December 2011 - 03:30 PM

My hard drive has 248GB free of 287GB. Defragment is set to schedule setting time and I did check to make sure this was activated. I have booted in safe mode with the same slow result. I ran disc cleanup too.

I wanted to mention that I can hear my fan running and feel the heat coming out. It kicks on as needed. The laptop is on a desk where air can get under and around it.

Sorry, I overlooked the fact that it's a laptop. The fact that it happens in safe mode would seem to indicate that it is indeed hardaware related. Let's start by blowing out the dust to whatever extent possible. Then download the diagnostic utility from the hd manufacturer, burn it to cd, and run it.

Allan: I think I have the hard drive information. This is what I see on the hd. Toshiba Disk Drive MK3255GSX also HDD2H27 V UL01S DC=5v 1.0a Would you know witch of these they would ask for and I can't find any kind of link to get Diagnostic Utility. Thanks.

http://www.tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=287#toshiba

You have a Toshiba Hard Drive

How hot is the air coming out of your Toshiba? It should never get past warm.
The used Toshiba Satellite Pro I bought this year was overheating due to a failed heatsink assembly.
The air coming out wasn't very warm but the fans were racing and it was slow.

If you post the model or model part number off of the bottom I can look to see how hard cleaning the heatsink would be.

I opened a Used laptop I bought and decided to take a picture of how bad the dust can get. Needless to say it would not run very long before overheating and shutting down.
 Dust.JPG (76.43K)
Number of downloads: 2

Here is a link to Hard Drive Installation and Diagnostic Tools Links to Manufacturers Utilities
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/topic28744.html

This post has been edited by rotor123: 21 December 2011 - 01:29 PM

rotor123 Laptop is a.....Toshiba Satellite L505-S6946 Part # PSLL0U-01000D Air from fan is a warm, not hot even if I hold my hand over vent for awhile.The link to the HDD Diagnostic I have downloaded. I open as administrator, the command box opens but the Text Information area won't let me enter any text or data. I left click and get the I bar to start typing, but no info happens.
Question: The fact that I also tried a start-up in safe mode and still about 20min. or so should also rule out a program that I had downloaded was causing the problem? True or False. As mention earlier in post I do not know when this started because I never seem to turn computer off. I noticed awile back when traveling and turned-off and unpluged. The reason I asked about the safe mode question is because the only programs I can remember downloading is YouTube Download and FLV Player. I have attached the Diagnostic Screen.

Are you saying you can not click long test or short test buttons?

First select your drive by clicking on it and it should highlight and allow you to run the short test then the long test by clicking the buttons. There are no text or data you should need to enter.

To properly clean the heatsink on that model would require a little disassembly. There is a risk of damage to a connector on the motherboard or keyboard as well as cosmetic damage. If you are getting a good air flow and it is only warm and you do not hear the Fan racing or running loud it is most likely OK.

Have you burned the Toshiba System Recovery discs using the Toshiba utility. These are important for future needs. Suppose you hard drive dies and you do not have them.

This post has been edited by rotor123: 21 December 2011 - 04:52 PM

rotor123 thank you. Maybe I am in over my head, but wanting to learn. When I click on either test I geta pop-up command to select drive...just as you indicate. maybe I don't understand what or where drive. I click on C drive. I don't know. Sorry for being confused. I burned recovery discs when I first got laptop and still have. Sorry for inconvenience. I know I can do this with a little guidance. I am old but alwas willing to learn. I understand if you give-up.

did you try clicking in the "Drive Information" box on the Toshiba drive and then Short test once the Toshiba drive has been selected by clicking on it?

I did try clicking on all the Drive Info. in the Fujitsu HDD Diagnostics Tool....Model name, and the Toshiba MK3255GSX and nothing.

You could try the Maxtor diagnostics it seemed to run on most any drive and Maybe the Seagate Diags.

I suppose you don't have a drive and the hardware to clone your old one and replace it as a test? Or if you have a spare drive you could try a fresh load of windows using the Toshiba recovery discs. That would eliminate everything except the drive or the windows itself if it ran fine.

I would also suggest backing up anything important.

Hopefully you also made the Toshiba Recovery DVD set(s) using a good brand of DVD-R or DVD+R as rewritable discs are not archive quality due to the dye used to make the rewritable.

There is one other thing that is a remote possibility for slow bootup although I would expect it to also slow down windows. Is all you RAM memory still being recognized?

When you start it up and it is taking all that time loading can you see the hard drive activity light, Is it steady going or just intermittent flashes?

This post has been edited by rotor123: 22 December 2011 - 11:40 AM