Window 7 slow boot

[TK8]

I have this Windows 7 installed for about 3 months (estimated. not really exact.) and I'm having a really annoying and common problem: boot time. But my point is that I've already done all I know (that i could do) to reduce the boot time, but it's still really slow.

Some detailed information:

OS: Windows 7 Ultimate x64

CPU: Intel Core i3-2100 @ 3.1GHz

Motherboard: MSI H61M-P21 (B3)

RAM: Corsair ValueSelect 4GB DDR3 1333MHz

VGA: Sapphire AMD Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 1GB GDDR5

PSU: CoolerMaster eXtreme PowerPlus 550W

HDDs:

• WD 500GB 7200RPM 16MB cache (First partiotion: Windows; second partition: Only files)
  
• Seagate 320GB 7200RPM 8MB cache (Only files)
  
• Fujitsu 60GB 5400RPM 8MB cache (Ubuntu installed)
  

Boot apps:

• 56 on boot
  
• 23 removed or delayed
  
• 10 can be removed but are necessary
  
• 46 can't be modified
  

I've already uninstalled what I don't need, cleared every system's garbage, uninstalled ghost drivers, removed or delayed apps from boot.

Could someone understand why this computer is taking from 1:40 to 2:30 (mm:ss) minutes to boot up?

I'd appreciate if someone tell me some other ideas for reducing boot time.

PS: I had a very lower computer configuration earlier, and it was booting VERY faster (from 30 to 60 seconds) than the actual one.

[Astra.Xtreme]

Is the CPU set for AHCI in BIOS?

Also, is IDE disabled? If not, you might as well disable it if everything you have is SATA. The IDE check usually takes 5-10 seconds if it's enabled.

Though I don't think these things would cause that long startup time.

You could unplugging all the other hard drives except the Windows one and see if it boots faster. Maybe the Ubuntu dual-boot isn't playing nice with the Windows startup.

[Hum]

Have you tested your hard drive ? (S.M.A.R.T., defragged, error check, etc.)

Checked the HDD cables ?

Something may not be seated tightly.

I suspect it is something to do with all those drives/partitions.

[still1]

The first thing i do when i buy a PC is to Format it. Crapware are the worst.

I recommend doing it if you have not done it.

run msconfig and disable unwanted service and startups(two different tabs).

Run some cleaner like ccleaner

Right "Disk cleanup" delete old system restore points and delete all temp files.

Check for faulty HDD and RAM

[neingesicht]

If you go in the event viewer, under applications and services logs, Microsoft, Windows, Diagnostics-Performance, it should have listed things that are taking longer than normal to boot, and the milliseconds it takes to load them. Also check your services.

[Astra.Xtreme]

The first thing i do when i buy a PC is to Format it. Crapware are the worst.

I recommend doing it if you have not done it.

It's pretty clear that he built it from scratch. No PC manufacturer that I know of ships a PC with an MSI motherboard, Corsair RAM, and a Cooler Master PSU. ;)

[djelal]

In my case it was the pure volume of USB devices I had attached, when I remove them my boot times reduce significantly. External hard disks seem to be the worst culprits.

[still1]

It's pretty clear that he built it from scratch. No PC manufacturer that I know of ships a PC with an MSI motherboard, Corsair RAM, and a Cooler Master PSU. ;)

ha... I didn't notice that. just took a shot :)

[x-byte]

Could be the hardware setup. I guess you have RAID on that motherboard. That will take 10-20s from the boot time. Is the BIOS set to quick boot? That will take another 10-15 seconds on the boot. Many things to consider and check.

Newer hardware have a tendency to have many features that will take longer time to boot up.

[Astra.Xtreme]

Might not hurt to update the BIOS either.

[mduren2445]

check your event logs it will tell you the culprit...its either a process or a program that is the culprit

[Jason S. Global Moderator]

1. are the times you mentioned from cold or from the time Windows actually starts to load?

2. do you have network resources connected at boot? say, a NAS w/ mapped drives? i have this setup and it adds 10-15s to my boot time

[cybertimber2008]

If you go in the event viewer, under applications and services logs, Microsoft, Windows, Diagnostics-Performance, it should have listed things that are taking longer than normal to boot, and the milliseconds it takes to load them. Also check your services.

I wasn't aware of this before so I'm going to keep that in mind. But is there a Server 2003 equivalent?

[TK8]

Is the CPU set for AHCI in BIOS?

Also, is IDE disabled? If not, you might as well disable it if everything you have is SATA. The IDE check usually takes 5-10 seconds if it's enabled.

Though I don't think these things would cause that long startup time.

You could unplugging all the other hard drives except the Windows one and see if it boots faster. Maybe the Ubuntu dual-boot isn't playing nice with the Windows startup.

Dude, I think my problem was exactly the slowness of the IDE mode. :huh:

I activated the AHCI mode and everything became fast. :woot: I'm just testing it some more times to be sure it's fixed, but I'm almost sure this was the problem.

Also, thanks for all other replies.