Hello.

This problem really makes me irritated. My Windows 7 takes like ages. Simply ages to get to the desktop.
Starting the computer is fine. Starting Windows takes about 5 seconds. But after I type my password, the Aero Busy cursor with Welcome just keeps on spinning for ages.
The computer is responding as Num Lock, Caps Lock, Scroll Lock lights an be turned on and off.
After the Welcome screen however, everything is fast and zippy

Computer Specs:
Gigabyte ga-ep45-ds3 Motherboard
Intel Core 2 Quad 2.33GHz
4GB RAM DDR2 667MHz
nVidia GeForce 9800GT 512MB Graphics Card
640GB Seagate 7200RPM SATA2 HDD
Windows 7 RC x64 Ultimate (Build 7100)

So, it is very unlikely that it is the hardware.
Also, I scan my system with ESET and MBAM everyday, so it is also unlikely that it is a virus infection.

MSConfig Startup items:


Event Viewer Errors:


Thanks

just format..

this may be bad though..

6X 5/10/2009 8:06:14 p.m.
atapi:
The driver detected a controller error on \Device\Ide\IdePort4.

look at this guide and use the Windows Performance Toolkit (WPT) to analyze the boot process:

http://www.msfn.org/board/trace-vista-boot...es-t117154.html

But you have to use the Version 4.6 from WPT, which is now part of the Windows 7 SDK! use the Web installer and select the Win32 Tools to install.

When you finished the trace run the following command:



to get an xml with a summary of the boot. Replace trace.etl with the name of your etl File.

Now open the xml file and look for duration. So you can find which part of the boot process takes too much time.

If you're unsure upload it and we will take a look at it.

I got the Windows 7 SDK and installed "Install Windows Performance Tool Kit (x64)"
After that, I have tried:

from the link you gave me.

When I used it however it said:



So I typed the command without the -noPrepReboot option.

And then it rebooted my system and saved three files in C:\TEMP


After that, I typed this in Command Prompt (Run as Administrator)


It said:


Not sure what that meant.

Also, a summary.xml did come up in C:\TEMP but it is 0kb meaning that there's probably nothing inside.

Which size does your pagefile have? Please increase the size and run the trace of the boot again.

Right now, my paging file size is 4094MB which was automatically set by Windows.
I've now set the initial size to 6141MB and the maximum size to 12282MB

EDIT: Ok, that didn't work. Crashed my system. Fortunately I made a system restore before attempting it.

Can you put those files somewhere for us to download? Perhaps we'd have better luck with the data...

The system now seems to be starting faster since increasing the pagefile size.
Usually, I start the computer and after eating breakfast it still hasn't loaded but now... it does.
Still done the trace though.

Used: xbootmgr -trace boot -traceFlags BASE+CSWITCH+DRIVERS+POWER -resultPath C:\TEMP
After the reboot:
xperf -i "C:\TEMP\boot_BASE+CSWITCH+DRIVERS+POWER_1.etl" -o "C:\TEMP\summary.xml" -a
It gave me: summary.xml (121KB)

Attached is the summary.xml file.
MD5: 4D8F7CDB25951B3F4009A8F7E6DDC1F0

We're going to need all of the files if you want any real analysis - the xml is nice, but it's hard to use it to say what's actually happening.

This morning when I started my computer, it took a total of 12 minutes starting from the 'Starting Windows'.
However, when I ran the boot trace which restarts my computer, it only took about 4 minutes.
I've uploaded the file to Mediafire - boottrace.rar - MD5: DB33E75DA8A1E6E9C7DD330E883033FB - 71.1MB
Link: http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?flwjnnnhjge

It contains:
boot_BASE+CSWITCH+DRIVERS+POWER_1.cab
boot_BASE+CSWITCH+DRIVERS+POWER_1.etl
summary.xml
xbootmgr.log

@cluberti

I like the xml. It give you a short overview about all the booting stages and how long it takes.


The MainPathBoot is based on 4 stages

1. PreSMSS Subphase

This take 8 sec for you. During this subphase, the kernel initializes data structures and components. It also starts the PnP manager, which initializes the BOOT_START drivers that were loaded during the OSLoader phase.

2. SMSSInit Subphase

this takes 10sek for you. The SMSSInit subphase begins when the kernel passes control to the session manager process (Smss.exe). During this subphase, the system initializes the registry, loads and starts the devices and drivers that are not marked BOOT_START, and starts the subsystem processes. SMSSInit ends when control is passed to Winlogon.exe.

3. WinLogonInit Subphase

this takes 19 sek for you. The WinLogonInit subphase begins when SMSSInit completes and starts Winlogon.exe. During WinLogonInit, the user logon screen appears, the service control manager starts services, and Group Policy scripts run. WinLogonInit ends when the Explorer process starts.

4. ExplorerInit Subphase

The ExplorerInit subphase begins when Explorer.exe starts. During ExplorerInit, the system creates the desktop window manager (DWM) process, which initializes the desktop and displays it for the first time.
This phase is CPU intensive. The initialization of DWM and desktop occurs in the foreground, while in the background the service control manager (SCM) starts services and the memory manager prefetches code and data. On most systems ExplorerInit is CPU bound, and timing issues are likely the result of a simple resource bottleneck.

This phase takes 14 sec for you.

5. PostExplorerPeriod.

The PostBoot phase includes all background activity that occurs after the desktop is ready. The user can interact with the desktop, but the system might still be starting services, tray icons, and application code in the background. this phase takes 1m27sec.

So here is the first real issue. You are starting too many programs automatically at startup. Run AutoRuns and uncheck all programs that are not needed when you startup your PC.

The key bootDoneViaPostBoot="134792" shown me that you PC needs 2min 11 sec to start.

So, I don't understand why it takes 12 or 30 min if you don't use xperf.

The preSMSS phase is ok, but not very fast.
The SMSSInit has delays maybe because of loading the nvlddmkm.sys (nVidia graphics driver) and RTKVHD64.sys (Realtek HD Audio?).
The WinLogonInit is also a bit long. So some services which depend on each other need a bit time to start.
The ExplorerInit is also a bit too long. Maybe NOD32 causes this delay. Which version do you use?
The PostExplorerPeriod is terrible slow and takes too long. Use the Autoruns tool to disable the programs from startup, that you don't need.

After disabling, try to train your Windows too startup faster.

Open the console and run



This will optimize the boot process. Windows will be restarted several times and ReadyBoot (NOT Readyboost) will learn in which order it should load all drivers and files and prefetches them while doing other things, so that are loaded when they are needed during later phases. Also the defrag program will be launched to optimize the location of the files on your HDD.

I'm well aware of that, but it only shows you what parts are slow, and not any info as to why, hence the guessing. Hopefully the files will give a little more info as to why all phases are slow.

Is it possible to run xbootmgr -trace boot -noPrepReboot -traceFlags BASE+CSWITCH+DRIVERS+POWER -resultPath C:\TEMP but when it restarts turn the computer off and then try again the following morning?
It is usually with a cold boot that the slow startup happens. The boot process is much faster somehow when I restart instead of shutting down and pressing the power button again.

Also, what paging size should I use, in case the error message in post #4 appears again? (When I made another one that message appeared. Don't know why the the one posted worked but now it won't work)

No, unfortunately. Either you prep or you log, but you can't do both.

Hmmm, question is have you ever tried to boot into safe mode... how does it perform there? Have you ran msconfig and ran the diagnostic startup then selective startup? Funny no one has mentioned this. Though a lot of these guys have a lot of experience with these OSs' thought I'd shoot that out there since it be my first attempt in troubleshooting

Point in fact... W7 loads everything (process', icons, network connections, gadgets, etc...) in the background during the 'Welcome' screen, unlike previous versions of Windows. It's another one of those flaky features Microsoft claims as an "enhancement" when all they're doing is hiding whats going on in the background, to make it seem .... zippy. However, bigger improvement over Vista.

In the Startup tab in msconfig there are:
ESET Smart Security, HD Audio Control Panel, Realtek Voice Manager, Mediafour MacDrive, AnyDVD, DeskSpace, NetWorx, Adobe CS4 Service Manager, Adobe Version Cue CS4, Java ™ Platform SE U15, VMWare Workstation, QuickTime, iTunes, PowerMenu, FileBox eXtender, Virtual CloneDrive

Boot into Safe Mode.
If it takes as long (or nearly so) to get into Windows then it's most likely a hardware issue.

If that's the case, run a hard drive diagnostic (more info on that here: http://www.carrona.org/hddiag.html )

He's got a point.

If Win7 still nosy - do one thing... install Windows 7 on another partition again if you can afford (without removing this one - we'll perhaps need it for experiment, such a peculiar problem needs serious lookup). Then compare the performance difference & post it here.

@ijwcomp

do you really need all programs to be loaded at startup? Did you try to optimize the startup with the prepSystem option?

Right now, I'm not sure what I really need and which I don't. I've already disabled some that I know I do not need.
ESET Smart Security, HD Audio Control Panel, Realtek Voice Manager, Mediafour MacDrive, AnyDVD, DeskSpace, NetWorx, Adobe CS4 Service Manager, Adobe Version Cue CS4, Java ™ Platform SE U15, VMWare Workstation, QuickTime, iTunes, FileBox eXtender, Virtual CloneDrive

Drivers I think: ESET Smart Security, HD Audio Control Panel, Realtek Voice Manager, Mediafour MacDrive, AnyDVD, Virtual CloneDrive
Desktop functionality: DeskSpace (different desktop spaces), NetWorx (monitors how much internet I have used), FileBox eXtender (pin to top functionality)
No idea: Adobe CS4 Service Manager, Adobe Version Cue CS4, Java ™ Platform SE U15, VMWare Workstation, QuickTime, iTunes

ESET Smart Security ist your AntiVirus Tool. You should run it.

Yeah, disable the Adobe programs, the JAVA Updater, iTunes, Quicktime. I'm not sure about the VMWare program. Maybe you need this to run VMWare, so better leave it.

There are also other programs which I don't know what they do:

GoogleCrashHandler.exe, AtBroker.exe, GoogleUpdate.exe, MDGetStarted.exe, M4PRODUP.EXE, GrooveMonitor.exe (from MS Office 2007 - Groove?), QTTask.exe,.

And do you need all of those services:

Apple Mobile Device (AppleMobileDeviceService.exe), Bonjour Service (mDNSResponder.exe), BlackfishSQL - SQL server from codegear (BSQLServer.exe -S=BlackfishSQL ), gupdate (GoogleUpdate.exe ), Nero BackItUp Scheduler 4.0 (why not use the buildin backup tool from Windows 7?), wlidsvc (WLIDSVC.EXE), iPod Service (iPodService.exe).

Contact the vendors of the programs and ask, if they can made Windows 7 versions of their services which make use of the triggered start:

http://blogs.microsoft.co.il/blogs/sasha/a...t-services.aspx
http://channel9.msdn.com/shows/Going+Deep/...und-Processing/

Have you tried the optimization?

If I disable the Adobe CS4 Service Manager + Adobe Version Cue CS4 will it affect the functionality of these programs?
Quicktime and iTunes were only startup boosters to they run faster on launch, so I disabled them.
I already disabled GoogleCrashHandler.exe, AtBroker.exe, GoogleUpdate.exe, MDGetStarted.exe, M4PRODUP.EXE, GrooveMonitor.exe (from MS Office 2007 - Groove?), QTTask.exe, Java Updater

I do use an iPod - so should I disable Apple Mobile Device (AppleMobileDeviceService.exe), Bonjour Service (mDNSResponder.exe), iPod Service (iPodService.exe)?
I've already disabled BlackfishSQL - SQL server from codegear (BSQLServer.exe -S=BlackfishSQL ), gupdate (GoogleUpdate.exe ), Nero BackItUp Scheduler 4.0

WLIDSVC.EXE is the Windows Live Programs service isn't it? Will it make Windows Live programs not work if I disable it?

Also, I've tried booting into Safe Mode. Unfortunately, when I type in my password (it is correct - tried like 5 times), it just restarts the computer after showing a message that the password is incorrect.

And, no - I've not run the optimization. Don't I need to finish enable/disabling services before I do that? Or can I just do it?

ok, leave WLIDSVC.EXE and run the optimization

Right now, it's says "Preparing system" after it rebooted twice.
And it's not doing much ><. I'll probably wait an hr to see what happens to it.

yeah, preparing takes some time. During the "Preparing system" the defrag tool runs and organizes the files, so that Windows can load them in an optimized way.

Finally, it rebooted six times. The last few reboots took about a minute which is good.
But when I started my computer this morning, it took nine minutes.

Event Log:

Server ist the service which provides File- and Printer - Sharing

I turned on my computer again after a few hours and only these came up in Event Viewer:


That Server error never came out before, and it looks like it's not going to appear soon.

You're getting the error:

PEER_E_CERT_STORE_CORRUPTED



Could you please try to delete the file?

idstore.sst cannot be found anywhere on my computer.
It is not in the %appdata%\peernetworking folder
There isn't any folder called peernetworking anyway.

look under



if you can find the file.

Ok, it was there and I deleted it.

does this solve your issue? Does your Windows now boot faster?

It is slightly faster, but dtill takes about 5 minutes to get to my desktop.

Could you make new traces and upload them, so that cluberti can look at it? But I can't get the traces (slow internet at home), so I don't know why such a delay happens.

Do you use File- and Printer Sharing? If not, disable the service Server and look your PC starts faster.

Ok, I'll make the traces tonight but I'll have to wait till the next week till I can upload it (slow internet atm).
Disabled the Server service and most of the services which depend on it. Doesn't seem to be that much faster.

have you tried the RTM version? You can download a 90day Enterprise Trial and install it. Maybe this is an issue with the RC and it is fixed with the RTM bits.