windows server 2003: 15 mins to login after reboot

[tmc]

I got the windows server 2003 enterprise evaluation version and i want to try it out as a workstation. I did all the modifications as necessary and everything is fine. However, first time login after a reboot (as administrator or a user who has admin privileges) takes ~15 mins (subsequent logins are fast, only the first login after a reboot is slow). Booting itself is fast, it is when i try to login it takes 15 mins for the taskbar, start button, etc to come up. Even the CPU is not busy. I don't know why it is taking so much time to come up. It happens even with a fresh install so it is not introduced by the modifications. Is it because it is an eval. version and microsoft put a timer on it (i have activated it btw). Any help would be apprecited. I can give more info. if that will help solve the problem. Thanks.

[Sunil]

I got the windows server 2003 enterprise evaluation version and i want to try it out as a workstation. I did all the modifications as necessary and everything is fine. However, first time login after a reboot (as administrator or a user who has admin privileges) takes ~15 mins (subsequent logins are fast, only the first login after a reboot is slow). Booting itself is fast, it is when i try to login it takes 15 mins for the taskbar, start button, etc to come up. Even the CPU is not busy. I don't know why it is taking so much time to come up. It happens even with a fresh install so it is not introduced by the modifications. Is it because it is an eval. version and microsoft put a timer on it (i have activated it btw). Any help would be apprecited. I can give more info. if that will help solve the problem. Thanks.

Hi, what are the specs of the computer you run, also you said that all logins after the first are fast, this is expected however if you have assigned roles to the server, especially a dns server, it takes some time to login because the server needs to connect to the internet. So please reply so we can sort out the prob..

Sunil

[tmc]

Sunil: thanks for the reply. i have a PIII 1GHz processor and 512MB RAM. hopefully that is enuff for server.

i haven't configured anything with the "Manage Your Server" that comes up for the first time. so i don't think i am running any service. i am behind a router (cable modem to connect to internet) if that matters.

[humble3d]

ARE YOU CERTAIN THAT PAGEFILE DEFRAGMENTATION IS NOT SLOWING YOU DOWN ARE YOU USING XP ANTISPY?? IT WORKS ON W2K3, TOO...QUICK WAY TO MODIFY SOME SETTINGS IF YOU WISH

see below

[tmc]

finally got some time to look into this problem again. after i reboot, if i just leave it for 15 mins and then login then it logs in immediately. so it is the boot that takes 15 mins. would appreciate any help to resolve this.

ps. i don't use XP antispy.

[YeuEmMaiMai]

assign your network card an IP address. That will speed up the login process considerably

[b0r3d]

Yes, its usually your network connections that takes up all the tiem logging in. If your cable is loose or unplugged, or your NICs/Network is configured incorrectly, then it'll sit there attempting to contact PC which may not exist.

Try disabling all network connections you have, and reboot it.

[Aaron]

When it hangs on the desktop and the taskbar won't load (when its trying to obtain an IP address) you can press ESC to force the desktop and all background applications to load despite not getting an IP yet.

[humble3d]

i would be certain that pagefile defragmentation is not taking place as this is the symptom most experienced by the described behavior

Start regedit, left click edit, find, then paste in

ClearPageFileAtShutdown

...check that clear page file at shutdown shows a value of... (0)

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows

NT\CurrentVersion\SeCEdit\Reg

Values\MACHINE/System/CurrentControlSet/Control/Session

Manager/Memory Management/ClearPageFileAtShutdown

look in right pane and check that:

DisplayType REG_DWORD SAYS 0x00000000 (0)

if it shows (1) instead of (0), pagefile defragmentation may

be running and slowing the reboot process...

change the (1) to (0)

right click DisplayType and left click modify...replace the 1 with 0...

reboot to see if this was the problem...you may have to reboot twice.

[tmc]

searched all instances of ClearPageFileAtShutdown in registry and all are 0.

assigned a ip but no improvement.

i am behind a dlink 614+ router if that matters.

any suggestions? thanks.

[humble3d]

I would now start looking at any software and or hardware you've installed as there are some issues with w2k3 and some antivirus and some firewalls

[tmc]

i guess it could be a hardware issue - because, this happens with fresh install of server2003 with nothing else (default options during enitre setup). no special drivers intalled. may be it is looking for a network, i have firewire and a modem that are not connected to a cable, so i disabled them both but still no result. thanks for the suggestions and if you think of anything ps. do lemme know. thanks. also, is there a log or something by which i will know what it is trying to do?

[bali123]

I learned the hard way. It was explained to me that if you are running the Active Directory you really need to have your DNS Service confingured (forwarding) and running. I had previously shutdown my DNS and it took forever to get logged in. Once I configured and started my DNS my logins were in seconds.