Win Xp Boot Time = Sloooooowww

[ncjimn]

Hello, ok, this has been annoying for a while but I thought I could live with it. I really think that I can't.

I recently built a new PC and think the specs are semi-decent and should give me good performance.

Now, once everything is loaded, my PC is relatively fast, however, loading the OS is what takes forever. It takes XP over a minute and a half to load to a state where I can use my computer.

I did make sure I had no crap programs running on the background and it still takes a long time. Please help me.

Now we go to the specs part.

AMD 5000+ brisbane @ 3.1GHz
2x1GB crucial ballistix ddr2-800
gigabyte m57sli-s4 mobo
decent cooling (air)
decent PSU (antec 420W)
EVGA 8600gts
1x320gb Seagate (OS is here)
1x500gb WD (for storage, idk if this one is faster)

*Just a note: I had a dell that had worse specs and would load XP in like 30 seconds, I pretty much have the exact same programs installed so I know I'm not running crap on the background.

Please give me suggestions, this is very annoying. I am actually about to reinstall XP on this machine....maybe I should install XP on the other HDD just to see if that makes a difference?

ok
now to wait for replies, thanks!

 

[KSoD]

Okay so lets start at the top. Have you gone thru Osiris's guide to make sure there is no viruses or spyware? Have you removed all startup applications via msconfig? Have you updated all your drivers? Have you tested your RAM? Have you run a check disk on your drive to make sure that it isnt faulty?

 

[superdave1984]

I would look at your drivers. Often an older or incorrect driver can cause problems like this.

 

[ncjimn]

Thanks for the replies:

Tonight I will format and reinstall XP, I will then do the suggested tests.
I will post back.

*NOTE: Sorry mak, I didn't mean to use bad language. But thanks for fixing it.

 

[KSoD]

Tis okay. Jsut dont let it happen again! Just playing. Yeah let us know how it turns out.

 

[ncjimn]

Ok, I reinstalled.....and....what a difference!! I installed all the newest drivers from the website and a few utilities that I backed up.

It's all great and boot times were all < 1 min. The I installed zonealarm firewall, after doing this, I rebooted and my boot time went up by ~15 seconds. I uninstalled zonealarm to make sure it was the cause of the extra ~15 seconds, and it was. Is this normal? I've always used zonealarm and I never had a problem with it.

Again, once everything's loaded, my comp feels pretty fast. I tested memory and I'm virus free at the moment.

Thanks all for the suggestions.

 

[KSoD]

Yes Zone Alarm will raise your boot time by about 15 seconds or more. If you wish you can try Sygate or Comodo which both are jsut as good and will not have such aprofound effect on your boot time from what i have experienced.