Vista - very slow boot

Hello,

My dad has been having a problem with his computer. I don't know much about it, but here's the problem. After powering on the computer, it literally takes 10-15 minutes to start loading windows. Once windows starts loading, everything is fine, and the computer runs beautifully. I'm thinking this has something to do with the bios, but don't know where to start. Once again, the computer stalls before windows even begins to load. Any help or advice is much appreciated.

How many hard drives do you have installed? What interface are the drives, and are they all the same brand? I was having a similar issue. Still am kind of.

I have 2 36GB Raptors, not in raid at the moment, and added a 3rd drive for storage. The 3rd drive is a Samsung Spinpoint 250GB. When I installed the Samsung, it detected properly, allowed me to partition and format it, and all seemed fine. Then, when I shut down, on the Shut Down splash screen, the new drive would start getting hammered with reads/writes for about 5 mins, then the system drive would chirp and finally the machine would power down.

The next boot, the Samsung seemed like it was searching for a boot sector for a few mins, then the Raptors kicked in and Vista booted normally. The Samsung didn't show up at all anywhere in Vista. So, I changed the SATA cable and chose a different connection on the motherboard. Booted up again, and the startup part of the problem went away. Booted quickly, and all looked well. The drive showed up in Vista, and I was able to move some files over. Went to shut down again, and boom, Samsung gets hammered again for 5 mins, then power down.

The boot issue is completely gone now, so I could in theory speculate that it was either the cable or that particular channel on the controller. However, I still get the shutdown issue, and it is really annoying

It has a single 160 GB hard disk. I'll post all of the computers specs once I find out.

Hmmm..that is strange. I actually fixed mine last night. Turns out the first drive I tried was just DOA. Popped the one in that I had bought for my sister's machine, and it works beautifully.

Hi KG4mvp,

You might check to see what is listed in the startup programs and remove the ones that are not needed. This will cause a slow down if there are to many. Method One in this tutorial is the easiest way.

How to Check and Change the Startup Programs in Vista


Test this my booting into Advanced Boot Options and selecting Safe Mode. If it loads fine into Safe Mode, then it can be a startup program causing this.

How to Boot Up in and Use Advanced Boot Options in Vista

Shawn

Thanks for the advice guys,

I'll be sure to try that as I get home.

Is this a HP laptop by any chance?

Not messed with the registry lately?