Vista - Long login times

i've been using vista ultimate 64 for over a month now. after boot up, i would type in my password and it would login almost instantly. as of today however, it takes MUCH longer to login after ive typed my password - about a minute or so. i havent changed anything, so i dont know why it started doing this overnight. i created a new account to see if it was an issue only with my account but it isnt, it took just as long for the new account also. i dont really have any ideas of what to look for that might be causing this problem. any ideas?

oh also, the problem only occurs on the initial login after a full restart. so if i logout and log back in with either account its instant.

GlassPrison wrote:
In a domain member workstation this is usually caused by incorrect DNS
settings. Since you haven't changed anything, this probably isn't your
situation. Perhaps you have a network resource that no longer exists and
the machine is timing out? Look in Event Viewer for clues and also manage
your Startup to narrow down what has changed and is causing the issue.

Start Orb>Search box>type: eventvwr.msc

Start Orb>Start Search box>msconfig [enter]

If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation,
type the password, or click Continue. Then see what is on the Startup tab.
You don't need to restart immediately, but the next time you do you'll get
a dialog saying you've used the Utility. Usually in Vista this will be
blocked by Windows Defender and you'll need to allow it so you can then
tick the box that says in effect, "don't bother me about this again".

Important - Do not use the System Configuration Utility to stop processes.
Instead, use Start>Run>services.msc [enter] and do not stop any services
unless you really, really know what you're doing.

Autoruns (free) is very useful
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sys...s/default.mspx

How to perform a clean boot in Vista and XP -
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/331796

Malke
--
MS-MVP
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
Don't Panic!

thanks, ill try that tonight

well i looked through the event viewer and didnt see anything out of the ordinary. as for startup, there are barely any programs. and none of them look like they werent there before. stuff like windows defender, some nvidia stuff, gtalk, and a couple of "microsoft windows operating system" items.

also theres no network resource that doesnt exist anymore. i have a very basic setup - a normal router with two computers behind it (and theres no sharing between the two, the other one runs linux so the only time i access it is when i ssh to it).

i dont know if this will help but i noticed something else. at first i thought the long login time happens every time i restart. but, even if i restart and let it sit at the login screen for a few minutes and then login, its instant.

GlassPrison wrote:
The only way to find out what the problem is will be from clean-boot
troubleshooting. You do a clean boot, which basically starts with nothing,
and then if all is well add back items one at a time. You don't go on a
feeling that nothing has changed. Another thing you can do is boot in Safe
Mode and if you don't experience the login delay, you know for sure that
something in your startup matrix is causing the delay.

Malke
--
MS-MVP
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
Don't Panic!

how do i do a clean boot?

is there some option for that or by clean boot do you mean just take out all the startup items in msconfig?

update: well i found the culprit.. it wasnt a startup program but a service (openssh server)

thanks for all the help

GlassPrison wrote:
I already gave you the link to instructions, but here it is again for your
convenience:

How to perform a clean boot in Vista and XP -
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/331796

Malke
--
MS-MVP
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
Don't Panic!

sorry. i should have read your first post more carefully