Dell Dim 8300 - System Slow to Boot-Up
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From: charliech on 22 Dec 2009 14:49 My system now takes 5-6 minutes to boot-up. The only thing I can think of is I'm running NAV 2010. What setting(s) in Nav2010 might be causing the system to be so slow at boot-up - I checked the Settings, looking for something that might say "scan at startup" but did not see anything. Are there other things I can look at to determine why the boot-up is so slow? I have a Dell Dim 8300, 4GB memory, WinXP SP3 and plenty of disk space. Any thoughts/suggestions appreciated. Charliec
From: Daddy on 22 Dec 2009 15:10 On 12/22/2009 2:49 PM, charliech(a)email.com wrote: > My system now takes 5-6 minutes to boot-up. The only thing I can > think of is I'm running NAV 2010. What setting(s) in Nav2010 might be > causing the system to be so slow at boot-up - I checked the Settings, > looking for something that might say "scan at startup" but did not see > anything. > > Are there other things I can look at to determine why the boot-up is > so slow? > > I have a Dell Dim 8300, 4GB memory, WinXP SP3 and plenty of disk > space. > > Any thoughts/suggestions appreciated. > > Charliec My Dimension 4500 is of the same vintage as your PC, I also run NIS 2010, but I only have 1GB of RAM, and my computer boots to a usable desktop in 2 minutes. The two most common reasons for slow booting are: 1- malware 2- too much stuff starting with Windows. Daddy
From: charliech on 22 Dec 2009 16:57 >On Tue, 22 Dec 2009 15:10:32 -0500, Daddy <daddy(a)invalid.invalid> wrote: >On 12/22/2009 2:49 PM, charliech(a)email.com wrote: >> My system now takes 5-6 minutes to boot-up. The only thing I can >> think of is I'm running NAV 2010. What setting(s) in Nav2010 might be >> causing the system to be so slow at boot-up - I checked the Settings, >> looking for something that might say "scan at startup" but did not see >> anything. >> >> Are there other things I can look at to determine why the boot-up is >> so slow? >> >> I have a Dell Dim 8300, 4GB memory, WinXP SP3 and plenty of disk >> space. >> >> Any thoughts/suggestions appreciated. >> >> Charliec > >My Dimension 4500 is of the same vintage as your PC, I also run NIS >2010, but I only have 1GB of RAM, and my computer boots to a usable >desktop in 2 minutes. > >The two most common reasons for slow booting are: > >1- malware >2- too much stuff starting with Windows. > >Daddy Question, do you have "Early Load" turned on in NIS/NAV?
From: Daddy on 23 Dec 2009 10:52 Ben Myers wrote: > Daddy wrote: >> On 12/22/2009 6:19 PM, Ben Myers wrote: >>> charliech(a)email.com wrote: >>>> My system now takes 5-6 minutes to boot-up. The only thing I can >>>> think of is I'm running NAV 2010. What setting(s) in Nav2010 might be >>>> causing the system to be so slow at boot-up - I checked the Settings, >>>> looking for something that might say "scan at startup" but did not see >>>> anything. >>>> >>>> Are there other things I can look at to determine why the boot-up is >>>> so slow? >>>> >>>> I have a Dell Dim 8300, 4GB memory, WinXP SP3 and plenty of disk >>>> space. >>>> >>>> Any thoughts/suggestions appreciated. >>>> >>>> Charliec >>> >>> In addition to malware and too many programs being loaded at startup, >>> there could simply be lots of junk files accumulated in the %temp% >>> folder. (Today, I encountered a Dell E310 with over 5000 files in the >>> %temp% folder, most all left behind by the crapware that HP installs for >>> its P1015 low-end newer laser printer. You bet the system booted slow >>> and ran slow.) >>> >>> So... Download and run Hijackthis to get a clear picture of all the >>> programs loaded at startup. >>> >>> Then... Download and run CCleaner to clean out the useless files. Also, >>> you can manually remove the useless stuff from %temp% without harm to >>> yourself or the system. >>> >>> Next... Defrag with Defraggler, from the same people who did CCleaner. >>> It tells you more about the fragmented files in a system and does a >>> better job than Microsoft's defrag. >>> >>> Finally... Defrag the registry with PageDefrag, assuming you are running >>> XP or earlier. >>> >>> And now really finally... NAV is an extremely complicated package... Ben >>> Myers >> >> I don't get it...How does the number of files in the Temp folder >> affect boot time? Are the files in the Temp folder read during bootup? >> >> Daddy > > Windows programs use %temp%. If a Windows program uses %temp% for > whatever temporary files it needs, the Windows file system has to go > through all the entries for the sludge to find a slot in the folder's > directory for the next file. The folder's directory can span many > sectors if there are 5000 files, for example. And, of course, the > folder's directory can be fragmented. > > Lot's of Windows programs use %temp%. The HP P2015 crapola software > does and it stuffs files into %temp% at will. I have not figured out > when and why it does so. > > It would make sense to put a command file in your startup, something like: > > cd %temp% > del *.* > > to do some regular cleanup. > > Now, of course, a regular cleanup will not work if someone habitually or > unknowingly stores important files in %temp%. Yep, I've seen this, too. > > ... Ben Myers Windows and applications read the %temp% during bootup /only/ if they are performing a 'runonce' function, like after an install, inwhich case they reference only the specific files they require. Aside from that, you could have a million files in %temp% and it won't add a second to the boot time. Now about that %temp% folder...it doesn't slow a computer. That's another bit of computing lore that persists even though it's no longer correct. Here's how a 'bloated' %temp% can cause trouble: Many of the files that get stored in the Temp folders are generic, like log files, and have generic names. Two applications might use a generic file with the same name, so Program A might overwrite Program B's files. Now, when Program B looks in the %temp% for its files it reads the wrong ones. That's why the advice to clean out the %temp% is sometimes given when programs suddenly act weird, or when they don't install or uninstall properly. Aside from that, there's no need to clean out your temp folders on a regular basis. You might want to clear your %temp% folders regardless, if they've grown to the point where it's taking longer to backup your system drive. They'd gave to be hideously large - like 1GB or more - to make that worthwhile. Beyond that, it always amuses me to see people get all bent out of shape just because a Temp folder gets 'bloated.' I think it goes back to childhood, when our mothers were always after us to clean up our rooms. If a messy room is bad, maybe a messy Temp folder is also bad? Daddy
From: Ben Myers on 22 Dec 2009 18:19
charliech(a)email.com wrote: > My system now takes 5-6 minutes to boot-up. The only thing I can > think of is I'm running NAV 2010. What setting(s) in Nav2010 might be > causing the system to be so slow at boot-up - I checked the Settings, > looking for something that might say "scan at startup" but did not see > anything. > > Are there other things I can look at to determine why the boot-up is > so slow? > > I have a Dell Dim 8300, 4GB memory, WinXP SP3 and plenty of disk > space. > > Any thoughts/suggestions appreciated. > > Charliec In addition to malware and too many programs being loaded at startup, there could simply be lots of junk files accumulated in the %temp% folder. (Today, I encountered a Dell E310 with over 5000 files in the %temp% folder, most all left behind by the crapware that HP installs for its P1015 low-end newer laser printer. You bet the system booted slow and ran slow.) So... Download and run Hijackthis to get a clear picture of all the programs loaded at startup. Then... Download and run CCleaner to clean out the useless files. Also, you can manually remove the useless stuff from %temp% without harm to yourself or the system. Next... Defrag with Defraggler, from the same people who did CCleaner. It tells you more about the fragmented files in a system and does a better job than Microsoft's defrag. Finally... Defrag the registry with PageDefrag, assuming you are running XP or earlier. And now really finally... NAV is an extremely complicated package... Ben Myers |