Troubleshooting slow boot-up

[Bill L]

Hello all

Trying to help a mate with a PC build using the following core components :-

MSI KN420-D MoBo (nforce1)
AMD XP 1600+ CPU
Creative GF3 Ti200
Crucial 768 MB PC2100 RAM (3 x 256 MB DIMMS)

I'd previously used the above set-up with a IBM 13.5 GB ATA66 HDD with XP
Pro installed which he's also using. However, he's only using 40 Wire (not
80 Wire) IDE cables which brings up an error following IDE disk detection.

The problem is that WinXP the PC is extremely slow to boot into windows
(approx 4 minutes). The system initially hangs at the WinXP logo and blue
progress bar which is then followed by a blank screen, then the mouse
pointer, Welcome screen and eventually WinXP.

To the above configuration my friends added a USB FDD (Teac - which fails to
install) a Hp CD-RW and ASUS DVD ROM.

I think using the wrong IDE cables isn't going to help but there are so many
other problems (the PC also takes an age to create a restore point following
an unsigned driver install) that I'd like to be able to start diagnosing
what's actually happening during the boot-up process. What's the
easiest/best way to go about this?

TIA

Bill L

[Dragonteeth]

"Bill L" > wrote in message
...
> Hello all
>
> Trying to help a mate with a PC build using the following core components
:-
>
> MSI KN420-D MoBo (nforce1)
> AMD XP 1600+ CPU
> Creative GF3 Ti200
> Crucial 768 MB PC2100 RAM (3 x 256 MB DIMMS)
>
> I'd previously used the above set-up with a IBM 13.5 GB ATA66 HDD with XP
> Pro installed which he's also using. However, he's only using 40 Wire (not
> 80 Wire) IDE cables which brings up an error following IDE disk detection.
>
> The problem is that WinXP the PC is extremely slow to boot into windows
> (approx 4 minutes). The system initially hangs at the WinXP logo and blue
> progress bar which is then followed by a blank screen, then the mouse
> pointer, Welcome screen and eventually WinXP.
>
> To the above configuration my friends added a USB FDD (Teac - which fails
to
> install) a Hp CD-RW and ASUS DVD ROM.
>
> I think using the wrong IDE cables isn't going to help but there are so
many
> other problems (the PC also takes an age to create a restore point
following
> an unsigned driver install) that I'd like to be able to start diagnosing
> what's actually happening during the boot-up process. What's the
> easiest/best way to go about this?
>
> TIA
>
> Bill L
>
>

How does it respond when you boot in safe mode? At a decent speed? If
so... then it's a driver problem.

Use MSCONFIG to control what gets started upon boot. And you can use the
BOOT.INI tab to make it load drivers one by one... so you can begin to
isolate the culprit(s).

Good luck

[Bill L]

"Dragonteeth" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Bill L" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Hello all
> >
> > Trying to help a mate with a PC build using the following core
components
> :-
> >
> > MSI KN420-D MoBo (nforce1)
> > AMD XP 1600+ CPU
> > Creative GF3 Ti200
> > Crucial 768 MB PC2100 RAM (3 x 256 MB DIMMS)
> >
> > I'd previously used the above set-up with a IBM 13.5 GB ATA66 HDD with
XP
> > Pro installed which he's also using. However, he's only using 40 Wire
(not
> > 80 Wire) IDE cables which brings up an error following IDE disk
detection.
> >
> > The problem is that WinXP the PC is extremely slow to boot into windows
> > (approx 4 minutes). The system initially hangs at the WinXP logo and
blue
> > progress bar which is then followed by a blank screen, then the mouse
> > pointer, Welcome screen and eventually WinXP.
> >
> > To the above configuration my friends added a USB FDD (Teac - which
fails
> to
> > install) a Hp CD-RW and ASUS DVD ROM.
> >
> > I think using the wrong IDE cables isn't going to help but there are so
> many
> > other problems (the PC also takes an age to create a restore point
> following
> > an unsigned driver install) that I'd like to be able to start diagnosing
> > what's actually happening during the boot-up process. What's the
> > easiest/best way to go about this?
> >
> > TIA
> >
> > Bill L
> >
> >
>
> How does it respond when you boot in safe mode? At a decent speed? If
> so... then it's a driver problem.
>
> Use MSCONFIG to control what gets started upon boot. And you can use the
> BOOT.INI tab to make it load drivers one by one... so you can begin to
> isolate the culprit(s).
>
> Good luck
>
>

Ahh yes I did notice that it booted into Safe Mode more rapidly,
unfortunately working on a new PC build this weekend but will try your
suggestions next week.

Cheers

Bill