On 24/06/2010 18:31, John John - MVP wrote:

Richard wrote:
On 24/06/2010 17:22, John John - MVP wrote:
Richard wrote:
On 24/06/2010 15:09, John John - MVP wrote:

John John - MVP wrote:
Richard wrote:
On 24/06/2010 14:13, John John - MVP wrote:
Richard wrote:
On 24/06/2010 13:20, John John - MVP wrote:
Richard wrote:
(This may be repeated....if so, sorry!)When I start my computer
(with
Win XP Home SP3 installed), just after the BIOS info screen and
before
Windows even kicks in, I get a white progress bar at the bottom
of the
screen that fills up over about 20 minutes before the usual
Windows
logo/start screen appears. Looking at the event viewer for the
System
I find that "boot-start or system-start driver "bthex" was not
found.
Looking in the Registry indicates that bthex is expected to be
found
in Win\System32\Drivers. It is not there, so something has
suddenly
deleted\renamed it or something. I have put my installation DVD
in the
drive and tried a repair but this driver cannot be located
there,
and
I have googled for it but with no luck. Can anyone suggest
where I
might find this system file, or maybe even search for it on
their
own
Syste32 folder and make it available to me?? Many thanks for any
help
in advance.

If it's a driver it would be a .sys file (not a .dll). A search
for this
file yields no results, often an indication that the file is
virus or
malware related. I would suggest that you make sure that the
machine is
free of any pests.

Where *exactly* in the registry did you find reference to this
file? It
could be that your Anti-Virus tools have removed an infection and
that
the entry is just a remnant.

John
Appears at HKLM/System/ControlSet001(and
003)/Enum/Root/LEGACY_BTHEX/NextInstance (REG_DWORD set to "1")
which
I am not allowed to edit: also at ditto\controlset001 (and
3)/services/bthex/ (and
services/enum/explorerbars/{C4EE31})ImagePath
REG_DWORD set to "system32/drivers/bthex.sys." If I delete all
these
references, could that help??

Is it in the CurrentControlSet?

Look for phantom devices in the Device Manager and see if any make
mention this BTHEX driver:

Device Manager does not display devices that are not connected
to the
Windows XP-based computer
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315539

This little batch file will automatically set the Device Manager to
show
phantom devices and open it for you:

----------------------------------------------------
set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices-1
start devmgmt.msc
----------------------------------------------------

You cannot delete the keys in the Enum section because you do not
have
permission to do so, grant yourself the necessary permissions
and you
will be able to remove the keys. Before you do that keep in mind
that
there is a good reason why only the System account has
permission to
delete keys in the in the \Enum branch! It would be best to remove
the
device in the Device Manager instead of removing it from the Enum
keys.

Before you change the permissions and delete keys please read the
following:

Enum
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-ca/l.../cc976176.aspx

System and Startup Settings
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/l.../bb742541.aspx

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Select
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-ca/l.../cc978528.aspx

John
Yes - it is in CurrentControlSet under /Enum/Root/LEGACY_BTHEX/0000.
No mention in Device Manager, or after running your batch file. I
won't try to meddle with Enum, but how do I grant myself permission
if I did want to?? I will read the articles you mention, but since
this is the file that is causing my 20 min startup delay,
ex-infection or otherwise - how do I get rid of my system searching
for it?? Thanks again.

The registry permissions are just like regular NTFS file permissions,
just right click on the offending key and select Permissions...

If you are convinced that this is the culprit and if you cannot
remove
the device from the Device Manager then just grant yourself full
control on the key and delete it. For the time being remove it in the
CurrentControlSet only! If the Windows installation balks at its
removal (when you reboot) just boot to the Last Known Good
Configuration.

PS. The problem is more likely to be caused by the status of the
service
in the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es branch, I
suggest that you remove or disable the service there. To disable the
service set its Start value to 4.

John
Well, Having deleted it from the CurrentControlSet and rebooted, the
problem is still there, but Event Viewer no longer reports a problem
in looking for bthex. So I presume bthex, whatever it is, is *not* the
reason for my slow progress bar in booting up. Any ideas as to what it
might now be? Could it be something to do with Power On Self Testing,
or if not is there any way of diagnosing why this has suddenly started
occuring? Cheers.

I think that what you are seeing is part of the Windows boot process
rather than the POST routine, an easy way to tell would be to press/tap
the F8 key when the computer is booting and see how long it takes for
the advanced Windows boot options show up. Or put a second (phony) line
in the boot.ini file and see how long it takes for ntldr to parse and
present the boot menu.

John
When I tap the F8 key the (by now usual) slow clicks and whirrs
continue for about 2 mins, then the white progress bar appears and
continues another 2 or 3 mins, and then at last the advanced options
menu appears. Choosing any option results in the correct procedure,
but another 15 mins for the bar to disappear and the Windows start-up
logo to kick in. Before all this began, the advanced options screen
would appear within seconds. Does this indicate Windows boot routine
or POST, and if so what does this indicate? If I placed a phony line
in boot.ini what would the length of time tell me? Thank you very much
for all your help with this.

When the boot.ini file contains only one ARC path, (like most Windows
installations), the boot loader (ntldr) simply parses the file and
proceeds to boot the default Windows installation without presenting the
user with a boot menu. When the boot.ini file contains more than one
line ntldr reads the file then presents a boot menu for a certain length
of time to allow the user to select which Windows installation to boot.

For example:

Most boot.ini files where only one Windows installation is present will
look something like this:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOW S
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Micro soft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect

In the above example the file only contains one ARC path:

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS

Ntldr sees that there is only one Windows installation present so it
doesn't present a boot menu and proceeds to load the default Windows
installation. If we were to add a second "phony" installation ntldr
would pause to allow the user to select which Windows installation to
boot, the boot.ini file could look like this:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOW S
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Micro soft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Phony Windows" /fastdetect

When seeing more than one ARC path lines ntldr will now pause when the
computer is booted and it will present the user with a boot menu
allowing the user to select one of the following:

Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Phony Windows

If no selection is made after the timeout= time ntldr will load the
default= operating system. With the above boot.ini file, if no selection
is made, after 30 seconds ntldr will load the
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS operating system, the one
labeled "Microsoft Windows XP Professional". The stuff between the
quotation marks is for human eyes only, what you see on the boot menu,
so the above "Phony Windows" line is valid, you will see Phony Windows
as a boot option.

This is simply an option that allows you to gauge how much time it takes
for the BIOS to do it's stuff and load the MBR and then pass the boot
process to the boot sector of the active partition which then in turns
passes the boot process to the ntldr boot loader, only then (when the
boot sector passes the boot process to the boot loader) is Windows
involved, anything prior to that has nothing to do with Windows. So what
does all of this do? It simply allows one to gauge the time at which
Windows actually becomes involved in the boot process, it can sometimes
be helpful if one is having difficulties determining where the boot
process is at when it hangs after the POST test.

Your comments that there is whirling and clicking noises doesn't sound
too good, this can be a sign of a failing hard drive. A failing drive
can often be difficult to boot and it can take a long time to do so. I
would strongly suggest that you backup all your precious files and run
disk diagnostic utility from the drive manufacturer on the disk. Another
way to do a quick test is to open the box and touch the hard disk, a
failing whirling and clicking drive will usually also become quite hot
to the touch.

John
Found Boot.ini and added "phony" line. I got the phony choice after only
15 secs, so I now assume the BIOS is doing its stuff OK. There is then a
wait of 2 mins till the progress bar appears (or 1min to the Advanced
Options Screen if I had pressed F8, then 1 more min), then about 12 mins
to the Windows XP logo, then about 4 mins till my startup programs have
kicked in OK. So if it is Windows that is involved and not now the BIOS
or the POST, what can suddenly be causing this huge delay of 14 mins??
Any more help greatly appreciated.
Regards, Richard