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Watch Startup



 
 
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  #1  
Old July 19th 14, 07:06 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
OldGuy
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Posts: 75
Default Watch Startup

There must be some app that will monitor exactly what is happening
during Win XP startup from boot to a stable windows desktop. What might
it be?



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  #2  
Old July 19th 14, 07:28 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
BillW50
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Posts: 5,556
Default Watch Startup

On 07/19/2014 01:06 PM, OldGuy wrote:
There must be some app that will monitor exactly what is happening
during Win XP startup from boot to a stable windows desktop. What might
it be?


How would that happen? You power up a machine and the BIOS has full
control. Then the BIOS hands the control over to the OS. No application
can do anything until the OS is loaded.

Say what interest do you have in what is happening anyway? Monitoring
processes and services will tell you (unless they exited early), but
after the fact.

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - Ubuntu 12.04.1
Centrino Core Duo T2300 1.66GHz - 1GB - Thunderbird v24.6.0
  #3  
Old July 19th 14, 08:42 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
Ant[_3_]
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Posts: 873
Default Watch Startup

Microsoft BootVis would watch your Windows XP's startup.

On 7/19/2014 11:06 AM PT, OldGuy typed:

There must be some app that will monitor exactly what is happening
during Win XP startup from boot to a stable windows desktop. What might
it be?


--
"Forbear, thou great good husband, little ant." --Richard Lovelace
/\___/\ Ant(Dude) @ http://antfarm.ma.cx (Personal Web Site)
/ /\ /\ \ Ant's Quality Foraged Links: http://aqfl.net
| |o o| |
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( ) If e-mailing, then axe ANT from its address if needed.
Ant is currently not listening to any songs on this computer.
  #4  
Old July 19th 14, 08:58 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
Paul
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Posts: 18,275
Default Watch Startup

OldGuy wrote:
There must be some app that will monitor exactly what is happening
during Win XP startup from boot to a stable windows desktop. What might
it be?


Bootvis. It logs stuff from ETW for analysis and draws a pretty graph.
The software was discontinued long ago. When I tested it on WinXP SP3,
it worked perfectly for the purpose of drawing the graph. (Note - I
do not use it for making changes to the system, merely for logging.)

http://www.online-tech-tips.com/comp...-windows-boot/

The Wikipedia doesn't do the tool justice.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bootvis

This is my download link from my bootmarks (if it still works).

https://web.archive.org/web/20100601...otVis-Tool.exe

This is a sample screenshot of a Bootvis post-analysis.
You can see some process names from my system startup, in the bottom trace.

http://i59.tinypic.com/121dhew.gif

You can see a lull in activity on the C: drive at around
34 seconds or so, which is presumably the end of boot. The
T=0 in the graph, is not the instant the BIOS started running - it
would be the time when ETW was available in Windows, to collect
trace events. So perhaps some point after the kernel is
loaded or something. If you took my sluggish BIOS into
account, my total boot time is over a minute. The trace
only shows the heroic Windows portion.

Paul
  #5  
Old July 19th 14, 09:20 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
OldGuy
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Posts: 100
Default Watch Startup

I want to see what services and startups take the most time.
Probably most do not needed.
I do NOT want to use the very slow and tiresome process of elimination
on several PCs. Hoping that it can be simplified and information
obtained each and every boot.

BootVis maybe better than nothing.

Not sure of the difference. I found:

BootVis-Tool.exe 329K

and in another place
BootVis.msi 968K
BootVis and More 4528.pdf 7 pages
http://blogs.technet.com/b/sysintern...12/452885.aspx
That site still there.


Read and inform. You understand this stuff much better than others.



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  #6  
Old July 19th 14, 09:23 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
OldGuy
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Posts: 100
Default Watch Startup

BillW50 presented the following explanation :
On 07/19/2014 01:06 PM, OldGuy wrote:
There must be some app that will monitor exactly what is happening
during Win XP startup from boot to a stable windows desktop. What might
it be?


How would that happen? You power up a machine and the BIOS has full control.
Then the BIOS hands the control over to the OS. No application can do
anything until the OS is loaded.

Say what interest do you have in what is happening anyway? Monitoring
processes and services will tell you (unless they exited early), but after
the fact.


Why don't you want to know what is going on?
If the processor is running then an application can run and log
whatever is happening. It just needs to be started.

The BIOS I am not interested in, it is when the BIOS starts anything
after it. i.e. what Windows is doing.
A time stamped log would tell me what I want to know.



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  #7  
Old July 19th 14, 09:36 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
Paul
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 18,275
Default Watch Startup

OldGuy wrote:
snip

Not sure of the difference. I found:

BootVis-Tool.exe 329K

and in another place
BootVis.msi 968K
BootVis and More 4528.pdf 7 pages
http://blogs.technet.com/b/sysintern...12/452885.aspx
That site still there.


Read and inform. You understand this stuff much better than others.


You can start with archive.org and view all the capture dates.

https://web.archive.org/web/*/http:/...otVis-Tool.exe

I may have selected 2010, as the last date or so with an exe file
available. Some of the captures from later dates, may be redirection
links. So just work your way back in time, until archive.org offers
you an exe to download.

I've seen a trace with more detail in it than I got, but
maybe that takes "symbols". And any time I've been suckered
into getting the necessary symbol download, it turns out
to be ******** and a waste of time. So for starters, just
be happy with the startup software program names. Crawling
inside the programs isn't needed on a first run. I was working
on Windows 7 the other day, and tried using symcheck to
get more symbol files, and in the end, the stuff didn't
work anyway. I've probably download four or five gig of
symbol files, for nothing. The only time I will be
tempted to do this again, is if I'm forced to use windbg.

Paul
  #8  
Old July 19th 14, 10:20 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
Ant[_3_]
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Posts: 873
Default Watch Startup

On 7/19/2014 12:58 PM PT, Paul typed:

Bootvis. It logs stuff from ETW for analysis and draws a pretty graph.
The software was discontinued long ago. When I tested it on WinXP SP3,
it worked perfectly for the purpose of drawing the graph. (Note - I
do not use it for making changes to the system, merely for logging.)

http://www.online-tech-tips.com/comp...-windows-boot/

The Wikipedia doesn't do the tool justice.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bootvis

This is my download link from my bootmarks (if it still works).

https://web.archive.org/web/20100601...otVis-Tool.exe


http://download.microsoft.com/downlo...otVis-Tool.exe
still works from it, but mine is v1.3.37. :/
--
"Caution is not cowardice; even the ants march armed." --Ugandan Proverb
/\___/\ Ant(Dude) @ http://antfarm.ma.cx (Personal Web Site)
/ /\ /\ \ Ant's Quality Foraged Links: http://aqfl.net
| |o o| |
\ _ / If crediting, then use Ant nickname and AQFL URL/link.
( ) If e-mailing, then axe ANT from its address if needed.
A song (i/wa)s playing on this computer: OK Go - Writing's on the Wall
  #9  
Old July 20th 14, 03:22 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
BillW50
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 5,556
Default Watch Startup

In ,
Paul typed:
OldGuy wrote:
There must be some app that will monitor exactly what is happening
during Win XP startup from boot to a stable windows desktop. What
might it be?


Bootvis. It logs stuff from ETW for analysis and draws a pretty graph.
The software was discontinued long ago. When I tested it on WinXP SP3,
it worked perfectly for the purpose of drawing the graph. (Note - I
do not use it for making changes to the system, merely for logging.)


What about when you boot Windows in safe mode for example, you see
everything that is being loaded right on the screen? I seem to recall
that Windows logs this somewhere for both safe mode and normal mode.

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - Kingston 120GB SSD - OE-QuoteFix v1.19.2
Centrino Core2 Duo T5600 1.83GHz - 4GB - Windows XP SP2


  #10  
Old July 20th 14, 10:20 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
Paul
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 18,275
Default Watch Startup

BillW50 wrote:
In ,
Paul typed:
OldGuy wrote:
There must be some app that will monitor exactly what is happening
during Win XP startup from boot to a stable windows desktop. What
might it be?

Bootvis. It logs stuff from ETW for analysis and draws a pretty graph.
The software was discontinued long ago. When I tested it on WinXP SP3,
it worked perfectly for the purpose of drawing the graph. (Note - I
do not use it for making changes to the system, merely for logging.)


What about when you boot Windows in safe mode for example, you see
everything that is being loaded right on the screen? I seem to recall
that Windows logs this somewhere for both safe mode and normal mode.


That log is the very definition of useless. I hate it.
I don't know why it even gets mentioned on web pages.
The "offender" is often the item one past the end of the
log on a crash, which you cannot see, and since the order in
the log makes no sense, you can't even guess which one it
might be. What fun...

C:\WINDOWS\ntbtlog.txt

Did not load driver \SystemRoot\System32\DRIVERS\mrxsmb.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\DRIVERS\srv.sys
Did not load driver NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200
Did not load driver Microsoft WINMM WDM Audio Compatibility Driver
Did not load driver Microsoft WINMM WDM Audio Compatibility Driver

That's the kind of useful info that is in there. Both Win2K and WinXP
have that file. There are no time stamps. The first line is likely
identifying the OS version.

Service Pack 3 3 9 2011 18:11:34.375

HTH,
Paul
  #11  
Old July 20th 14, 10:40 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
BillW50
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 5,556
Default Watch Startup

In ,
Paul typed:
BillW50 wrote:
In ,
Paul typed:
OldGuy wrote:
There must be some app that will monitor exactly what is happening
during Win XP startup from boot to a stable windows desktop. What
might it be?

Bootvis. It logs stuff from ETW for analysis and draws a pretty
graph. The software was discontinued long ago. When I tested it on
WinXP SP3, it worked perfectly for the purpose of drawing the
graph. (Note - I do not use it for making changes to the system,
merely for logging.)


What about when you boot Windows in safe mode for example, you see
everything that is being loaded right on the screen? I seem to recall
that Windows logs this somewhere for both safe mode and normal mode.


That log is the very definition of useless. I hate it.
I don't know why it even gets mentioned on web pages.
The "offender" is often the item one past the end of the
log on a crash, which you cannot see, and since the order in
the log makes no sense, you can't even guess which one it
might be. What fun...

C:\WINDOWS\ntbtlog.txt

Did not load driver \SystemRoot\System32\DRIVERS\mrxsmb.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\DRIVERS\srv.sys
Did not load driver NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200
Did not load driver Microsoft WINMM WDM Audio Compatibility Driver
Did not load driver Microsoft WINMM WDM Audio Compatibility Driver

That's the kind of useful info that is in there. Both Win2K and WinXP
have that file. There are no time stamps. The first line is likely
identifying the OS version.

Service Pack 3 3 9 2011 18:11:34.375

HTH,
Paul


Oh... okay... well that idea suddenly got shot to hell. Thanks Paul.

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - Kingston 120GB SSD - OE-QuoteFix v1.19.2
Centrino Core2 Duo T5600 1.83GHz - 4GB - Windows XP SP2


  #12  
Old July 21st 14, 01:33 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
John John MVP
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 84
Default Watch Startup

On 7/19/2014 3:06 PM, OldGuy wrote:
There must be some app that will monitor exactly what is happening
during Win XP startup from boot to a stable windows desktop. What might
it be?


SysInternals Process Monitor can do boot logging.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-ca/s.../bb896645.aspx

John
  #13  
Old July 21st 14, 01:45 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
BillW50
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 5,556
Default Watch Startup

In ,
John John MVP typed:
On 7/19/2014 3:06 PM, OldGuy wrote:
There must be some app that will monitor exactly what is happening
during Win XP startup from boot to a stable windows desktop. What
might it be?


SysInternals Process Monitor can do boot logging.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-ca/s.../bb896645.aspx

John


It does? I had to quit using SysInternals Process Monitor years ago
because some Electronic Arts Games saw SysInternals Process Monitor, as
a tool for bypassing the copy protection. Thus the games would refuse to
run until you got rid of SysInternals Process Monitor.

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - Kingston 120GB SSD - OE-QuoteFix v1.19.2
Centrino Core2 Duo T5600 1.83GHz - 4GB - Windows XP SP2


  #14  
Old July 21st 14, 02:16 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
John John MVP
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 84
Default Watch Startup

On 7/21/2014 9:45 AM, BillW50 wrote:
In ,
John John MVP typed:
On 7/19/2014 3:06 PM, OldGuy wrote:
There must be some app that will monitor exactly what is happening
during Win XP startup from boot to a stable windows desktop. What
might it be?


SysInternals Process Monitor can do boot logging.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-ca/s.../bb896645.aspx

John


It does? I had to quit using SysInternals Process Monitor years ago
because some Electronic Arts Games saw SysInternals Process Monitor, as
a tool for bypassing the copy protection. Thus the games would refuse to
run until you got rid of SysInternals Process Monitor.


Yes, it does. It's an NT native application that can run just after the
boot loader selects the operating system, much the same as chkdsk might
be started before Windows starts to load. Instructions are shown here
(at the bottom half of the page:
http://www.symantec.com/business/sup...t&id=TECH92496

The tool cannot by itself allow any one to bypass copy protection but
during real time monitoring it can monitor file and registry activity so
your game vendors probably think that someone is trying to snoop out how
the copy mechanism works. In any case, this is not a tool that you
would run at all times for no specific reason, it can produce profuse
amounts of information and real time monitoring always has a hit of some
sort on performance.

John
  #15  
Old July 22nd 14, 12:59 AM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
BillW50
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 5,556
Default Watch Startup

In ,
John John MVP typed:
On 7/21/2014 9:45 AM, BillW50 wrote:
In ,
John John MVP typed:
On 7/19/2014 3:06 PM, OldGuy wrote:
There must be some app that will monitor exactly what is happening
during Win XP startup from boot to a stable windows desktop. What
might it be?

SysInternals Process Monitor can do boot logging.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-ca/s.../bb896645.aspx

John


It does? I had to quit using SysInternals Process Monitor years ago
because some Electronic Arts Games saw SysInternals Process Monitor,
as a tool for bypassing the copy protection. Thus the games would
refuse to run until you got rid of SysInternals Process Monitor.


Yes, it does. It's an NT native application that can run just after
the boot loader selects the operating system, much the same as chkdsk
might be started before Windows starts to load. Instructions are
shown here (at the bottom half of the page:
http://www.symantec.com/business/sup...t&id=TECH92496

The tool cannot by itself allow any one to bypass copy protection but
during real time monitoring it can monitor file and registry activity
so your game vendors probably think that someone is trying to snoop
out how the copy mechanism works.


Yes that is how I saw it too.

In any case, this is not a tool that you would run at all times for no
specific reason, it can produce profuse amounts of information and
real time monitoring always has a hit of some sort on performance.


Wow! Way back when I used to have the Task Manager in the Startup folder
(minimized). As it would display an icon in the tray and you could see
how busy the CPU was. If things are slow and the CPU is pegged, that is
why. Next see what is taking all of the CPU power. One problem is
especially with Asus EeePC netbooks DPC (Deferred Procedure Call) will
peg the CPU if any EMF are nearby. The Task Manager will show the CPU
being pegged, but it won't show you that DPC is causing it.

Ah but SysInternals Process Monitor will show that DPC is sucking the
life out of the CPU. So I put that in the Startup instead. I ran it 100%
of the time and I saw nothing noteworthy to SysInternals Process Monitor
is using a lot of CPU power for anything. Maybe 5% or something, but
that is acceptable to me.

That is until some Electronic Arts games had a problem with it. Then I
dropped it and moved on to AnVir Task Manager and Process Lasso. Not
exactly the same or anything, but they do other stuff too. Neither one
tells you about DPCs either, but high CPU usage and no process accounts
for it is virtually a give away it is DPCs.

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - Kingston 120GB SSD - OE-QuoteFix v1.19.2
Centrino Core2 Duo T5600 1.83GHz - 4GB - Windows XP SP2


 




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