Hi all, I'm having problems with my laptop, it takes about 6 or 7 minutes to startup.

I'm running a Compaq Presario, T2050 Dual Core Processor, 1Gb RAM, 120Gb HD. OS is WINXP SP2

Up until about 2 months ago, it was starting up as normal. Now it takes ages.

I run AVG and Symantec for anti virus, Zone Alarm for firewall. I regularly run Adaware and CCleaner.

I have also ran WinUtilities. I have cut down lots of programs that used to open on startup, but still it hasn't improved performance.

I get the Welcome screen, then a blank light blue screen sits there for 5 minutes or so before the desktop appears.

Can anyone please help speed up my startup?

Thanks in advance.

What was the last thing you did before the problem started? And what changes have you made before the problem started? Basically that's how you go about finding out what the problem is by finding out what changes you've made before this happened. You could have downloaded something or installed something one or the other.

It just seemed to happen! That's why I say over the past 2 months or so.

In short, I don't know what I might have installed!

This can hopefully help with system startup

Defrag your hard drive

Go to Microsoft's website and download BootVis.exe, BootVis.exe->Tools menu->Optimize

Delete anything that you don't need in the Start->Programs->Startup folder, and
In the Registry under HKLM->Software->Microsoft->Windows->Run and HKCU->Software->Microsoft->Windows->Run.

Defragging will do very little for system startup issues.
The problem is probably related to malware or a host of 'utilities' loading up at startup.

Go to Start - Programs (All Programs) - Startup to see a list of programs that are set to run at startup. Delete the entries that you don't need to have always running (you're not deleting the programs, just the shortcut).

Next use msconfig (http://www.netsquirrel.com/msconfig/) to root out the other startup items.

Next clean out all the malware use Spybot and AdAware. I'm sure Curlyben will come along with his standard complete guide with links. :)

I am well 'defragged', I have very few programs set to run at start up and I have ran Adaware but still I am very slow at startup!

I think I might just have to put up with it!

I notice that you have CCleaner installed.
Have you used ALL of is funtionality ?
Not only does it remove junk, but it cleans the registry and edits the start up as well (similar to MSCONFIG)

Here's my normal pile of pooh that NK was referring to:



When was the last time you did some serious system maintenance on your machine ?
Here's my usual C&P for cases like this:


When was the last time you did some serious maintenance on your system ?

System maintenance includes:
Defrag
FULL patching
Virus scanning
Spyware scanning
Removal of rubish files

Defrag is an inbuilt function in XP.
Open My Computer > Right click C: > Tools Tab and it's there.

To make sure everything is running fine run both anti virus and anti spyware apps in normal AND safe modes. (make sure that they are updated first ! ;)) (AVG (http://free.grisoft.com/doc/1) is good and free AV)
(A couple of good removal tools are Spybot (http://www.safer-networking.org/) and Adaware (http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/))

ALso an on line virus and spyware scanner is Trend Housecall (http://housecall.trendmicro.com/)

Just a note; actively running two AV's on one machine can cause problems.
So if you are thinking about it make sure your current one is disabled first.
Same thing applies to online scanners as well.

Removal of junk files is easy with CCleaner (http://www.ccleaner.com) a free app that does exactly what

If all this fails then a repair install may be in order:

Here's (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/helpandsupport/learnmore/tips/doug92.mspx) the official Micro$oft way of doing it,
And Here's (http://www.geekstogo.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=138) one with screen shots.

Basically this installs windows over the top of your current setup.
So you don't loose any information you already have.

This lot should resolve your issue.

Thanks curly I'll give it a go tomorrow!

Your running two different anti-virus programs which can cause conflict, the AVG is a good anti-virus software, I would uninstall the symantec and go with the AVG. This should help with a lot of your slow start-ups and slow applications.

I have been running two anti virus for a long time before my 'go slow'!

Still, I have uninstalled Symantec, deleted lots of applications, defragged, ran Ccleaner but still I am slow booting up.

My comp gets passed the welcome screen okay, displays my desktop (without icons) but then seems to hang for a few minutes before the icons appear. In contrast, when my desktop boots up, as soon as the desktop appears, the icons follow, seconds later!

I may have to reformat, methinks !