System:
a7v8x mainboard
120 mb maxtor hd
512 mb ram
16x asus dvdrom
nec nd1300 dvd-rw
256 mb gainward geforce 5600
XP Home SP1
anything else you need to know?

Why is it that after I've rebooted and started up windows xp, it'll wait for 20 seconds or so before I can do anything? It's very strange cause it seams that all the drives (hds and dvds) are disabled and only 2 of the 'start up' programs will start, then it'll wait for about 20 seconds with seamingly no process and then the rest will come.

I can however for example start up Nero during this time, and it'll start, but it'll say I don't have any burner installed and ask if I want to use the image maker.

If I start up explorer to wiev the contens of my computer it'll show all the basic things like 'my documents' 'my computer' 'shared folders' 'control panel' and the likes but if I click the + next to 'my computer it'll freeze and also wait untill these 20 seconds has passed.

If I start up internet explorer it'll also freeze and wait 20 seconds then it'll pop up the 'connection' window.



After these 20 seconds has passed at startup everything behaves perfect and it's not a critical problem, but still kind of annoying.

It didn't use to be this way, but it happened after a reinstall of xp. it's the same way at my friends compu.

someone told me it was because of one of the start-up apps that is lagging behind, and the rest of the system is relying on its loading to continue starting...
could anyone tell me what app exaclty is the one lagging?
this is a screenshot from msinfo showing all the startup apps:

holy crap how much junk do u need at start up

You see the HKLM\blahblah\run, those are startup programs. I have one; a bat file that loads up all my programs do there isn't one almighty dash for system resources on startup

Serious, get into your registry and then navigate to HKLM\Software\microsoft\Windows\currentversion\Run

Export ur registry keys and delete all that shit... you don't need any bollocks like kernelfaultcheck, mspy, your joystick junk, your check for java update at startup, your realplayer gunk memory user, etc.

The someone who told you that is right. Some of the aps are having a hard time to load and that causes the lag.
You might give WinrescueXP a try, this program can help you re-arrange you registers so a boot will be faster. I had some other programs used in the past but I can't remember them at this moment. But searching in google will help you, a lot of tweaksites mention them.
Also you might wanna do a search on "Prefetch", disabling this worked for me on a P3-500 since you did not mention you CPU speed.
So google around on the tweaksites, search for "startup tweak" or something and you will find the good stuff.

Remeber something right now, Bootmanager or something, at least there is a program that scans your boot to see where the problems within the boot are. Damn beers, it will kill your memory

Tis can be caused sometimes by the mere presence of ethernet cards.

indeed, you need to disable the netcard looking for scheduled task.
http://www.tweakxp.com

However, in this case, i think its cause you have a lot of shit on startup

Indeed but if it worked in the past it should work now too. Maybe some install of a new program did the trick to kill the reboot speed.
One thing I learned using Windows, it works his own paths, while it works one minute it can stop working the other, without any help from me.

well I find the best way to sort out these problems is a quick regedit session.

It will make life easier in the future too:
Start>run>Regedit.exe

Navigate to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
Favourite>Add to Favourites:
Run~Local Machine

Navigate to:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
Favourite>Add to Favourites:
Run~Current User


Now its a simple matter of going to Favourite>and then the registry path to axe any crap that gets put there. Then to backup its, 2nd button on the folder>export.

Under those two, everything is axable with no ill effects, it merely stops the process from loading. I made a batfile to load up everything I want at startup:



Saved as start.bat in windows folder. I downloaded an exe called wait.exe (i can share if u can't find it), and it allows a pause for x seconds when running batch files. These pauses are a lifesaver for programs with ugly splash screens which tend to swamp your system.

I then created a new Registry string with the value "C:\windows\start.bat"

@Doe, look around on tweak xp for boot omptimising, or speeding up boot. M$ has made an app that lets you boot up xp in a flash (by optimising what it messes with and what you need).

tnx guys. haven't rebooted yet, but hope I managed to solve it.

definitely worth a long scout through tweakxp... helps a lot.

oh no. what have I done this time? It seams I've tweaked a little too much. I can't save files in IE (or opera) anymore. When I press the 'save' button the 'saving file' window freezes. If I press 'save' in opera, the whole program shuts down. what have I done?

about your first problem (delay): it can be because of dhcp client is looking for ips (that was in my case)
solution: set fixed ips to all devices using tcp/ip

something unrelated to editing /run/ in your registry. Could be anything, but most likely u've installed some junk spyware along the lines.

Spyware can cause some real shit, just this week I have fixed 2 systems that were agonisingly slow, and had no internet access due to all the spyware trying to fone home and pop up ads. I had some shit calle dthe isearch bar, pesky kids, that stopped me customising the buttons in IE.

Forgot to say, I had an issue like this last year, twas something to do with my PC trying to obtain an IP from my ISP, and it was at there end.

man, I can't open files with any programs either. If I press the 'open' setcion, the program will just quit.

Er, what exactly did you do, tweaks wise?

Did you fiddle with the registry? If you did stick the backup copies you shoulda made back and see if that helps.

I removed a few of the startup proggys in the registry and disabled the 'background intelligent transfer service' in services.

Hhhm, well if it means anything, I like to think my system is fairly well tweaked, especially trimming out the shit in services, and that background thingy is still active on mine. Have you tried switching it back on?

phew. used the registy backup and did a system restore two days back, and now it works again. =)

Maybe try and do it like I do, a little bit and then reboot, that way, if it goes tit's up it is easier to fix.