[dukie3]

Hi,

Recently my Windows XP HP laptop started taking exceptionally long to load the desktop Icons on bootup. Wondering if something in my registry got messed up recently. Looking for advise on how to troubleshoot this issue so I can fix the long delay in loading the desktop icons.

Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Version 2002
Service Pack 2

T2500 @2.0 GHZ
2.00 GHz, 0.99 Gb of RAM

thanks

[lawson_jl]

You more then likely have either a virus/spyware or some program is taking a lot of time to load. Did you recently add or change your antivius program or add any other programs. USe msconfig to see what programs you have starting up in Windows. Also check your task manager to see how many processes you have running after your PC boots. This number should be 35 or under for a desktop PC running Windows XP. If you do have alot of things running in the background you can start by removing old programs you no longer use and anythign with the word toolbar in the name from the Add/Remove control panel.

[dukie3]

thank you for the troubleshooting procedure. msconfig has help me isolate the problem to a Microsoft Service that is causing the delay in loading. I found this using the selective startup and process of elimination. Load services caused the problem and selecting just Microsoft services still causes the problem. Any suggestion on how to determine which Microsoft service is causing the issue?

[dukie3]

Hi again,

Using MSconfig and the Selective Startup process I isolated the long delay to the Microsoft Service called Workstation. Manually disabling this service gives me a clean startup with no delay. Now my question is what does Workstation service provide and will I need to have it function to properly work? Also can some other process (virus or adware) be tied to this Microsoft service and if yes how do I identify it and then remove it if necessary. Note that I am currently running Symatec antivirus, cyberarmor personal firewall and have ran scans using Lavasoft adware and Spybot (latest definitations). Nothing strange has been detected.

thanks

[jshe]

Symantec causes my os to slow to a crawl until it decides to allow control back to me. Then if it decides that it wants to do something or check something, it locks me out until it again decides that I can use my system again.

Give this a try; disable Norton products and then see how fast or slow you have control of your os.

[Computer_Genius]

You can also disable unnecessary visual styles-
My computer/properties/Advanced/Performance settings/visual styles/

Disable all except for the last three =]

[DerekC]

In regards to your question about issues if you disable the Workstation service, as long as it's a home computer and not on a network you should be fine..


http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../MS03-049.mspx

If the Workstation service is disabled, the system cannot connect to any shared file resources or shared print resources on a network. Only use this workaround on stand-alone systems (such as many home systems) that do not connect to a network. If the Workstation service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on the Workstation service do not start, and an error message is logged in the system event log. The following services depend on the Workstation service:

• Alerter

• Browser

• Messenger

• Net Logon

• RPC Locator


These services are required to access resources on a network and to perform domain authentication. Internet connectivity and browsing for stand-alone systems, such as users on dial-up connections, on DSL connections, or on cable modem connections, should not be affected if these services are disabled.

Note: The Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer will not function if the Workstation service is disabled. It is possible that other applications may also require the Workstation service. If an application requires the Workstation service, simply re-enable the service. This can be performed by changing the Startup Type for the Workstation service back to Automatic and restarting the system.

[Officer Dibble]

Just start off with the basics first - not every headache requires brain surgery...

Run something like Ad-Aware first and then defrag your drive. Tell us how it is after that.

[dukie3]

I already ran adware scans but will rerun full scans again. I also check whether Windows thinks I should defrag my drives. One them requires it and I am currently doing it.

I think I got into this trouble when I was having another problem with my network adapters (I have a wired and wireless one configured). I uninstalled and reinstalled a PCMCIA wireless card many times due to an application I had to run. I also played around with the services attached to the interfaces. I notice now that the Workstation service actually is the "Client for MS Networks" service that gets added to and from the network cards. Yes I do need this because this is a work computer where it does need to connect to a network. I also notice at the time that I had hundreds of registry entries for network adapters. So I manually removed all of them but the two adapters that I needed (one for wired connection and one for Wireless). I do not think my long startup problem started right after that but sometime after those changes it did.

I have tried to remove (uninstall) and install the Client for MS networks on the adapters recently to see if the Workstation Service could get "repaired". This did not work. As soon as Client for MS networks is on the adapters and Workstation service is running my long startup occurs. (I timed it btw. it is about 2 minutes from the time the Windows greeting chimes till the icons get loaded).

Any other advice or help is much appreciated.

thanks

[Officer Dibble]

Well, you may know this already, it can take wireless some moments to pick up a signal. If you have shortcuts to shared drives, etc, that are accessed via wireless then this could be the reason.

Additionally, it could just be lag on your network and application dependencies. Does your event viewer tell you anything, such as network conflicts?

[dukie3]

Thanks again for the replies. Still have the issue. Even with the Wireless "hard switch" disabled or shut off the computer still has the 2 minute wait on boot up. This is even with no wired network cable attached. Adware and spyware completely removed and I defrag one of my drives. Anyone have any other suggestions?

[jshe]

Originally Posted by dukie3

Anyone have any other suggestions?

You really should try the suggestion I sent to you on January 21st.

[Officer Dibble]

Originally Posted by jshe

You really should try the suggestion I sent to you on January 21st.

Wow! He's running Norton?! I totally missed that... like jshe says, bin Norton.

Not only do you have to wait the mandatory moments of wireless finding a signal... but then you are adding to that the burden of Norton wanting to do its thing...

[dukie3]

jshe et al,

I can't disable Symantec. It is a corporate build PC which has the antivirus program embedded and protected from users accessing it. I can kick off a manual scan but cannot alter any settings. Any other suggestions? Possibly there is a way to disable Symantec from the regisrty or somewhere else.

Appreciate all the help.
thanks

[jshe]

The only suggestion I have is kill it in the registry or if you can get to "RUN", "MSCONFIG" then kill it in the "Start UP" and or "Services". Only problem is your IT guys probably have you locked out and you may not be able to get to those. Maybe someone else can give you a suggestion.

I would suggest to try to alter the Boot-Up using F8 and you could select the services you want started but the problem with that is it will take longer than allowing it to boot on it's own.

Last I would ask my tech support to move into the 21st century and get rid of Norton. That has got to be the worst service ever and for the last few years it has continually gone downhill.