Windows 8 suddenly takes ages to boot

j9900090

New Member
Messages
8
Hi there,

I have suddenly got this problem. To the best of my knowledge I haven't installed anything prior to this happening. My pc used to take prob less than a minute to boot, but now takes around 10mins. Once booted it runs fine.

PC:
oBAAA5oB8AAJAD+gEAADn8fyQGuHpX8+d1AAAAAElFTkSuQmCC


I'm unsure if this would be a hardware or software issue so open to suggestions.

I have updated and scanned with Sophos AV and Windows defender and both show clean. I cannot boot to safe mode as the start up is so slow that nothing happens anymore hitting f8.
I have defragged and optimised both HDDs and run chkdisk.
No warnings in device manager. A few errors in eventlog but nothing major or consistent - I can get them if wanted.
I used SFC /SCANNOW Command which initially failed so I used Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth this appeared to work and then on running sfc /scannow then completed successfully with no errors, but no change in boot speed.

I then used system restore to restore the computer to prior to this happening - this completed successfully, but still no change on the boot up speed.

I then downloaded and ran the Windows Assesssment console and have the logs, but am unsure really where to go with them. They are attached (Axelog).

Please help!

Thanks
 

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My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Sophos
Also additional info:
H1gAPrVfSgqkAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC


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

Windows update has been run and all up to date, and I have removed everything from starting on boot bar my AV program

Also since found the following warnings:
8B2TXoydotBw8AAAAASUVORK5CYII=
 

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My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Sophos
It can be difficult to trace the source of slow start up times. A good inbuilt tool is the reliabilty monitor, while its main goal is to trace when and how crashes and such show up, it might help you in determining what caused your problem : Control Panel (view as icons) > Action Center > Maintenance > View reliability history.

Any change to your system should show up there. Updates / New Software installations are in blue (informational events). When did you start experiencing this slowdown ? Try and remember and see if it can be traced to something in the history.

Another tool that might help you is a 3rd party utility : BootRacer
It gives more detailed information about startup times than windows and can help you determine which program/service is the cuplrit.
 
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My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 (x64)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
This problem has started in the last week. Over the last month the only thing is amd external events client module failing. Googling shows it as part of the amd CCC which I no longer have as about a month ago I got an nvidea card. I've removed it as best I can.
I've looked at the reliability monitor and the only thing that is showing as critical events is that and a couple of windows not shut down properly and photos for example not respionding.

I've ran that boot racer and I get 143seconds though it doesn't show which programs are causing this unless I'm doing it wrong?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Sophos
Try running msconfig (Start Key +R, Type msconfig). Go to the services tab, check hide all microsoft services. Take a screenshot. Go to startup tab, it will redirect you to the task manager, take another screenshot and post them here.

Bootracer is nice because it separates boot time to logon (mainly drivers, os executables and admin services) from boot time to desktop (mainly affected by startup programs/services).

You should also run a virus/malware scan just to be sure.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 (x64)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
Just running a malware scan as I don't recognise update webconnect.
Screenshots attached, I've run a couple of AV scans today already.
Thanks

Ps I don't trust bootracer. It says it takes about 3mins total to boot, but by using my clock it took 12mins......
 

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Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Sophos
Right antimalware and antirootkit scan done too. Removed that update webconnect thing as malware but no change however. Any more ideas?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Sophos
From your screenshots and your description this slowdown might not be from any software installed : most services apart from nvidia are update services (which are usually very lightweight), and you disabled most startup programs.

You should try booting in safe mode just to be sure and check if you experience the same problem : How To Boot Into Safe Mode On Windows 8 (The Easy Way). Follow the 2d method from msconfig, since you can't hit F8

If it's still slow then the problem doesn't come from any of your 3rd party apps but probably from an incompatible driver. Don't rely on windows update for your drivers. Go directly to your PC or motherboard's website and download/install all the latests drivers. Same for your graphics card.

You can also try and identify the hardware responsible by doing a hardware clean boot : start in safe mode then go to device manager (Start key+R, type devmgmt.msc), right click and disable wireless card / display card / sound card / cd-dvd drives, and unplug any external devices (except from mouse/keyboard). Restart to check if your boot times are normal.

At worst it could also be a hardware problem. You should check the SMART status of your hard drives. Open a command prompt and type :
wmic
diskdrive get status

If the status is OK on all drives, download and use these diagnostic tools to check your drives, since they are more reliable :
SeaTools | Seagate (for your maxtor hdd)
WD Support / Downloads / My Cloud Apps + Other Products / Data Lifeguard Diagnostic for Windows (for your wd hdd)
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 (x64)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
Right, booting to safe mode is the same slow boot. (I ran malware scan and rootkit in safe mode whilst I was there too - nothing)

wmic
diskdrive get status

shows:
ok
ok

And using the seagate and WD tools both come back with HDDs as being fine.

Just looking for drivers now.....

edit: Annoyingly I have an ASUS P7P55D mobo and their website appears to not have windows 8 drivers???? I've emailed them.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Sophos
Well aparantly my mobo doesn't support win8 says ASUS, thought its been happily running for 6months....
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Sophos
Hmm, I'm sorry to hear that. Sadly if ASUS hasn't produced any official drivers for 8 yet, I sincerely doubt there will be any in the future for this specific motherboard. Still lack of official support doesn't mean it can't work.

As I see it your original drivers (windows 7 ones) worked under win 8 but one of them was probably updated through windows update resulting in your problems.

You can download the windows 7 drivers from ASUS : http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/P7P55D/#support. Get the latest drivers for your chipset, audio and lan. If the installation fails for any of them you can run them in compatibility mode : Make older programs compatible with this version of Windows - Microsoft Windows Help
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 (x64)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
I tried loading those drivers but even in compatibility mode they weren't working or they were older than my existing ones. Unfortunately I'm a little bit stuck - anything else you can think of?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Sophos
Your problem started after replacing the AMD/ATI video with nVidia video. The Catalyst software for AMD/ATI is notoriously difficult to remove.

Head to the AMD site and search for an uninstaller program for either your specific Catalyst program or your ATI Radeon display adapter. That probably will need to be run in SAFE mode. Boot in SAFE mode and run the AMD uninstaller. If it is still lingering around, uninstall the Catalyst software again there. Still in SAFE mode, check the Device Manager > Display Adapters, and delete any remaining orphan ATI Radeon entries. Restart and check for any further problems. That should fix it.

If not, you may want to run Regedit and search for orphan ATI Radeon entries to delete. I can't recommend that you do that, but it has been necessary for me to do it myself. Be careful making changes to the Registry, and if you're not familiar with editing the Registry, DON'T.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II 3-core 2.3 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS M4A785-M (AM2+)
    Memory
    4 x 1GB Crucial DDR2 1066 Mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    onboard ATI HD 4200 256MB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell ST2421L
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768
    Hard Drives
    SSD Mushkin Chronos 120 GB (24 GB system partition)
    PSU
    Rocketfish 500W
    Cooling
    redundant
    Keyboard
    wireless
    Mouse
    different wireless
    Internet Speed
    12 MB/s max, 1 to 2 MB/s typical
    Browser
    Opera 20.0.1387.91 stable
    Antivirus
    Yes, I've got one.
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