Inconsistent startup behavior

robkay

New Member
Messages
6
I'm just wondering if anyone else experiences this. Upon a cold boot I get my Lenovo (desktop) splash logo, then typically within a few seconds the Windows lock screen displays allowing me to login. Overall startup is very fast.

But, about every 3rd or 4th cold boot, the startup behavior is different--not immediate like above. After the Lenovo logo, the screen goes black and there is a lot of disk activity for maybe 10 seconds or so, then my Windows lock screen displays. Sometimes for a second before to lock screen displays there will be a "Please wait" message displayed--just like after you have done a Windows update and restarted. Then my desktop displays. The icons may be solid white, then gradually display normally. Obviously there is some rather heavy activity going on.

Is this normal? Does anyone else experience this? What makes me uneasy is the part where the screen goes black while all that disk activity is going on. I don't like anything turning my display off on me. I want to know what is going on during all that disk activity. It seems like something malware would do. I have run full scans with my AV s/w and Malwarebytes, but the scans come up clean.

OK. Thanks!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 8.1
Welcome to the forum!

Some system specs would help. How about all your drivers, are they up to date, especially graphics?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer V3 771G-6443
    CPU
    i5-3230m
    Motherboard
    Acer VA70_HC (U3E1)
    Memory
    8GB DDR3 PC3-12800 (800 MHz)
    Graphics Card(s)
    HD4000 + GeForce GT 730M
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17" Generic PnP Display on Intel HD Graphics 4000
    Screen Resolution
    1600x900 pixels
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SSD 850 EVO 250 GB
    ADATA SSD SP900 128GB
    PSU
    90 watt brick
    Mouse
    Bluetooth
    Antivirus
    Comodo
    Other Info
    Asus RT-AC56R dual-band WRT router (Merlin firmware). Intel 7260.HMWWB.R dual-band ac wireless adapter.
Do you make alot of changes to your user account settings(wallpaper, taskbar position, programs & apps...etc)? Or are you using a 3rd party defragmenter with boot defrag? Windows does do some house cleaning at boot time every once and awhile; especially after using Disk Clean-up as administrator while cleaning Windows Update files, Device Driver Packages and Windows Defender.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Update Pro in Hyper-V/Windows 10 Pro 64 bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Cliff's Black & Blue Wonder
    CPU
    Intel Core i9-9900K
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus X Hero
    Memory
    32 GB Quad Kit, G.Skill Trident Z RGB Series schwarz, DDR4-3866, 18-19-19-39-2T
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS GeForce RTX 3090 ROG Strix O24G, 24576 MB GDDR6X
    Sound Card
    (1) HD Webcam C270 (2) NVIDIA High Definition Audio (3) Realtek High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    BenQ BL2711U(4K) and a hp 27vx(1080p)
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080 x 32 bits (4294967296 colors) @ 60 Hz
    Hard Drives
    C: Samsung 960 EVO NVMe M.2 SSD
    E: & O: Libraries & OneDrive-> Samsung 850 EVO 1TB
    D: Hyper-V VM's -> Samsung PM951 Client M.2 512Gb SSD
    G: System Images -> HDD Seagate Barracuda 2TB
    PSU
    Corsair HX1000i High Performance ATX Power Supply 80+ Platinum
    Case
    hanteks Enthoo Pro TG
    Cooling
    Thermaltake Floe Riing RGB TT Premium-Edition 360mm and 3 Corsair blue LED fans
    Keyboard
    Trust GTX THURA
    Mouse
    Trust GTX 148
    Internet Speed
    25+/5+ (+usually faster)
    Browser
    Edge; Chrome; IE11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender of course & Malwarebytes Anti-Exploit as a
    Other Info
    Router: FRITZ!Box 7590 AX V2
    Sound system: SHARP HT-SBW460 Dolby Atmos Soundbar
    Webcam: Logitech BRIO ULTRA HD PRO WEBCAM 4K webcam with HDR
I keep Windows up-to-date. I never removed the Lenovo Solution Center and it indicates that the "Lenovo software" is up-to-date, which I believe includes the drivers.

Lenovo M92p
Intel Core i7-3770 3.40 GHz
6g RAM
500g disk
Integrated Intel HD Graphics 4000
Integrated Realtek High Definition Audio
Win 8.1 Pro 64-bit
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 8.1
Do you make alot of changes to your user account settings(wallpaper, taskbar position, programs & apps...etc)? Or are you using a 3rd party defragmenter with boot defrag? Windows does do some house cleaning at boot time every once and awhile; especially after using Disk Clean-up as administrator while cleaning Windows Update files, Device Driver Packages and Windows Defender.

Thanks, Cliff. No, actually I don't mess with things much.
No 3rd party defrag. I don't believe I have ever run a manual defrag as I understand Windows takes care of it automatically now.
I do run Disk Cleanup once in a while, though. Maybe a couple times a week as I like to keep the temp files cleaned up.
I don't use Defender I have a 3rd party AV.

I'll have to note whether this occurs after I have done a Disk Cleanup. Whatever is going on...I cannot tell what it is as it blacks the monitor while it's doing it. Then, as I said, "sometimes" I'll see the "Please wait" there for a second just before I get the lock screen.

Thanks.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 8.1

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer V3 771G-6443
    CPU
    i5-3230m
    Motherboard
    Acer VA70_HC (U3E1)
    Memory
    8GB DDR3 PC3-12800 (800 MHz)
    Graphics Card(s)
    HD4000 + GeForce GT 730M
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17" Generic PnP Display on Intel HD Graphics 4000
    Screen Resolution
    1600x900 pixels
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SSD 850 EVO 250 GB
    ADATA SSD SP900 128GB
    PSU
    90 watt brick
    Mouse
    Bluetooth
    Antivirus
    Comodo
    Other Info
    Asus RT-AC56R dual-band WRT router (Merlin firmware). Intel 7260.HMWWB.R dual-band ac wireless adapter.
I used to see the same thing when I was using a 5400 rpm HDD on my ASUS laptop until I got me a Samsung Pro SSD. And on my new Lenovo desktop only while I was setting the system up on a 7400 rpm HDD, after which I then immediately made the repair USB and cloned to another 256GB Samsung Pro. Now even the largest "Patch Tuesday" updates only take seconds to install after downloading.(about 3 before and after reboot). So I don't see "waiting" or "setting up desktop" any more. I looked on the lenovo sight and the M92p can come with both an 128GB SSD and 500GB HDD installed, does yours have one? Or just the 500GB HDD?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Update Pro in Hyper-V/Windows 10 Pro 64 bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Cliff's Black & Blue Wonder
    CPU
    Intel Core i9-9900K
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus X Hero
    Memory
    32 GB Quad Kit, G.Skill Trident Z RGB Series schwarz, DDR4-3866, 18-19-19-39-2T
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS GeForce RTX 3090 ROG Strix O24G, 24576 MB GDDR6X
    Sound Card
    (1) HD Webcam C270 (2) NVIDIA High Definition Audio (3) Realtek High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    BenQ BL2711U(4K) and a hp 27vx(1080p)
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080 x 32 bits (4294967296 colors) @ 60 Hz
    Hard Drives
    C: Samsung 960 EVO NVMe M.2 SSD
    E: & O: Libraries & OneDrive-> Samsung 850 EVO 1TB
    D: Hyper-V VM's -> Samsung PM951 Client M.2 512Gb SSD
    G: System Images -> HDD Seagate Barracuda 2TB
    PSU
    Corsair HX1000i High Performance ATX Power Supply 80+ Platinum
    Case
    hanteks Enthoo Pro TG
    Cooling
    Thermaltake Floe Riing RGB TT Premium-Edition 360mm and 3 Corsair blue LED fans
    Keyboard
    Trust GTX THURA
    Mouse
    Trust GTX 148
    Internet Speed
    25+/5+ (+usually faster)
    Browser
    Edge; Chrome; IE11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender of course & Malwarebytes Anti-Exploit as a
    Other Info
    Router: FRITZ!Box 7590 AX V2
    Sound system: SHARP HT-SBW460 Dolby Atmos Soundbar
    Webcam: Logitech BRIO ULTRA HD PRO WEBCAM 4K webcam with HDR

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 8.1
Then my desktop displays. The icons may be solid white, then gradually display normally. Obviously there is some rather heavy activity going on.

One more idea came to me just before falling asleep last night: Are you using mobile broadband? I used to, and the darn program for the usb dongle takes forever to load sometimes and because of the boot priority slows down the rest of the desktop loading. You could use msconfig to enable boot logging to see what is happening. Here is an article on how to do this at TechRepublic by Guru Jack Wallen.
Not everything that slows windows down is maleware, usually it's one overseen little setting or something that needs a priority change.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Update Pro in Hyper-V/Windows 10 Pro 64 bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Cliff's Black & Blue Wonder
    CPU
    Intel Core i9-9900K
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus X Hero
    Memory
    32 GB Quad Kit, G.Skill Trident Z RGB Series schwarz, DDR4-3866, 18-19-19-39-2T
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS GeForce RTX 3090 ROG Strix O24G, 24576 MB GDDR6X
    Sound Card
    (1) HD Webcam C270 (2) NVIDIA High Definition Audio (3) Realtek High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    BenQ BL2711U(4K) and a hp 27vx(1080p)
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080 x 32 bits (4294967296 colors) @ 60 Hz
    Hard Drives
    C: Samsung 960 EVO NVMe M.2 SSD
    E: & O: Libraries & OneDrive-> Samsung 850 EVO 1TB
    D: Hyper-V VM's -> Samsung PM951 Client M.2 512Gb SSD
    G: System Images -> HDD Seagate Barracuda 2TB
    PSU
    Corsair HX1000i High Performance ATX Power Supply 80+ Platinum
    Case
    hanteks Enthoo Pro TG
    Cooling
    Thermaltake Floe Riing RGB TT Premium-Edition 360mm and 3 Corsair blue LED fans
    Keyboard
    Trust GTX THURA
    Mouse
    Trust GTX 148
    Internet Speed
    25+/5+ (+usually faster)
    Browser
    Edge; Chrome; IE11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender of course & Malwarebytes Anti-Exploit as a
    Other Info
    Router: FRITZ!Box 7590 AX V2
    Sound system: SHARP HT-SBW460 Dolby Atmos Soundbar
    Webcam: Logitech BRIO ULTRA HD PRO WEBCAM 4K webcam with HDR
Not using mobile broadband. This morning it started fairly normally, good idea with the boot logging. I'll try that and see what it reveals (if I can decipher it). Thanks!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 8.1
Back
Top