Windows 7 Sound Theme Identifying Slower Boot Up Time

[hlewton]

I have not made any changes to my sound themes so as far as I know my one Win 7 machine is using its default sounds. Until just recently I heard the boot up sound fairly quickly, about 1 minute or so after powering on. But recently it has slowed way down for some reason. It now takes about 2 minutes before I hear that sound telling me it has booted to the Windows desktop. I did install a program called Garmin Express that is used to update the Garmin GPS device. Thinking that may be the cause I unchecked it in Autostart program but it didn’t make booting up any faster. Any ideas why the boot up is now slower or anything I can check to speed it back up?

2 minutes may sound reasonable, not sure, but it is considerably longer than I am used to it being.


Thanks

[HansV]

You can use the free utility WhatInStartup to get an idea of which processes are started automatically with Windows. Perhaps you'll see items you don't want. Be careful not to disable essential services though.

[hlewton]

Thanks Hans. I have had that installed for sometime now and looked at it before checking the other program, Autostart Program Viewer. That is the one that showed that Garmin program I mentioned. I see nothing in Whatsinstartup that I would feel safe in disabling except that nasty "conime" program that was discussed in another thread. No matter how many times I disable it, it returns. Even Microsoft's tech support did not get rid of it. Since "conime" has been an ongoing problem I don't think it is the cause of the slower boot up now. The only other thing I see is called the SunJavaUpdateSched and I'm not sure that is safe to disable.

[HansV]

That is the automatic update checker for Java; I don't think that will take up much time.

There are ways of finding out how much time each startup process takes, but it's rather complicated; I'd only do that if (a) the problem persists and (b) it really bothers you.

[hlewton]

It's not so much that it bothers me since I can turn the machine on long before I need to use it. It is just that it is a change from what it was. Also anytime I have to restart now it is going to take that extra time. I guess as long as it causes no other problems it isn't worth doing much more about it now.

Thanks

[Leif]

2 minutes may sound reasonable, not sure, but it is considerably longer than I am used to it being.

Perhaps Windows is enumerating your 1 TB OneDrive space before letting you access your desktop...

[hlewton]

2 minutes may sound reasonable, not sure, but it is considerably longer than I am used to it being.

Perhaps Windows is enumerating your 1 TB OneDrive space before letting you access your desktop...

Is that possible before I sign into OneDrive? I am not automatically tied into that, as far as I know. First I sign into Hotmail and then choose OneDrive from its dropdown menu.

That's for the suggestion.

[Leif]

Is that possible before I sign into OneDrive?

I have absolutely no idea. Did the delay coincide with your installation of Office13/365 or whatever it was you ended up installing?

I do know that some of the (accounting) software we use can spend time 'Checking for feeds' at start up, and so thought it possible Office may be 'checking in'. Can you temporarily disable anything to do with Office at start-up and see if it makes any difference?

[hlewton]

I have absolutely no idea. Did the delay coincide with your installation of Office13/365 or whatever it was you ended up installing?

Actually the delay isn't on the computer that I installed Office 365 on. I am still using Office 2010 on the machine that has slowed down on the boot up process and it is the only Office installed on it. I really didn't install anything on it except that Garmin GPS update program I mentioned but I have since disabled that.

It did start to happen around the time the incident I asked about in this thread http://www.eileenslounge.com/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=16942 took place. But none of the anti virus or malware programs I ran after that incident found anything wrong with my computer.

[BenCasey]

I did install a program called Garmin Express that is used to update the Garmin GPS device. Thinking that may be the cause I unchecked it in Autostart program but it didn’t make booting up any faster. Any ideas why the boot up is now slower or anything I can check to speed it back up?
Thanks

Would it have been possible that (for whatever reason), this Garmin installation changed the Delay Time in your Bios?

You may have had it set to, say Quick Boot "Enabled" and it was then changed to "Disabled".

Boot to Bios (F2 or Delete Key or something similar on bootup will take you there. Check it against the one that is running ok and see if there is a difference.

On my Win 7 setup, I have Quick Boot Enabled and Quiet Boot Enabled.

Just a thought.

[hlewton]

Thank you Ben. I never knew about that but I'll look into it.

[hlewton]

Would it have been possible that (for whatever reason), this Garmin installation changed the Delay Time in your Bios?

You may have had it set to, say Quick Boot "Enabled" and it was then changed to "Disabled".

Boot to Bios (F2 or Delete Key or something similar on bootup will take you there. Check it against the one that is running ok and see if there is a difference.

On my Win 7 setup, I have Quick Boot Enabled and Quiet Boot Enabled.

Just a thought.

Well I am not at all sure what just took place. In the post above I said I'd look into the Quick Boot in the BIOS. On mine it appears to be called Fast Boot and it was enabled. I had never seen a BIOS like the one I have now. At first it brought me to a screen that was more graphics and I couldn't change any settings. I found an advanced setting that once enabled allowed me to look around and would have been able to make changes if needed. As I mentioned the Fast Boot was already enabled so I exited without saving anything. When the desktop appeared it looked a little different and I saw that the view had been changed to align all the icons on my desktop to a grid. I do not use that setting so I unchecked it, ran a program called WinTidy and had my accustomed desktop back. I then turned the computer off. Let it set for a minute or so and turned it back on. It booted in 35 seconds like I think it did before. Actually I don't know if it was ever 35 seconds but I know it sure was a lot quicker than the 2 minutes it has been taking the last few days. It just seems to be back to normal now. I have no idea why because I made absolutely no changes to the BIOS. As long as it keep working this way I guess I have no reason to look deeper into this but it sure appears strange to me.

I do have one question about this BIOS. Admittedly I do not get into the BIOS very often, can't even remember the last time, but I do not recall having a mouse active to use in the BIOS. Is it now a standard to be able to use a mouse while in the BIOS settings?

Thanks for all the help.

[StuartR]

It's quite common to be able to use a mouse in the hardware config screen nowadays. It may be UEFI rather than BIOS, that depends on the hardware architecture.

[hlewton]

It's quite common to be able to use a mouse in the hardware config screen nowadays. It may be UEFI rather than BIOS, that depends on the hardware architecture.

Thanks. I had to look up UEFI cause that is how unfamiliar I am with all this so I am not sure what I have. How would I know if it is UEFI or BIOS?

[StuartR]

I'm not actually sure.
If the PC is less than 1 or 2 years old then you probably have UEFI
If you have a folder called C:\Windows\Boot\EFI then you probably have UEFI
I don't know a definitive test!

[hlewton]

I'm not actually sure.
If the PC is less than 1 or 2 years old then you probably have UEFI
If you have a folder called C:\Windows\Boot\EFI then you probably have UEFI
I don't know a definitive test!

I do have that folder so I probably have the UEFI. Thanks.

[hlewton]

I turned that computer off again and then turned it back on. Also I turned on the other newer one I have and I watched the screen on both of them as they were booting up. The screen that tells you how to get into the settings also says it is the UEFI settings you will be entering. Amazing what I learn here. Thanks.

BTW that computer once again booted up fast and I still have no idea why since I didn't make any changes to the UEFI settings.

[PaulB]

Having a folder called C:\Windows\Boot\EFI is no guarantee that you have UEFI. I have that folder in Windows 8 and I know that I have a regular BIOS.

[hlewton]

Having a folder called C:\Windows\Boot\EFI is no guarantee that you have UEFI. I have that folder in Windows 8 and I know that I have a regular BIOS.

Thanks for that information. If I could ask, is your installed Windows 8 on an older machine? Just curious because both of my newer computers running Win 7 do have the UEFI type of settings.

[PaulB]

Having a folder called C:\Windows\Boot\EFI is no guarantee that you have UEFI. I have that folder in Windows 8 and I know that I have a regular BIOS.

Thanks for that information. If I could ask, is your installed Windows 8 on an older machine? Just curious because both of my newer computers running Win 7 do have the UEFI type of settings.

It is an older machine, circa 2009.