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Okay all you Letterhead computer geniuses...I need your brain power. I'm hoping that someone has an easy answer for me because this is driving me NUTS!
I'm running Windows XP Home edition on a P4, 2.6 computer. The problem is that when I turn the computer on, it will boot up and then start to load Windows, one item will pop-up in the start-up area and then it will stop and lag for about 2 minutes before it kicks in and loads the rest. The last couple of days, around 50% of the time, it never kicks in and just sits there. If you try and do anything to the computer before it kicks in and fully loads it will freeze up entirely and you have to turn it off manually and start all over again.
I have reached the end of my frustration level with this and need to figure out a solution. I have tried taking as much as I can out of the start-up as I can hoping that it would make a difference but it didn't help at all. I'm thinking there is some kind of incompatibility issue somewhere along the food chain but I can't find it. I did get a new HP scanner/fax/copier/printer but it was having this problem long before I got that. My best guess is the home network that I have linking my 3 computers but I had so much trouble getting that set up I'm leary to mess with it.
Any and all suggestions would be welcome. Please, please help.
-------------------- Kimberly Zanetti Purcell www.amethystProductivity.com Folsom, CA email: Kimberly@AmethystProductivity.com
“Organizing is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up.” AA Milne Posts: 3722 | From: Folsom, CA | Registered: Dec 2001
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posted
Nope, no error messages...yup, I've run a defrag several times, got rid of all the junk files, dumped several pieces of spyware, ran a complete virus scan.
-------------------- Kimberly Zanetti Purcell www.amethystProductivity.com Folsom, CA email: Kimberly@AmethystProductivity.com
“Organizing is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up.” AA Milne Posts: 3722 | From: Folsom, CA | Registered: Dec 2001
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No, I was going to get a Dell, someone built this computer for me.
The network seems to be functioning just fine as always. I can't find anything that seems to be "wrong", except for the fact that it keeps hanging - took me 4.5 minutes the last time I had to restatrt. Something is WRONG.
It seems to be stopping just before it loads the network connection.
-------------------- Kimberly Zanetti Purcell www.amethystProductivity.com Folsom, CA email: Kimberly@AmethystProductivity.com
“Organizing is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up.” AA Milne Posts: 3722 | From: Folsom, CA | Registered: Dec 2001
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-------------------- Leaper of Tall buildings.. If you find my posts divisive or otherwise snarky please ignore them. If you do not know how then PM me about it and I will demonstrate. Posts: 5274 | From: Im a nowhere man | Registered: Jul 2001
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posted
I'm no genius, so I'm checking this post to possibly learn something myself, but when you say "this has been happening long before adding the HP" that tells me one thing... your frustration level has a much longer fuse then mine I don't think I could last a week with a startup cycle lagging to over 4 minutes... but then again, I almost never turn mine off. I would be tempted to consider that as a possible bandaid solution for the sake of your sanity while you wait for a better answer.
posted
Doug, Yes...it has been happening for some time but before it was only around a minute...it's been getting longer damn near everyday. My frustration level with life in general has been shorter as well which has been adding to the problem.
Thank you all for your suggestions - so far nothing is helping but I sure appreciate the input.
No viruses were found after a thorough scan which I have tried many times but it's always worth another shot.
-------------------- Kimberly Zanetti Purcell www.amethystProductivity.com Folsom, CA email: Kimberly@AmethystProductivity.com
“Organizing is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up.” AA Milne Posts: 3722 | From: Folsom, CA | Registered: Dec 2001
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posted
You could try disabling the network and rebooting to see if it starts up properly. At least you could eliminate that as the problem. I'm not sure about XP Home edition but in XP Pro you can disable the network at Start/Connect To/Show All Connections.. right click on Local Area Connection and disable it. You can re-enable it at any time.
If that proves fruitless I'd look at Task manger and see just what programs are running in memory after start up.
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Darn it Brian...I really thought that one might work. Nope.
Anyone else????????????
At this point I'm tempted to reinstall Windows and start over. The only thing is I'm terrified I won't get the network reconfigured and working again. I had a devil of a time setting it up to start with.
-------------------- Kimberly Zanetti Purcell www.amethystProductivity.com Folsom, CA email: Kimberly@AmethystProductivity.com
“Organizing is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up.” AA Milne Posts: 3722 | From: Folsom, CA | Registered: Dec 2001
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I had a similar problem and it turned out to be the antivirus program. Try to disable it so that it won't start when you reboot. This may not be it but it's worth a try at this point. Good luck
-------------------- Frisby Signs, Inc. El Dorado, Arkansas Posts: 902 | From: El Dorado, Arkansas, USA | Registered: Apr 1999
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The service is free, but you need to sign up and state your connection type; Dial-Up, DSL or ADSL. Once you give it permission, it will put a small diagnostic program on your computer and run a series of tests. Then advises of errors or optimising options. I've found it very useful at times and never had a problem with it.
-------------------- Arthur Vanson Bucks Signs Chesham, Buckinghamshire, England arthur@buckssigns.co.uk -------------------- Posts: 805 | From: Chesham, Bucks, England | Registered: Mar 2002
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posted
Thank you all so much for your help and advice. That's what I love about our little world here - the help and support.
Okay, I finally solved the problem, well diagnosed is a better word...A...O...L...9.0!
I had tried everything including going through the STARTUP menu one by one and restarting each time which took forever. Nothing ...same old thing.
I thought AOL might be the culprit so I uninstalled it. Same problem. I finally reloaded Windows XP and VOILA! It's working like a charm, everything loads in a snap. So I try and reinstall AOL and boom! same old crap again.
I had to do a system restore back to right after I reloaded Windows and VOILA! again, working great.
Okay, so AOL is the problem but that makes my solving the problem a bit dicey. I have my cable internet service THROUGH AOL not the cable company. Even though I have the cable modem hooked up I can't get online without AOL. (I'm on my other computer now which has been acting up too latey...gee! I wonder why!)
Before I get a bunch of I TOLD YOU SOs about AOL, I've been on AOL for 6 years and have rarely had any trouble before. AOL 8.0 was terrible so I upgraded to 9.0 and I've had nothing but trouble. Of course, I can't find the 8.0 disc I had because I'm pretty sure I tossed it because it was so bad.
Now what?
-------------------- Kimberly Zanetti Purcell www.amethystProductivity.com Folsom, CA email: Kimberly@AmethystProductivity.com
“Organizing is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up.” AA Milne Posts: 3722 | From: Folsom, CA | Registered: Dec 2001
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I'm happy to see you've found the culprit. You mentioned a network. Are the puters connected to a router that shares a network connection? If so, there is no need to load the software. The router has made the connection, and all you have to do is set the IP`s.
You may need the software to go onto the AOL network. You might want to go to AOL, and see if there are any known issues with XP, while using the their software.
Theres a great feature in windows; MSconfig Its a great tool for "tweeking" your start`up, config sys, autoexec, and some other actions your puter does during start`up.
I believe the issue is; AOL is conflicting with your network settings, or, tring to connect, when there is already a connection. The AOL software might want to use a modem to connect, and if your puter doesn't have one, it will spend four and a half minutes tring to find one and try to use it.
I sincerly hope your computer is alright. -Rich
-------------------- Richard Bustamante Signs in the Pines www.signsinthepines.com Posts: 781 | From: Nevada City, California | Registered: Nov 1998
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Spoke too soon...it's doing it again! URGH!!!!! I give up for tonight.
-------------------- Kimberly Zanetti Purcell www.amethystProductivity.com Folsom, CA email: Kimberly@AmethystProductivity.com
“Organizing is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up.” AA Milne Posts: 3722 | From: Folsom, CA | Registered: Dec 2001
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![[Smile]](smile.gif)
I don't think I could last a week with a startup cycle lagging to over 4 minutes... but then again, I almost never turn mine off. I would be tempted to consider that as a possible bandaid solution for the sake of your sanity while you wait for a better answer.![[Dunno]](graemlins/dunno.gif)
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