Windows 7 slow to boot, very slow....

[funkyjiveturkey]

okay so before we start here are some specs.

Processor: AMD Phenom II X6 1075T 3.0Ghz
RAM: 2X4 GB DDR3 1600 (running at 1333 because i switched boards last year)
Boot Drive: Corsair 90 GB Solid State Hard Drive running at SATA2 speed
Secondary Drive: WD 2TB 5400rpm Green Label
Graphics: Sapphire Radeon HD 7750 1 GB DDR5

Running Windows 7 Ultimate Edition 64 bit

here's my problem, lately whenever my computer starts it hangs on the windows logo for a very long time, it will stay on said logo for at LEAST 5 minutes, sometimes more. When my computer was functioning perfectly i would see it for maybe 45 seconds tops.

this is not the only problem however, after it finally passes the logo it wants to do a disk check EVERY TIME! the check usually takes another 20 minutes, especially because it always fails to write the file allocation table at the end making it freeze on screen for another 5 minutes. when i finally get into windows, the widgets and windows explorer load very slowly, normally taking another few minutes before everything is working fine again.

this all started happening after random programs would freeze up entirely, and lock up other programs i was using too. and it started the hard drive check after one of these freezes occurred while i was trying to move some big files to my secondary drive.

i've tried virus scans, memory tests, registry cleans, defragmentation, and it's all for nothing. what do you think the problem might be escapists?

 

[Frezzato]

I'd say the most obvious first move would be to hunt down anything you may have installed right before the trouble began.

Not that I'm an expert or near-enthusiast, but the only two problems I had with Windows 7 (on a pre-built HP machine) were at the very beginning, when I installed Zone Alarm and a year later, when I made a recording using VLC player.

The short story is that I had to try something other than Zone Alarm (just imagine a BSoD within 24 hours of turning on my machine for the first time) and finding/deleting the weird VLC movie fragment. I couldn't even delete it within Windows so I had to find it in Safe Mode and kill it there. I think at least half of the issues with PCs are actually not as complicated as we suspect.

*EDIT* Oh right, and another easily-solved head scratcher was on XP, again with Zone Alarm. Turns out that millions of XP/ZA users were having trouble and the fix was turning the ZA security down to medium until there was an official fix. (Not) coincidentally, Zone Alarm started causing trouble after a Windows update. Nowadays I tend to completely skip optional Windows updates because the last time I had trouble it was an unnecessary monitor driver update from Microsoft, which caused freezing and the occasional crash.

 

[h4xor555]

Is it possible to do a full reformat of your HDD? Are your files backed up?

I used to have a similar problem with my desktop, and the issue there was that once upon a time I was a wide eyed childish kid and I installed so much stuff. Hundreds of random apps, and that destroyed my machine, my boot time was like 7+ minutes.

Then, one trick I did was I reinstalled windows. All your data is still there, nothing get erased.

However, you mentioned bigger issues, such as it hanging on the windows logo, which I do not think is part of the BIOS/UEFI, and you also mentioned a disk check.

I believe that this issue is a problem with your disks. Check both, there may be an issue with one disk or both. First, try to do a full format with the rescue disk and take it to factory settings. If there are still issues once you do that, then you have a problem with hardware, either with your motherboard sockets, your hard drive cables, or with the actual hard drive itself.

And also, many computer issues are stupid. My windows explorer used to be SLOW as hell. Then I found that the reason for this was because I cycle 20,000+ wallpapers through a wallpaper cycling program at startup. Now, I assigned that cycling program to one of my programmable function keys and explorer loads blazing fast. Stupid issues are the ones that get us all.

 

[AWAR]

snip

Maybe your SSD crapped out?
I never had one though so I don't know much about them. I do know that you don't need to defrag them, as it may actually hurt them. Use CrystalDiskInfo to find out about your SSD's health.

 

[funkyjiveturkey]

snip

Maybe your SSD crapped out?
I never had one though so I don't know much about them. I do know that you don't need to defrag them, as it may actually hurt them. Use CrystalDiskInfo to find out about your SSD's health.

i hadn't defragged my solid state, i defragged my secondary HDD cuz it was slow to load among these issues.

 

[funkyjiveturkey]

I'd say the most obvious first move would be to hunt down anything you may have installed right before the trouble began.

originally uTorrent was a program that was causing a lot of issues, whenever it would be running it would lock up any programs i tried using. i've since uninstalled it and replaced it with a different program that works better but the issues from when it was installed are still there. virus and memory scans reveal nothing.

 

[AWAR]

snip

Maybe your SSD crapped out?
I never had one though so I don't know much about them. I do know that you don't need to defrag them, as it may actually hurt them. Use CrystalDiskInfo to find out about your SSD's health.

i hadn't defragged my solid state, i defragged my secondary HDD cuz it was slow to load among these issues.

It's probably the SSD IMO.

 

[OneCatch]

here's my problem, lately whenever my computer starts it hangs on the windows logo for a very long time, it will stay on said logo for at LEAST 5 minutes, sometimes more. When my computer was functioning perfectly i would see it for maybe 45 seconds tops.

this is not the only problem however, after it finally passes the logo it wants to do a disk check EVERY TIME! the check usually takes another 20 minutes, especially because it always fails to write the file allocation table at the end making it freeze on screen for another 5 minutes. when i finally get into windows, the widgets and windows explorer load very slowly, normally taking another few minutes before everything is working fine again.

this all started happening after random programs would freeze up entirely, and lock up other programs i was using too. and it started the hard drive check after one of these freezes occurred while i was trying to move some big files to my secondary drive.

i've tried virus scans, memory tests, registry cleans, defragmentation, and it's all for nothing. what do you think the problem might be escapists?

Sounds weird. Have you tried a clean install of Windows?

I had a persistent issue a few months back where my PC would take 30 sec to log in (but it would boot fine), which was somehow resolved by removing a drive partition I had.
My problematic configuration was: SSD with OS, secondary HD with two partitions, about 100gig unallocated.
Fixed by having: SSD with OS, secondary HD as single partition, nothing unallocated.

It does sound like it may be the SSD or the HD borking out in some way. Are all your programs installed on the SSD, or do you also install on the HD?
Regardless, DON'T defrag your SSD. It's bad for them!

 

[funkyjiveturkey]

here's my problem, lately whenever my computer starts it hangs on the windows logo for a very long time, it will stay on said logo for at LEAST 5 minutes, sometimes more. When my computer was functioning perfectly i would see it for maybe 45 seconds tops.

this is not the only problem however, after it finally passes the logo it wants to do a disk check EVERY TIME! the check usually takes another 20 minutes, especially because it always fails to write the file allocation table at the end making it freeze on screen for another 5 minutes. when i finally get into windows, the widgets and windows explorer load very slowly, normally taking another few minutes before everything is working fine again.

this all started happening after random programs would freeze up entirely, and lock up other programs i was using too. and it started the hard drive check after one of these freezes occurred while i was trying to move some big files to my secondary drive.

i've tried virus scans, memory tests, registry cleans, defragmentation, and it's all for nothing. what do you think the problem might be escapists?

Sounds weird. Have you tried a clean install of Windows?

I had a persistent issue a few months back where my PC would take 30 sec to log in (but it would boot fine), which was somehow resolved by removing a drive partition I had.
My problematic configuration was: SSD with OS, secondary HD with two partitions, about 100gig unallocated.
Fixed by having: SSD with OS, secondary HD as single partition, nothing unallocated.

It does sound like it may be the SSD or the HD borking out in some way. Are all your programs installed on the SSD, or do you also install on the HD?
Regardless, DON'T defrag your SSD. It's bad for them!

My SSD contains windows and all of my program files. my secondary is my storage drive, only a single partition with every allocated towards it. only thing i have installed on my secondary drive is steam which doesnt activate on startup

EDIT: i also hadn't defragged my SSD, only the secondary drive. i figured it might not be good for it, however if the SSD is the thing thats having problems im not sure what i could use to fix it.

 

[OneCatch]

My SSD contains windows and all of my program files. my secondary is my storage drive, only a single partition with every allocated towards it. only thing i have installed on my secondary drive is steam which doesnt activate on startup

EDIT: i also hadn't defragged my SSD, only the secondary drive. i figured it might not be good for it, however if the SSD is the thing thats having problems im not sure what i could use to fix it.

Ah, in that case I've not really got anything helpful to add.
Could either be an OS problem or an SSD issue. Probably worth doing a clean install of Windows if you can, if that doesn't fix it it's probably the SSD. Might be worth checking the Corsair forums to see if anyone else has had problems.

 

[staika]

Have you checked your Startup programs [http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1401-startup-programs-change.html]? These could potentially be what's causing the slow boot-up if you have enough of them. It might not help but it's a good place to check and possibly save yourself from formatting your drive.

 

[Nergui]

Never ever defrag an SSD. This will reduce their lifespan - http://helpdeskgeek.com/featured-posts/should-you-defrag-an-ssd/

As to your issue, first check what programs are "load on startup". Also, has it been 2 or more years since Windows was installed. If so, perhaps backing up all important data and doing a re-format and clean reinstall.

Also after re-reading your post, I see you replaced your motherboard. While not required, a clean re-install of windows is usually recommended to get rid of all the old drivers and such.