Win XP now takes an hour to boot up, I'm tearing my hair out

[KLC]

So I have 2 computers, one running XP pro and one running Vista. I'm going to upgrade both to Win 7. In preparing for the upgrade I decided to use belarc advisor to print up what is on each one, I had used it before and liked how much information it gave me.

On the XP machine I went to belarc.com and downloaded advisor. The download, about 3 megabytes, went down to 1 percent and then just stalled. The progress bar kept moving but nothing happened. After more than 10 minutes I tried exiting the download and couldn't. I couldn't exit windows. So I shut it down with the power button. I tried 2 more times with the same results.

But now Windows takes almost an hour to boot up. When I use task manager it shows CPU activity to be 0-5 percent. But the computer is unusable for almost an hour while it slowly populates the systray, etc, etc.

Safe mode works. Windows repair won't work because it says I need the admin password, but I have never had a password on this computer and I've never used one to boot it up. I've done a complete scan with Norton internet security suite and found nothing.

I also tried to download belarc advisor on the Vista box. The same thing happened as with the XP. It still boots up OK but windows explorer is not working right.

Can anyone out there help me figure this out?

 

[VirtualLarry]

hard drive dying?

 

[C1]

I hope that when you are surfing on the internet and particularly downloading stuff, that you are NOT DOING IT IN AN ADMINISTRATOR ACCOUNT. If so, you are begging for troubles. Always do your surfing & downloading in a limited account that has been created for yourself. This limits the ability of malware to install stuff on you and even if there becomes a problem, then you can just delete the limited account and establish a new one.

http://pubs.logicalexpressions.com/Pub0009/LPMArticle.asp?ID=305

If you have a restore point available, then that would be worth trying.

I dont think it's a defective HDD. Something is corrupting your systems (ie, OSes). Bet a way to fix XP is to delete a key system file such that the repair process is allowed to proceed. (A Jeff Levy type would be able to tell you which file to kill.) A possibility is to hire someone like Geek Squad to try to do the needed repairs.

 

[Bubbaleone]

...Can anyone out there help me figure this out?

Two things you can do:

First option: follow the steps in the tut found here: http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2200335

It will enable you to isolate and disable the file or program causing the problem.

Second option, and (IMHO) quickest, is to do a repair installation.

 

[KLC]

bubbaleone, XP repair asks for the admin password before it begins, I have no clue what that password might be. I will check out that link.

VL the computer works fine in safe mode so I don't think its the HDD, although after I posted this I found out that it only works in safe mode, not in safe mode with networking. If I choose networking it boots up, I get the desktop with icons but windows explorer is unusable, I get an endless hourglass.

C1 I have a windows home server box with current backups but I can't access the server in safe mode without networking. Thanks for the link but my situation doesn't match the process outlined. When I boot up with the XP disc and hit R for windows repair it also asks me for my admin password, so repair isn't an option that I can use.

 

[Bubbaleone]

Ophcrack is a free Windows password cracker based on rainbow tables. It is a very efficient implementation of rainbow tables done by the inventors of the method. It comes with a Graphical User Interface and runs on multiple platforms.

Website: OPHCRACK

This is much smaller: Offline Windows Password & Registry Editor, Bootdisk / CD

Both of these are an ISO you burn to CD. OPHCRACK is big; 416 MB. I use the Offline Windows Password Editor, personally; much smaller download and simply nulls the Admin password ( no password needed for Admin at boot).

 

[KLC]

Thanks for that, I'll give it a try.

 

[C1]

Just to make sure - In general, when no password has been used, the normal procedure is to just leave the password window blank and click "OK" or "Continue" to proceed. (Not seeing the password request screen for the repair which you are talking about, you may not be being presented with a visible "OK or Continue" option so just try pressing "Enter" with a blank password field and see what happens.)

Looking at this problem more, it would appear that you have contracted some type of malware that has modified critical system files (eg, Registry). For example, such malware could have created hidden password protected psuedo files (among other things) and that would seem to be able to produce the effects you are experiencing.

http://www.icompute.info/windows_xp_password.htm

Again, never surf or download while in an administrator account as what ever you are connected to pretty much then also has administrative privileges too (ie, authority to modify/install)!

 

[Steltek]

It might also be worth running a few simple diagnostics to be sure you don't have a hardware problem (best two would probably be a hard drive utility to test SMART status and Memtest86+ to test the memory modules).

 

[C1]

Ahhh .............. here's something like what I was thinking about (ie, reference to Jeff Levey):

"Download NTFS DOS
http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/fr...fsdospro.shtml
or
http://www.ntfs.com/boot-disk.htm
Boot to the floppy
then delete
C:\WINDOWS\system32\config\SAM
or
C:\WINNT\system32\config\SAM

This is the SAM database - Deleteing this file will blank the Administrators password on the machine"

http://www.softwaretipsandtricks.co...44-xp-repair-now-requires-admin-password.html


IN YOUR CASE, BOOT INTO SAFE MODE AND JUST CHANGE THE NAME OF THE SAM DB FILE (SO THAT YOU CAN RECOVER IT) THEN TRY THE REPAIR.

 

[gmaster456]

Sounds like a HDD issue

 

[C1]

If you should decide to reinstall XP Server, then be sure to "wipe or clean" the HDD with the proper utility (such as Zap or Wipe) before doing so. (reFormat may be not enough - found this out from personal experience and even found some repair shops come to false conclusion that the HDD or even MB is defective)

 

[JesseKnows]

If you have better behavior with no networking, maybe disconnect the network (or remove the NIC or disable the internal NIC in BIOS)?
HDD problems would be visible in the system event log.
Did some of the memory stop working (but that would start with a crash or from power off)? memory thrashing would also slow Windows down, like if you has 96MB left.

 

[KLC]

I tried to rename the SAM file and it wouldn't let me, it said it was in use and I should close that application but there is nothing else open. This is honestly driving me crazy.

 

[C1]

You should be able to use either the repair console or NTFS DOS to change SAM.
Also look at this link:
http://www.askvg.com/how-to-reset-recover-forgotten-windows-nt-2000-xp-2003-administrator-password/

In any event, I would make all efforts to do a repair versus install from scratch (am sure there is a way). More and more it sounds like malware has done some things to your OSes.

 

[tpin]

Similar probe I had and then I choose repair option from xp cd,it overwrite few files and xp started working in 30 mins.

 

[KLC]

thanks for the replies, I'll check that link C1.