Windows Boots with No Icons until...

[CyberTron]

I dont normally post about these kind of problems as I usually figure them out myself, but this is a problem i've had on a number of computers over the years and it has just come and gone at total random. I have done a bit of searching for it, but I'm not sure what to search for exactly. I see others have had this problem but it was more of a "icons never show up" type of thing.

Basically what happens is, the computer will boot up and the mouse will just be sitting there with the wallpaper visible. Sometimes the mouse has a small hour glass, and sometimes not. If i wait a bit of time, often more than a minute or two, it will finally boot up. Or if i hit the escape key, it will also finish booting. So i can only think that there is some software trying to do something that it cant and hitting escape stops it from trying. Does anyone know what I should look for and/or what might be the problem?

Current computer that is having this problem is a laptop. I thought maybe the wired nic might be trying to pull DHCP or something, or even the wifi, but the wired is disconnected and the wifi seems to come up instantly if i hit escape right away when i see the screen come up, so its not like its looking for an ip cause it has one right away when I hit escape.

Any help is much appriciated

 

[Doh!]

Have you checked the event viewer?

 

[Malak]

Have you checked startup and msconfig to see what is starting up? You might have a crapload of services trying to start up with windows which is slowing it down. What are the specs on the laptop?

 

[CyberTron]

The specs are...

Its a fujitsu P7010
1.2ghz, 1gb ram, 40gb drive....

I did just check event viewer and I see there are a couple things in there that are some what odd.

Under Application

The description for Event ID ( 0 ) in Source ( RegSrvc ) cannot be found. The local computer may not have the necessary registry information or message DLL files to display messages from a remote computer. You may be able to use the /AUXSOURCE= flag to retrieve this description; see Help and Support for details. The following information is part of the event: Service started.

Another...

The description for Event ID ( 0 ) in Source ( EvtEng ) cannot be found. The local computer may not have the necessary registry information or message DLL files to display messages from a remote computer. You may be able to use the /AUXSOURCE= flag to retrieve this description; see Help and Support for details. The following information is part of the event: Service started.

The other problem that I saw in there that might be causing a problem was under System

The System Restore Service service failed to start due to the following error:
The executable program that this service is configured to run in does not implement the service.

I dont use this so I just disabled the service and rebooted, didnt get that message in event viewer anymore, but still slow to show Icons.

The Wireless Zero Configuration service failed to start due to the following error:
The executable program that this service is configured to run in does not implement the service.

This one really gets me. I have a wifi connection, but it uses the intel pro software rather than the WZC service. I dont know if its just me or what, but I cant get rid of the intel software without breaking it. Same with my sisters laptop... I hate the software that comes with her unit, but no way, no how will the WZC start up even when i've uninstalled the software for her trendnet card. I disabled this service on my laptop now, still slow to show icons but no more error in event viewer. I would like to be able to switch between the intel stuff and the WZC but thats a whole nother problem in and of itself.