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  #1  
Old March 9th, 2015, 07:40 AM
jLittle jLittle is offline
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slow boot times & BSOD

When I boot up, the time between the machine maker's logo and windows actually starting is about 45 seconds. (It used to be just a few seconds.) About a week ago, I briefly saw a screen message about a MBR error but I haven't seen it since. Often things seem to have a little bit of lag when running various programs.

I did a clean install of Windows a few months ago because I was getting a BSOD maybe once a month, and I got one again today. I have HD sentinel running for a couple months now and it says there is no problem with the boot disk but the HD Sentinel tests won't run on either HD. I have continuous auto-defrag and cleaning the registry doesn't help with the boot time.

What other things can I look at?
Thanks
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  #2  
Old March 9th, 2015, 06:38 PM
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Murf Murf is offline
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HD Sentinel tests won't run on either HD, I assume you paid for this program and it is suppose to be compatible with all Hard Drives. Since it starts with Windows and sits in the background, I would first uninstall it, and see if the boot time increases, maybe that program is corrupt.

Also, using MSCONFIG, disable any programs starting with Windows not needed and see if the boot time increases.

Start > Search type in msconfig, double click on result.

Startup TAB

Check DIAGNOSTIC STARTUP, hit apply

Reboot any faster?

If yes then it could be one or several programs starting with Windows slowing it down.

Most do not need to start with windows (these are just shortcuts to the programs) unchecking them just prevent them from starting with Windows and running in the background.

Many programs like Quicktime, Adobe if your unsure here is a great data base:

http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_search.php?by=Q
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  #3  
Old March 9th, 2015, 07:18 PM
jLittle jLittle is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Murf View Post
HD Sentinel tests won't run on either HD, I assume you paid for this program and it is suppose to be compatible with all Hard Drives. Since it starts with Windows and sits in the background, I would first uninstall it, and see if the boot time increases, maybe that program is corrupt.
Disabling HD Sentinel did cut about 10 seconds off the boot time but that still leaves about 35 seconds which is really long.
Quote:
Also, using MSCONFIG, disable any programs starting with Windows not needed and see if the boot time increases.

Start > Search type in msconfig, double click on result.

Startup TAB

Check DIAGNOSTIC STARTUP, hit apply

Reboot any faster?
No, following these suggestions didn't help at all. (I generally stay on top of my startup programs just out of general principles.)

I don't know if this is related because I have no idea what these files are and can't find anything about them. About 25 minutes ago, 2 files showed up on my desktop: arcerror.txt and arcconfig.xml. do they mean anything to you?
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  #4  
Old March 9th, 2015, 11:40 PM
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Those files appear to have something to do with an Adaptec controller. Are you running Raid configuration? If so could be a problem with the controller and Windows takes time to sort it out? check if all your drivers are up to date in Device Manager. Could also be related to HD Sentinel tests won't run on either HD.
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  #5  
Old March 10th, 2015, 12:41 AM
jLittle jLittle is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Murf View Post
Those files appear to have something to do with an Adaptec controller. Are you running Raid configuration? If so could be a problem with the controller and Windows takes time to sort it out? check if all your drivers are up to date in Device Manager. Could also be related to HD Sentinel tests won't run on either HD.
Definitely not running Raid and haven't added an adaptec controller. Is it possible that the built-in one is adaptec? I uninstalled HD Sentinel and it didn't speed up the boot time. I'll check on the drivers. Thanks
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  #6  
Old March 10th, 2015, 01:21 AM
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Did a little more digging, the arcconfig.xml is the adaptec controller saving the configuration into this file. It includes the controller type, operational settings, physical drive size, raid level etc..

The *.xml file is called a Extensible Markup Language File. Try double clicking on the file and see if Windows finds a program to open it. Actually Internet Explorer can open it. I would scan the file first with your anti-virus before opening. Opening it may give you a hit what is generating it.

Adaptec makes hundreds of drivers for various devices;

Raid controllers
SCSI Controllers
SATA controllers
Serial controllers

Check in device manager under your hard drivesDVD/CDROM, look under the driver details see if any are adaptec?
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  #7  
Old March 10th, 2015, 01:44 AM
jLittle jLittle is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Murf View Post
Did a little more digging, the arcconfig.xml is the adaptec controller saving the configuration into this file. It includes the controller type, operational settings, physical drive size, raid level etc..

The *.xml file is called a Extensible Markup Language File. Try double clicking on the file and see if Windows finds a program to open it. Actually Internet Explorer can open it. I would scan the file first with your anti-virus before opening. Opening it may give you a hit what is generating it.
It opened with IE, and this is all it had in it:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<!-- Mon 09Mar2015 (tz=300) -->

<!-- 13:50:55.172 JNI: -->
<System attachmentType="none" typeName="ArcSystem"/>

And this is the content of the arcerror.txt file:
0F68 | Mon 09Mar2015 (tz=300)
0F68 | 13:49:08.184 JNI: ArcSystem.cpp: Line #: 97
StorLib::getSystemConfig(char** pXmlOUT)
ArcSystem::buildChildren(Ret & retOUT)
*** FSA API Error: FsaEnumAdapters fsaStatus=3 ***
0F68 | Mon 09Mar2015 (tz=300)
0F68 | 13:49:08.215 JNI: ArcSystem.cpp: Line #: 97
StorLib::getSystemConfig(char** pXmlOUT)
ArcSystem::buildChildren(Ret & retOUT)
*** FSA API Error: FsaEnumAdapters fsaStatus=3 ***
0F68 | Mon 09Mar2015 (tz=300)
0F68 | 13:49:08.231 JNI: ArcSystem.cpp: Line #: 390
ArcSystem::getControllerCount()
*** FSA API Error: FsaEnumAdapters() fsaStatus=3 ***
0798 | Mon 09Mar2015 (tz=300)
0798 | 13:50:55.155 JNI: ArcSystem.cpp: Line #: 97
StorLib::getSystemConfig(char** pXmlOUT)
ArcSystem::buildChildren(Ret & retOUT)
*** FSA API Error: FsaEnumAdapters fsaStatus=3 ***
0798 | Mon 09Mar2015 (tz=300)
0798 | 13:50:55.171 JNI: ArcSystem.cpp: Line #: 97
StorLib::getSystemConfig(char** pXmlOUT)
ArcSystem::buildChildren(Ret & retOUT)
*** FSA API Error: FsaEnumAdapters fsaStatus=3 ***
0798 | Mon 09Mar2015 (tz=300)
0798 | 13:50:55.188 JNI: ArcSystem.cpp: Line #: 390
ArcSystem::getControllerCount()
*** FSA API Error: FsaEnumAdapters() fsaStatus=3 ***

Quote:
Adaptec makes hundreds of drivers for various devices;

Raid controllers
SCSI Controllers
SATA controllers
Serial controllers

Check in device manager under your hard drivesDVD/CDROM, look under the driver details see if any are adaptec?
They all just say Microsoft, except for one that says nvidia.
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  #8  
Old March 10th, 2015, 01:50 AM
jLittle jLittle is offline
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Found out what was causing the slow boot! My monitor has a built-in usb hub that's fed from the pc. When I disconnected it, the time spent sitting on the logo screen is now only about 5 secs, which is fine.
So that leaves the question of what those arc files are from.
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  #9  
Old March 10th, 2015, 03:55 PM
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Murf Murf is offline
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Make and model of computer would help, if home built make and model of motherboard?
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  #10  
Old March 10th, 2015, 04:34 PM
jLittle jLittle is offline
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Sorry, I thought all this was already on here.

Computer Type PC/Desktop
System Manufacturer emachines
OS Win7 Home Premium 64bit
CPU Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU E6550 @ 2.33GHz
Motherboard eMachines EMCP73VT-PM
Memory 3GB
Graphics Card NVIDIA GeForce 210
Sound Card (1) NVIDIA High Definition Audio (2) NVIDIA High Definition Audio (3) NVIDIA High Definition Aud
Monitor(s) Displays ViewSonic VP2365wb
Screen Resolution 1920x1080
Hard Drives (1) Hitachi HDT721050SLA SCSI Disk Device
(2) WDC WD3200AAKS-00V1A SCSI Disk Device
Internet Speed 1.5 DSL
Antivirus Avast
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  #11  
Old March 10th, 2015, 05:18 PM
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Murf Murf is offline
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That motherboard I believe is made by ECS and the full part number is ET1641-02W MCP73VT-PM cannot find the drivers, was checking to see if there was any for "Adaptec".

Somewhere in your system you have "Adaptec".

Check in "Add/Remove" programs see anything that says Adaptec?
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  #12  
Old March 10th, 2015, 08:00 PM
jLittle jLittle is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Murf View Post
That motherboard I believe is made by ECS and the full part number is ET1641-02W MCP73VT-PM cannot find the drivers, was checking to see if there was any for "Adaptec".

Somewhere in your system you have "Adaptec".

Check in "Add/Remove" programs see anything that says Adaptec?
No, nothing in Programs & Features.
I used Agent Ransack to check the whole computer for the word "adaptec;" it came up with nothing. I also used regedit's "find" function to look for "adaptec" in the registry and it came up empty.
I've used these two methods in the past when uninstalling troublesome programs and they're pretty good at finding every last trace of something.

I'm going to reinstall HD Sentinel and then recheck; it was running when those 2 files showed up.
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  #13  
Old March 10th, 2015, 08:53 PM
jLittle jLittle is offline
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I took a different tack with Agent Ransack. This time, instead of looking for a filename that included "adaptec," I just looked for the text string, "adaptec" and Jesus Christ, it's everywhere! The search isn't even 20% finished, and there are hundreds of locations containing "adaptec." I know that some of them are drivers but a lot of them, I don't even know what they are. Even the driver for my Canon scanner contains mentions of "adaptec!"
I'm letting it continue the search but I have no idea what I'll do with the list when it's done.
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  #14  
Old March 11th, 2015, 12:48 AM
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Murf Murf is offline
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Check your processes, something generated that txt file.

Right Click the Taskbar then click Start Task Manager

Click the Processes TAB

See if anything is there.
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  #15  
Old March 11th, 2015, 01:07 AM
jLittle jLittle is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Murf View Post
Check your processes, something generated that txt file.

Right Click the Taskbar then click Start Task Manager

Click the Processes TAB

See if anything is there.
Sure, there's a couple dozen (or more). What am I looking for?
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