Windows 7 Problems

[matt101]

Hi guys, I know it's a bit odd posting a windows 7 question here, but if I post on a place like tomshardware my thread will be lost within a day and go unanswered which has already happened to me twice. Now i'm going to explain my problem- please don't say use linux because I already do, but I use windows 7 for games and other applications that are not on linux.

Anyway my problem is that windows 7 is starting up really slowly- My PC isn't exactly weak either:
amd x4 955@ stock 3.2ghz
gtx 470 graphics card
4gb ddr3 1333mhz ram

So as you can see it should not boot slowly. Here is a more detailed description of what happens: I start up my pc and just before the login screen I get a black screen and just the cursor with a loading symbol for a couple of seconds, then when it reaches the login screen I login and the welcome screen takes ages to load then it finally comes to windows 7. When I'm actually in my icons do not appear straight away for some reason and the windows 7 network manager icon locks up and stays on the connecting icon (the image is stationary and frozen and the animation does not show).After about 10 seconds the network manger unfreezes and the icons all slowly appear, after everything has started up I have no problems whatsoever.

I am completely stumped as to what to do. I have tried reinstalling the network driver and graphics driver but that didn't work so I have come to you guys for help.
Fast responses would be appreciated, thanks.

 

[mindlord]

Consider using Static IP on your LAN for that computer instead of using DHCP and see if it makes a difference. Try unisntalling your security suite (if you're using Norton or McAfee or something huge like that). Check your router statistics to see if you're getting a lot of garbage packets while you're computer is active. It may be a bad NIC or cable producing gibberish.

 

[matt101]

I still get the problem even when completely disconnected from the internet and when the ethernet cable is unplugged. So those problems aren't really a possibility, I have also tried disabling AVG running at startup and that still doesn't fix the issue.

 

[Gerix]

Have you tried using msconfig? It seems like everything wants to be loaded at startup on Windows.

 

[matt101]

yes I have that's what I used. I have used it to disable all non-windows related services, and also all startup applications. This didn't achieve anything. =(

 

[foxblock]

You can check the Windows event log to see whether it has picked up any significant error or event.

Here is how you can find it: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308427/en-us (it is for XP, but the process is the same for 7)

foxblock out

 

[matt101]

In the windows 7 application logs I have regular warning messages I don't know whether there normal or not but this one cropped up a lot:
{tid=870}
-------------------------------------------------------- Initialized client log (C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Application Virtualization Client\sftlog.txt)

This one also stood out:
Windows detected your registry file is still in use by other applications or services. The file will be unloaded now. The applications or services that hold your registry file may not function properly afterwards.

DETAIL -
1 user registry handles leaked from \Registry\User\S-1-5-21-909851057-339087525-3351908014-1001:
Process 1176 (\Device\HarddiskVolume2\Windows\System32\svchost.exe) has opened key \REGISTRY\USER\S-1-5-21-909851057-339087525-3351908014-1001

Lastly this one also regularly pops up in the logs:
{tid=EFC}
The Application Virtualization Client Core initialized correctly.
Installed Product:
Version: 4.6.0.1523
Install Path: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Application Virtualization Client
Global Data Directory: C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Application Virtualization Client\
Machine Name: GAMING-PC
Operating System: Windows 7 64-bit Service Pack 0.0 Build 7600
OSD Command:

 

[absolofdoom]

Hmm...I use Win7 for gaming myself. However, most of my more technical knowledge applies to Linux/OS X, so those logs don't mean much to me (does anybody know what that virtualization thing means?), but I can try to help you anyway if you still need it.

That said, these are basically stabs in the dark, but three ideas that come to mind are: 1)Create a new user on the system, or maybe just enable the guest account and login with that, see what happens 2)Did you try booting it in safe mode to see if the problem still occurs? 3)If you think it might have something to do with your registry being messed up, I believe there are programs that will clean up/repair windows registries, you could try running one of those on the system.

Oh, also, if you've got the win7 install CD, or feel like torrenting one, you could just reinstall and see if something just got messed up in the first installation. Especially if you're computer could've got bumped while it was installing; I had a computer's installation get all messed up one time, and when I was complaining about it my brother informed me that the dog had been bumping up against the tower. When I looked at the CD, sure enough, there were some nice new scratches. Reinstalling with a new CD fixed everything. :lol:

 

[matt101]

well I just enabled the guest account and logged in several times with that and it didn't have the problem!! But it did do something weird- it made the noise that windows makes when you plug something in- it made the noise twice. While it made this noise the icons changed to blank icons and then back to normal icons, but this only happened for 1 or 2 seconds though.

Any ideas??

EDIT: I may have fixed it for now, if it happens again I will let you guys know.

 

[foxblock]

Hmm, no idea about that log messages, does not seem to be of any significance for me. :S (Though that message about the registry certainly is odd).
It should be something occurring right after the logon (which IIRC also gets logged there, so check the times).

Application Virtualization is a new feature introduced in Vista to improve security of the system.
Every program you run from the partition Windows is on (or C:\Program Files\ for example) will not have write access of it's own folder but instead write anything (settings, etc.) to a virtual directory somewhere else, away from the Windows system files.
So any read and write call is redirected, which should keep malicious programs from accessing critical files.
In reality it is a PITA and I try to circumvent it as much as possible (dunno whether you can actually disable it), for example by installing all programs to D:\

Also eventually you might just have to go the way absolofdoom suggested: Make a repair install or install Windows completely new, sometimes this is the only easy fix as finding the source of the problem can be VERY painful.

foxblock out

 

[dnlgreenwood]

My Dad's 64bit Windows 7 desktop computer suffers from the same problem. We haven't solved it yet. It's his work computer and he has a LOT of things on it; different programs, email logs from 2002, photographs of cement plants. You said it happens when you log on. Maybe you could try setting up a new user account? That solved some problems I had with Windows 7. Maybe you could downgrade to Vista if 7 still doesn't work? The only problems I have ever had with my Windows 7 desktop are hardware problems. I think either the RAM is corrupt, or I need a new gfx card. It still runs, but the gfx card crashed when playing intensive 3d games, but works great for DC, PS1, PS2, and N64 emulators. Whoops, slightly off topic.

 

[absolofdoom]

well I just enabled the guest account and logged in several times with that and it didn't have the problem!! But it did do something weird- it made the noise that windows makes when you plug something in- it made the noise twice. While it made this noise the icons changed to blank icons and then back to normal icons, but this only happened for 1 or 2 seconds though.

Any ideas??

EDIT: I may have fixed it for now, if it happens again I will let you guys know.

Glad to hear you may have fixed it. As for the sound it made, that can happen when there's a weak wifi signal and it connects, disconnects, then reconnects really quickly; you mentioned something about the internet thingy being wonky before, so I thought I'd tell you that. It could also just be windows recognizing new hardware, maybe the problem was that it wasn't recognizing something before.

 

[matt101]

Well it would appear the problem is not solved as it did it again several times today- although I did try uninstalling AVG and that gave the startup a speedboost, but I still got the freezing network manager icon and the icons kept disappearing until the network manager unfroze. So I am thinking that it is a multitude of applications causing the problem, but it is a weird problem because sometimes I don't get it at all. I am returning home today and will be able to try using the repair function on the windows 7 disk and hopefully that will fix the problem.

Thanks for all your help so far.

 

[R.B]

Hi guys, I know it's a bit odd posting a windows 7 question here, but if I post on a place like tomshardware my thread will be lost within a day and go unanswered which has already happened to me twice. Now i'm going to explain my problem- please don't say use linux because I already do, but I use windows 7 for games and other applications that are not on linux.

Anyway my problem is that windows 7 is starting up really slowly- My PC isn't exactly weak either:
amd x4 955@ stock 3.2ghz
gtx 470 graphics card
4gb ddr3 1333mhz ram

So as you can see it should not boot slowly. Here is a more detailed description of what happens: I start up my pc and just before the login screen I get a black screen and just the cursor with a loading symbol for a couple of seconds, then when it reaches the login screen I login and the welcome screen takes ages to load then it finally comes to windows 7. When I'm actually in my icons do not appear straight away for some reason and the windows 7 network manager icon locks up and stays on the connecting icon (the image is stationary and frozen and the animation does not show).After about 10 seconds the network manger unfreezes and the icons all slowly appear, after everything has started up I have no problems whatsoever.

I am completely stumped as to what to do. I have tried reinstalling the network driver and graphics driver but that didn't work so I have come to you guys for help.
Fast responses would be appreciated, thanks.

Yes know the problem, first Windows 7 that you have loaded did it come with the computer with a lot of crap with it if it is go buy or a real copy that will fix it and you should get a copy of regcure and run it, if you want a copy let me know

I had all the same problems until I did this, win 7 still sucks

 

[matt101]

My computer is custom built and the OS is a genuine windows 7 profesional upgrade version- bought from software 4 students (64bit). So I might try regcure, although I'm not too sure about software like this... Could someone certify whether or not regcure is OK to use or not as I know some people have had problems with registry cleaners before.

 

[Goity]

My computer is custom built and the OS is a genuine windows 7 profesional upgrade version- bought from software 4 students (64bit). So I might try regcure, although I'm not too sure about software like this... Could someone certify whether or not regcure is OK to use or not as I know some people have had problems with registry cleaners before.

Any registry altering tools are extremely unlikely to have any impact on speed, but if you want to do this, use Ccleaner; it's a free, very nice tool that I have never had any problems with.

If you can't work out the problem, you can always do a reformat with your Windows 7 disc - this is bound to sort it out.

I once had a problem with a brand new computer that started slowly on XP - it turned out a service wasn't starting properly. I'm not sure you can do this on Windows 7, but if you Start->Run services.msc, and check if there there are any services that freeze at starting..., you could try disabling them. If explorer hasn't come up yet when this is happening, press ctrlaltdel and select task manager, and Run services.msc from there. Make sure you don't disable anything vital, of course!

I have no idea if this will fix your particular problem, but it did mine when I had a new laptop that froze at startup for a few minutes.

 

[matt101]

After looking and trying all sorts of things I still have had no luck. I think the only option is to reformat, which is something I don't really want to do. I have found that my startup time is actually relatively normal, but the hanging on login seems rather odd. I think I'll just cope with it for now and if it really does become a serious problem I will reformat to fix it.

Thanks for all your help guys, if you still think you have an idea on how to fix it please post still and I will try and see if your solution works.