Windows 2000 startup taking MUCH longer than I remember

First, the basics:

- 550 Mhz computer
- 512 meg RAM
- Win2k Professional
- broadband connection, one laptop connected to cable input via
wireless router
- no known significant changes to hardware or software in past week

My Windows 2000 computer seems to be taking much longer to start than
I ever remember before. In fact, I never before noticed its startup
time because it was always acceptably quick, probably under two
minutes from the appearance of the Windows 2000 screen until the
computer would start taking input from me.

I have run NAV, Ad-Aware, and Spybot, all with updated definitiions
files (in fact, Spybot's file was minutes old, dated today, when I ran
it) and all give my machine a clean bill of health.

When I start the computer now, it goes through the Windows 2000 screen
as quickly as I'd expect (never bothered to time it). But the worst
two parts of the startup are:

1. "preparing network connections" - I'm guessing that this used to
take perhaps 5-10 seconds tops. I just timed it when I restarted my
computer and it took 75 seconds.

2. The login screen - I just have the computer automatically log me in
as administrator. Normally, the login screen races by in a second or
less, so fast that it's tough to see. I timed it today and it took 25
seconds.

What's wrong with the computer?

 

Try some maintenance.
Defrag
Chkdsk
Boottime defrag
Defrag the MFT

 

Your computer is slow. Any further questions?

 

I found my problem. I had recently replaced the default single-line
hosts file with a huge one (the idea being to block web access to
certain sites I didn't want the kids visiting).

I renamed my mongo-hosts file and restored the original one, and my
startup times returned to normal.

 

I have a hosts file that contains over 13,000 entries and it takes W2K
under a minute to load.

 

Mine has a bit over 12,000 entries. I have a normally-functioning
cable internet connection; maybe my 550 MHz processor is the weak
link?

You suggested the following before:

Defrag
Chkdsk
Boottime defrag
Defrag the MFT

Could you please explain how to do a boottime defrag and an MFT
defrag? Chkdsk did find and repair some things, but it flashed on the
screen too fast for me to read what.

 

You would need to buy something like Diskeeper, as the basic defrag that
comes with the OS is only a lite version.
I tried VoptXP but found Diskeeper to be faster.

Having a faster processor would certainly make a difference though ;-)

 

What and where is the hosts file???

 

Click Start / Run / and then type into the Run: box "MSCONFIG" (without the
"")

This will load the System Configuration Utility

The first thing you should do is concentrate on the startup tab rather than
the autoexec and config files/sections of the utility. The autoexec.bat and
config.sys aspects of the System Configuration Utility will be dealt with in
another tutorial

Click on the Startup tab

In the white pane you will see all the programs that load every time you
turn on your computer

This is how you can stop programs from loading at startup :

To stop programs from loading at startup firstly choose which programs you
would like to keep loading at startup, and which you wouldn't

Secondly, you will need to understand the following 4 important points :

1) Whatever you choose to not load at startup will NOT effect whether you
can use this program or not. The program will run as normal for you but will
NOT load at startup. The most obvious sign of a program loading at startup
would be a small icon next to the clock on your desktop. By choosing to not
have it load at startup you will still be able to use the program, but the
icon next to the clock will not be there.

2) The following programs you MUST NOT stop from loading at startup as they
are needed by Windows :

a.. ScanRegistry
b.. LoadPowerProfile (there will be 2 occurrences of this and it is
normal)
c.. Systray
d.. Avoid disabling your Antivirus loading at startup (unless you know
what you're doing), so avoid Norton, McAfee, InoculateIT program items
(depending on the Antivirus software you use)
e.. Avoid disabling any software Firewall you may be using such as Zone
Alarm (unless you know what you're doing)
NOTE: LoadPowerProfile - LoadPowerProfile is Power management specifics such
as monitor shut-off, system standby, etc. Associated with power management
and is listed twice. This can be disabled if the user doesn't have any of
the above setup.

3) If you stop a program from loading at startup and at a later date decide
you would like to have it load at startup again repeat the following process
but instead of removing the tick next to the programs name ADD it.

4) If you're not sure what a program is that is listed do NOT disable it.
Ask on our support forums and we will help you to find out what it is and
what it is used for. Or alternatively this is a great link to a whole
listing of programs you might find under the Startup tab and what they do -
click here

Once you're happy that you understand the above 4 points -

Find a program you don't want to load at startup and remove the tick from
besides it's name

To confirm what you've done click Apply

Once you have disabled all that you would like to disable click Apply then
OK and Windows will ask you to restart your PC

Your PC will reboot as normal and once Windows has fully loaded recheck your
system resources like you did earlier on in this tutorial. You should see
that you System Resources are now quite a bit higher.

 

Win2000 does not have 'msconfig'...FYI...

 

It doesn't, but the msconfig utility works on it. I downloaded a
working one onto my machine.

 

C:\WINNT\system32\drivers\etc\hosts is the file. The first line looks
like:

127.0.0.1 localhost

and it can be used to map IP addresses to host names. My favorite use
for the file is to steer requests for web sites that I don't want my
kids visiting to the localhost address, which results in the browser
seemingly being unable to find the redirected sites.

 

I did a little more digging. It turns out that turning the DNS client
to manual start (per http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm) solved
the problem. I now have my large hosts file, it works, and my startup
time is as quick as I'd like.

I will undoubtedly soon find reason to need a faster processor though

 

Just checked, mine was already set to manual.

It really depends on what your usage is, who needs to drive a Ferrari
just to do the weekly shopping.