slow startup for T43

[jcbach]

I have a T43 which is taking over 3 minutes to startup up. I have degragged the hard drive, checked for virsuses and spyware, cleaned the hard drive, ran PC Doctor and found nothing wrong. It runs on XP, version 2002, service pack 2, a 1.86 GHZ, 1.25 GB of RAM.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

John

[dizmayed]

John:

My T43 (2668-46U) also seemed to boot more slowly over time. According to the gossip, some people re-load Windows yearly, or even more often to cure the problem. Perhaps that depends on how many programs you install and delete. Assuming you've backed up personal data, you can use the T43 restore disks to restore its original clean condition. But it's a time consuming, though safe, process because you'll have to install all the XP (assuming you use XP) updates and other programs you use.  I consider that process onerous.

Thinkpads have lots of IBM proprietary programs installed, as you know. They contribute to slower boot times. You might try Microsoft's "Process Explorer" to disable processes you don't need.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896653.aspx

I've also used "Ccleaner" to safely remove lots of unnecessary files.

http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner

"Access IBM" will get you to a site to update IBM's software bundles. I did that religiously, but still suffered from the delays I think you're experiencing.

Disabling some processes might help, CCleaner might help. IBM/Lenovo updates might help. A clean install  might be the best solution.

Off-topic, but I installed Linux Ubuntu 9.10 instead of XP, and my T43 now boots in about 45 seconds, wireless connection, etc.included.

I hope a more savvy member answers your question.

[jcbach]

I tried all of your suggestions with the expceptions of installing a Linux operation system or reinstalling XP. I'll not sure how to use Process Explorer to determine which processes might be slowing down the startup.

John

[dizmayed]

John:

Here's a page called "Restore your computer's performance with XP":

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/expert/northrup_restoreperf.mspx

You've done a lot of what's recommended, so skip down to "Remove Autostart Programs."  Instead of ProcessExplorer, this page uses msconfig to identify unnecessary programs that begin on startup, slowing your boot speed.  Same thing, more or less. The startup tab will list a number of programs (my XP desktop lists about 15).  Curious how many your T43 shows.

The program names are cryptic so you'll have to identify each one before considering turning some off. You can search the names in Google or use the suggestions from the link  as tools to determine what each startup program does. I find the process sort of interesting.

You can also search this forum for "slow boot," "slow start" or something similar to hear abt other's experiences.