Very slow Windows startup times

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freitasm

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#304252 18-Apr-2023 10:48

Hi folks. I have a Xeon-based desktop (48 GB RAM) and 1 TB M.2 PCIe startup drive. This setup used to be quite quick to boot Windows but at some point things just slowed down.

After POST the screen goes black for anything between four and five minutes, before the little spinning dots show up on the screen, followed by the standard Windows PIN request for login.

I suspect it could be device startup (driver, firmware?) process before Windows UI takes over. I could reset Windows but then have to reinstall apps, etc.

Local drives use Bitlocker. I know the boot process is POST, Bitlocker decryption, OS load - I wonder if Bitlocker has introduced some delay here. I could disable Bitlocker (which will take some time) then try booting again.

Is there a log or log record type somewhere that Windows uses to record the boot process?

trig42

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#3064776 18-Apr-2023 10:56

I think you can suspend BitLocker (doesn't decrypt everything). Does that make a difference?

freitasm

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#3064777 18-Apr-2023 10:57

Suspending Bitlocker will only prevent it from interfering with changes on current session but it will be active on next reboot.

I am actually going to turn off Bitlocker today to test boot times without it.

networkn

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#3064786 18-Apr-2023 11:13

What happens if you boot to safe mode? Is it quick? There is an app you can download that tells you what the boot times are related to, but I can't recall if it's only post login or not.

littlehead

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#3064837 18-Apr-2023 11:18

Have you tried booting into Safe Mode and see if you have the same delay? On the advanced startup/boot options screen, there is an option to enable Boot Logging, which could tell you if a driver was failing and causing the delay. I vaguely remember there used to be a way to see the boot process live like on Linux but not sure which version of Windows that was on and not sure it's an still option on 10 and 11.

freitasm

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#3064840 18-Apr-2023 11:21

Changing some boot options will disagree with Bitlocker (including the boot log option). I am disabling Bitlocker now and will restart with boot log enabled later).

Rickles

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#3065409 19-Apr-2023 11:44

Not an uncommon problem these days ... most seem to stem from constant updates and patches that refuse to clear previous Registry settings (or even Cache/History) ... poor programming 😆

My first port of call is CCleaner to ensure old Registry settings are not interfering in some way, and at same time checking what's in Startup.

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#3065414 19-Apr-2023 12:01

My PC takes ages to boot as well, but am pretty sure its because I've got so many hard drives attached to it. Am guessing this is irrelevant, but you never know.

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#3065424 19-Apr-2023 12:25

networkn:

What happens if you boot to safe mode? Is it quick? There is an app you can download that tells you what the boot times are related to, but I can't recall if it's only post login or not.

Windows 11 (possible 10 too, can't recall) will tell you the BIOS boot time in the Task Manager:

It also shows you the list of all the apps that load on start-up and what their impact is on the system - None, Low, Medium, High or Not Measured.

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xpd

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#3065434 19-Apr-2023 12:42

Yup, WIn 10 does too.

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freitasm

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#3065593 19-Apr-2023 14:27

Thanks. Mine says 60 seconds, which is understandable with this model.

I have disabled Bitlocker and the start time did not change. I had a look at the boot log and nothing unexpected there.

I still think it's between POST and Windows showing the login UI. I guess I will only know for sure if I do a reset.

Silvrav

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#3065613 19-Apr-2023 15:00

freitasm:

Thanks. Mine says 60 seconds, which is understandable with this model.

I have disabled Bitlocker and the start time did not change. I had a look at the boot log and nothing unexpected there.

I still think it's between POST and Windows showing the login UI. I guess I will only know for sure if I do a reset.

Instead of doing a full reset, grab a spare ssd/hdd if you have one and load a fresh copy of windows to test?

networkn

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#3065630 19-Apr-2023 15:40

CYaBro:

networkn:

What happens if you boot to safe mode? Is it quick? There is an app you can download that tells you what the boot times are related to, but I can't recall if it's only post login or not.

Windows 11 (possible 10 too, can't recall) will tell you the BIOS boot time in the Task Manager:

It also shows you the list of all the apps that load on start-up and what their impact is on the system - None, Low, Medium, High or Not Measured.

Wow, that I didn't know about Windows 10/11. TIL. Thanks.

networkn

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#3065631 19-Apr-2023 15:40

Boot time to safe mode?

mentalinc

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#3065688 19-Apr-2023 15:58

Look in bios for Quick boot or similar language.

Will probably be doing extended hardware checks for failures etc..

But also, how often are you starting windows for it to be worth the time to try and fix?

12 times a year for windows patching?

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freitasm

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#3065763 19-Apr-2023 17:00

mentalinc:

Look in bios for Quick boot or similar language.

Will probably be doing extended hardware checks for failures etc..

But also, how often are you starting windows for it to be worth the time to try and fix?

12 times a year for windows patching?

I shut down my home desktop every day. It could be doing extended checks - I haven't changed any setting but a BIOS update might have changed that, who knows.