Boot up time...

I just received my E1505, quite fast might I add, and so far everything looks really good. Biggest suprise is that there doesnt appear to be any light leakage or dead pixels on the screen. All that aside I have one major question. The boot up time appears to be a little too long for a computer of this caliber. I deleted the bloatware, ran msconfig, used the registry cleaner but it still appears to be a bit too long. After the Dell, and Windows XP screen it sits on the Welcome screen for about 15 seconds and then it gets to the background which it sits on for about 7 seconds and then it starts loading all the startup processes. The whole processes seems to take near 2 minutes from pressing power to loading everything up. I checked and I have 62 processes running which doesnt seem like a big deal considering its using very little of the computers memory. Is everyone's E1505 this slow or is something wrong? Solutions would be great if any are available.

Thanks!

After everything is loaded up the computer runs nicely but if I try to load Explorer before all the startup icons appear its pretty slow to get moving.

 

Every time you start your computer it has to start those 62 processes. I have a lot of programs running on my desktop and I only have 52 processes running. If you want it to boot faster reformat it.

 

It looks like we have the exact same setup. Did you reformat? How long does your computer take to boot up?

 

62 processess is way to many. XP has several processess running that you do not need. As team suggested, you need to cut down the amount of processes because these have to be started each time you reboot.

Most users have about 30-40 processes running depending on their XP setup. This really is not a problem with Dell, as much as it is a problem XP.

 

I don't have my laptop right now to check the startup time, but pm me Tuesday or Wednesday if you still want to know.

 

my computer came out of the box running 60+ processes, what should I do?

 

I agree, 62 processes is much more than you should have. I advise downloading TuneXP 1.5 and applying the tweaks.

You should probably reformat that machine - use SouthernGirl's guide at the top of the forum.

 

With a fresh install of XP I had 32 processes running, but on my families Dell XPS there are close to 60 processes. I think it is mostly to do with Dell, and especially all the support applications that start up, not to mention Norton (if you have it), Dell Quick Set, Dell Support Manager, ect. Dell adds a bunch of crud. I think it's mostly due to Dell.

If you restore your system from the rescue partition you will be loading all those processes again, but you can order an XP disc straight from Dell. I would recommend using chat support. I asked for any disc that Dell has that usually gives to customers and within 30 seconds I had all of the discs sent out to me free of charge. I wouldn't pay $10 when Dell support is so helpful. With the Xp disc you can install only the OS which should limit the excess. But I would reinstall and go through the guide Southerngirl mentioned to install Dell MediaDirect. It's a great feature that HP and many other computer venders offer which saves on battery life.

 

Best thing would be to format, but that still won't be enough. You need to optimize your laptop. We have a thread that gives you more details about that in our Dummy forum called "How to Optimize your Laptop". This will show you how to cut down the number of processess and make your laptop faster.

You can try to do that now without reformatting, but you might still have registry keys and folders left on your HDD from removing all of the junkware. Since you've done alot of work to clean your HDD, I would just go through your C:\programs and delete any folders of software that you deleted. Then follow the optimize guide. If that doesn't make your boot time any quicker, then the next step will be to reformat.

I don't think it is so much Dell as it is the junkware causing all of the problems as well as the extra stuff that XP has set to automatically start. Even if you remove all of the junkware, there is problem some service still left on for it.

 

Most of the time its Anti Virus/ Firewall software it take a while to load.

 

Another thing that I just thought of is that you can download Bootvis, and do a trace on your system. It will tell you what is taking the longest to load.

 

thanks a bunch guys and gals!

Edit: Using TuneXP there is an option to enable UDMA 66. Should I enable this feature?

 

I'm not sure if that feature would work on newer laptops with SATA, so best to leave it disabled.

 

After a reformat I'm able to get it down to less than 20 processes at boot. Before installing any programs or any excess processes I had it down to 14. This is with wireless network enabled.

 

i just read this and ran tunexp and it messed up my computer. now when i reboot i get an LV com error. my xp style bar was changed to the classic view, while i know how to get it back, it still sucks. is there any way to reverse the effects of tunexp?

EDIT: now it won't let me change it back to the windows xp style at all.

 

Try system restore if you've created a restore point.

Did you disable your themes in TuneXP? (under services-->themes-->enable should be grey-out).

 

Themes is set to automatic and wont let me disable. The main thing I did was select the ultra-fast boot option where it rearranged boot files. I have a XP disc and might just reformat tonight anyways, too much crap on here since i got it on monday. Just curious, after I reinstall would I be able to keep the Mcafee that my m1210 came with? If not i will just use avg free. thanks

 

You should have a disc that has McAfee on it. Did you pay for it? or is trial version?

 

I'm going to have to look at all my discs later and figure it out. I'm just trying to figure out if there is a recovery partition that is invisible because i have about 73gbs on the disc but only about 62 available. Going into the c drive, the total amount used up is about 7gbs or so. So even though they sent me the recovery disc, is there a hidden recovery partition or anyway to restore an xps m1210 to factory condition without reinstalling tonight? i had not set a system restore point so im screwed that way.

 

Reboot & Hit F11 (i believe) as soon as you see the dell logo. I'm pretty sure that the XPS 1210 has the restore partition on it (yes it is hidden). You actually have 4 partitions which are all discussed in the format sticky. It will restore your laptop back to factory condition, so make sure and backup any information that you have or store it on the backup partition.

 

Make sure you understand that a Dell Restore will delete/erase any files or applications you may have created or installed subsequent to the delivery from Dell.

Don't know about a 1210, but for my e1505 the key combination is Ctrl + F11 at the appearance of the www.dell.com 'blue bar' screen [which appears right after the Dell 'logo' screen]. Be ready, because you only have about 2 seconds to get your keystrokes done....

Mark

 

Thanks SG and Mark. I was unable to locate any recovery partition on my m1210. I ended up reinstalling windows, which I was planning on doing anyways, just not this soon. I followed SG's guide and everything worked perfectly, even repaired media direct. Only thing I lost was McAfee that was preinstalled on my machine. Thats not a big deal at all but I at least wanted to save it if I could. The reinstall only decresed the processes at startup by only 15, from about low 60's to 47. I thought it might be more. Thanks for all the help.

 

try contacting dell about the McAfee. They might send you the disc out if it came with your system.

Eventhough reformatting cut the processess down, XP still has a ton of processess that are set to start automatically, so if you want to cut the number down even more, I suggest to follow the How to Optimize Guide (link is in the format guide). This will give you several tips on how to make your laptop run faster.

 

Thats 47 processes not including Mcafee. When you install Mcafee that will add about another 10.

Does reformatting make the computer actually run faster or just eliminate these pesky boot up processes? I already optimized the laptop as best as I could and Im wondering whether the reinstall is really necessary...

 

For me, reinstalling made boot up a lot faster. From the time you see the desktop, it takes about 5 seconds for everything to load and for you to be able to start using windows. this was compared to about 30 without McAfee and even longer with it. I really don't mind not having McAfee but I would at least like to have it since it came with my system, so I will try contacting Dell later.

 

That depends on how you see formatting. We've discussed this in several threads, but Dell puts a ton of junkware on your system. Even if you remove those manually or by add/remove programs, a part of them is still left on your hdd. Formatting basically swipes everything and gives you no trace of the junkware.

Whether you format or add/remove programs, XP has several services set to automatically start whether you need it or not. So either way you have to do the optimize guide. Every time you install software, the software is usually automatically set to start when you boot xp, so you need to check MSCONFIG/services.msc after installing software.

My point is that formatting gives you the best results for a clean HDD, but you there is a possiblity that you won't see much gain from it and add/remove programs in terms of performance (depends on how many programs or how well you cleaned your HDD using add/remove). I usually always recommend formatting since it is the best way to get a clean drive plus you can edit/delete the partitions to fit your needs.

 

I have pretty much sorted all of the reinstall issues expect for my audio. The audio through the speakers and headphone jacks gets extremely loud compared to before the reinstall. The max volume from before the reinstall can be reached by about 5-10% of the current volume settings. I didn't reinstall any of the creative software, so I am not sure if that helps or not.

 

Open the volume control --> Right-click the volume icon, Open Volume Control. Play around with the "Wave" slider, it should help.