Desktop comes up fast, can't click icons for minutes?

N

NSCTripleAgent

Limp Gawd
Joined
May 2, 2007
Messages
381
I recently formatted and reinstalled XP on my old studio machine. I did this mainly for this purpose, but it was long overdue anyway, so I assumed that would be it. I think it's a driver issue, but have no clue at this point. I don't use the welcome screen, so rather quickly, my name comes up. I have no password set up yet, so I click ok, the desktop appears in like 2 or 3 seconds with takbar and icons. Of course, tray stuff is loading. I can access the start menu, although starting all but the smallest program is slow. I have My Computer dragged to the right for a toolbar. I have to wait for 4 to 5 minutes for the My Computer toolbar to appear, or to be able to activate an icon. Also, after it activates, clicking My Computer will result in a window with the little flashlight for a minute or so, but if I click a link to a drive in the toolbar, the drive opens almost instantly. I uninstalled the super slow ZoneAlarm I was using thinking it was the culprit. Right now, the only program I have that is major at start is AVG, but I think it really is a configuration or driver issue.

WinXP Corp SP2
Asus A7N8X Deluxe Rev. 1.04 (Nvidia 5.10 Driver)
AMD T-Bred 1.9 Ghz.
512 MB(2 X 256) Corsair XMS 3200LL
20GB WD (System)
120GB Maxtor (Data)
160GB Maxtor (Data)

Thanks for any input.
 
You know, XP has always done this to some degree on just about every system I've ever seen. It's weird and annoying.

Oddly enough Vista doesn't seem to have this issue... Too bad I am not fond of Vista. :)
 
IDK, my work machine and some others haven't. I would understand if the icons weren't responsive or if the program didn't start for a minute, but to be there and not even highlight just seems odd to me. And I share your non-fondness for Vista. A buddy of mine got his laptop replaced and had to commission me to take Vista OFF since none of his programs worked and the interface irritated him.
 
What kind of network setup do you have?

Try booting up and logging in as normal. Once everything is settled and usable, log back out (don't reboot). Click your username again and see if it gets to a usable state much faster. If so, you might be having some network issues.
 
No "network" per se, just cable internet and router, This is located in my home. Just replaced the router, but this happened before. I don't log in, I just have the dialog come up because the welcome screen looks lame. I'll change it so I do log in and give that a shot though, thanks.
 
Try rebooting, and as soon as it logs in bring up the task manager (Processes). Check to make sure your svchost.exe isnt taking up 99% of your CPU.
 
STL3200AMD said:
Try rebooting, and as soon as it logs in bring up the task manager (Processes). Check to make sure your svchost.exe isnt taking up 99% of your CPU.
Click to expand...

Ok, will try. Thanks for the suggestion. Speaking of that, ctrl-alt-delete doesn't do it, I have to right click on the taskbar, *shrug*. What would svchost.exe tying up the system indicate?
 
I figured it out. I used msconfig and process of elimination. For whatever reason, the Windows Image Acquisition (WIA) service was taking over two minutes to start. I assume it's something to do with my all-in-one HP printer/scanner/copier, but that has a TWAIN driver. I tried setting it to manual, no luck. Fully disabled, the icons are ready to go instantly, and the drives show contents in a couple seconds like they're supposed to. Thanks for all help, guys. Watch those services, lol.
 
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