Schadenfreude

Okay, guess I'm done optimizing then... thanks! I'll try to convince my parents to purchase an SSD or buy a new computer.

Since I was over there this evening for once (it is infrequent), although realizingti it is not scientific, I decided to do a bunch of changes: - fix or disable the Bluetooth/Memory card reader combo device - update all the drivers (video/audio/network/etc.) - update some programs - convert over to "RAID" (which supposedly enables AHCI in this BIOS) I was able to fix the combo device, and boot time was noticeably improved. If you still think it must be disabled, let me know. However, now I have become victim to the BSOD-on-startup-drivertrace. At the links below you can find traces even though it recovered from BSOD during the boot schade_trace2.zip (suffered from one BSOD): http://www.mediafire.com/download/53m5vlj5zb9y9dy/schade_trace2.zip schade_trace3.zip (suffered from two BSOD's!): http://www.mediafire.com/download/pbmewcqxqzwfo5e/schade_trace3.zip schade_trace4.zip (no drivers traced, no BSOD's): http://www.mediafire.com/download/65wipf6gk3gahyq/schade_trace4.zip With no xpmboot trace running, there is no BSOD. Not sure where it's stashing the memory minidumps (it's not %Systemroot%\minidump like the settings are)

Thanks for looking! I noticed that the other day and actually know about it, but hadn't thought about it slowing down boot, it's a USB device that's currently Code 10 (Device failed to start). CAB-200 is TEAC CAB-200, part of a USB multifunction device built into that Dell Studio XPS (as well as others). It's a 3.5" front-panel-accessible drive that connects to the motherboard using a Dell proprietary connector. It provides Bluetooth 2.0+EDR and is also a 4-slot 19-in-1 memory card reader. I was going to try the suggested things here to try to solve the Code 10: http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/desktop/f/3514/t/19243511.aspx?pi21953=1 Which are basically: 1. Make sure you're using the newest Dell-specific firmware/drivers for the device (roll back any non-Dell drivers installed by Windows Update or otherwise.) 2. Mess around with the USB connector 3. Properly ground the drive (correcting a design flaw) using a longer screw or grounding wire. 4. Worst case scenario, replace the drive. That said, my dad over the years (this is a 2009 machine) found the Dell bundled Bluetooth keyboard/mouse too finicky and stopped using them, favoring wired USB input devices. (and that's all he uses the Bluetooth for.) Furthermore, the 19-in-1 front bay memory card reader no longer supports the memory cards he uses from his Canon DSLR so he mostly favors a Sandisk 52-in-1 USB memory card reader he has. So I may be safe to unplug the device! --- Can you tell me about anything else? I'm headed over there in a few hours. :-)

Andre, I hear you are THE guy to talk to about slow bootup/start issues. If you can help out, I'd really appreciate it. Working on my parents' computer (Dell XPS 435MT X58/ICH10R w/ i7-920, 6GB RAM DDR3-1066, HDS721075KLA330, Win7 SP1 Home Premium x64) and I noticed starting from cold boot is DARN slow. (Attempting to talk them into an SSD upgrade to get them by until they can afford their next PC...) Shutdown's not a problem, and they don't normally hibernate or sleep that often... but cold boot is terrible! Many, many minutes. Attached trace hosted on mediafire. Is it supposed to be this huge?! http://www.mediafire.com/download/5kkoqclzujz8xm1/schade_trace.zip I attempted to run xperf on the trace but it gave me the following warning: xperf: warning: applying restriction of access for trace processing97993 Events were lost in this trace.Data may be unreliable. This is usually caused by insufficient disk bandwidth for ETW logging.Please try increasing the minimum and maximum number of buffers and/or the buffer size.Doubling these values would be a good first attempt.Please note, though, that this action increases the amount of memory reserved for ETW buffers, increasing memory pressure on your scenario.See "xperf -help start" for the associated command line options.FWIW, Dell has restricted their BIOS to only listing IDE/RAID as interface choices, and it is currently operating in IDE mode - but I hear if I load the RAID drivers and switch the BIOS to RAID, it will effectively activate AHCI for all SATA ports, even if running JBOD. I've installed the hotfixes you mentioned for Windows 7. Aside from switching to AHCI mode for the HDD, and running the BootVis-like xbootmgr optimization on the HDD, and eventually switching to a SSD... please let me know if you see further optimizations. (I've been suspicious the HDS721075KLA330 might be running at a reduced speed for a while, due to error/issues/age/miconfiguration?)

Any news on this guys? I just began administrating a network that still uses Windows NT 4.0 Server as a PDC, I was hoping to install some sort of Unofficial SP 7 on it. - Schadenfreude

Never mind, I followed the excellent directions here and got what I wanted. http://thehotfixshare.net/board/index.php?showtopic=11 Yes, for NT 4.0 Server. Yes, in February 2009. - Schadenfreude

No, this was one of those patches that Microsoft only made available upon request. Unless someone saved a backup copy for themselves, it's much harder to find. At this point I'm wondering if Windows 2000 Support could help out, since it's an issue that affects a Win2K client from a NT4 server. But I'm not willing to pay $99 to find out (er, yet), so... here's hoping one of you guys has it stashed away somewhere and can PM me. And yes, I'm too broke to afford a Microsoft Premier Support contract, a Custom Support Agreement (CSA) for NT4 with Microsoft, and an Extended Hotfix Support Agreement (EHSA) combined. Go figure.

Hello, I'm looking for KB249140 (Q249140) mentioned here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/249140 MS no longer makes this available since Windows NT 4.0 is not officially supported. Hoping someone out there has it or knows where to get it. Thanks, Schadenfreude