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Windows 8 boots slowly


haversham

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i just built this PC and win8 is taking an extremely long time to boot up. it gets stuck at the windows splash screen (see pic) for slightly over 2 minutes each time (i timed it). i've fully updated windows (see pic) along with drivers for all hardware.

right before the windows start page loads, i can hear one of the HDDs start to seek. i'm not sure if that has anything to do with it (since the OS is installed on the SSD), but it is curious.

i recently built a win8 PC with an intel core i5-3570K +crucial M4 128GB SSD+ ASRock Pro3 + 8GB 1600MHz RAM. that PC flies through the windows splash screen and barely displays it so i'm curious why this one lags so much (especially since it has slower components).

i've read the "Trace why Windows 8 boots, shutsdown or hibernate slowly" thread, but i don't have the expertise to analyze anything. most of that stuff might as well be Greek to me. i attached the summary xml file. i also have the etl file uploaded. if someone could take a look, i'd really appreciate it. TIA.

link to etl file

System Specs:

Win 8 Pro with Media Center

Intel Core i7-2700K CPU

Samsung 30nm DDR3 1600 RAM 16GB

ASROCK Extreme4 Z77 Motherboard

ATI Radeon HD4650

Samsung 840 Pro 128GB SSD (OS)

WDC WD30EZRX (media HHD)

WDC WD20EARS (media HHD)

Screenshot2.png

IMG_20121207_201608.jpg

summary_boot.xml

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starting the SATA HACI driver takes 2 minutes:


<phase name="bootStart" startTime="10" endTime="124885" duration="124875">
<pnpObject name="PCI\VEN_8086+DEV_1E02+SUBSYS_1E021849+REV_04\3+11583659+0+FA" type="Device" activity="Start" startTime="3412" endTime="123781" duration="120368" prePendTime="120368" description="Intel(R) 7 Series/C216 Chipset Family SATA AHCI Controller" friendlyName="" />

prePendTime = driver issue. So updaet the Intel AHCI drivers.

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starting the SATA HACI driver takes 2 minutes:


<phase name="bootStart" startTime="10" endTime="124885" duration="124875">
<pnpObject name="PCI\VEN_8086+DEV_1E02+SUBSYS_1E021849+REV_04\3+11583659+0+FA" type="Device" activity="Start" startTime="3412" endTime="123781" duration="120368" prePendTime="120368" description="Intel(R) 7 Series/C216 Chipset Family SATA AHCI Controller" friendlyName="" />

prePendTime = driver issue. So updaet the Intel AHCI drivers.

thank you for replying.

i already had the latest intel AHCI drivers installed. i also had the mobo SATA AHCI drivers installed simultaneously.

i went ahead and deleted the intel drivers and left only the mobo drivers. i ran a second tarce. boot still hangs up at the win splash screen for about 40 seconds, which is exactly how long it takes to load the mobo SATA drivers.

-<phase endTime="41937" startTime="10" name="bootStart" duration="41927"><pnpObject type="Device" endTime="40516" startTime="377" name="PCI\VEN_8086+DEV_1E02+SUBSYS_1E021849+REV_04\3+11583659+0+FA" duration="40139" friendlyName="" description="Standard SATA AHCI Controller" prePendTime="40139" activity="Enum"/>

not sure what to do now. the intel drivers delay by 2 mins and the mobo drivers delay by 40 seconds, which is still waaaay too long. :(

summary_boot.xml

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Have you talked to the ASRock support? Do they have an idea?

i've sent them an email with all the above info. waiting to hear back.

for this board, 2 SATA 3.0 ports are controlled by the intel chipset and the other 2 are controlled by the ASRock ASMedia chipset (v1.3.8 is the latest). the SSD has always been on one of the SATA 3.0 ports controlled by the native intel chipset. the other HDDs are connected to the SATA 2.0 ports, which is controlled by the ASRock chipset.

i tested with other versions of drivers and the results are below. i tried to uninstall the ASRock SATA drivers and only use one of the Intel drivers, but got a BSOD upon restarting.

ASRock SATA drivers v1.3.8 = 40 seconds lag

ASRock SATA drivers v1.3.8 + Intel RST drivers v11.7.0.1013 = ~2 minute lag

ASRock SATA drivers v1.3.8 + Intel RST drivers v11.6.0.1030 = >2 minute lag

i also followed this guide to change to AHCI mode. AHCI mode was already set in UEFI, but i can't be sure if it was like that when i installed the OS. either way, no change in boot delay/lag.

i'm not sure why this board is loading the intel drivers so slowly. heck, it's loading its own SATA drivers slowly also :(

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went ahead and did another fresh install ... problem solved! i still don't know what the hell i did wrong last time, but i'll outline what i did and the changes made in case others run into the same issue.

* = changes made from previous fresh install

1. made UEFI bootable win8 USB drive* (used same USB drive as last time, but was formatted in NTFS. used instructions here)

2. put Intel SATA drivers (v11.7.0.1013) on USB drive for loading during install* (didn't do this last time)

3. disconnected all other HHDs except SSD that OS will go on & plugged in UEFI bootable USB drive

4. clear CMOS (button turns on machine automatically)* (didn't do this last time since all components were new and i didn't think i needed to)

5. went into UEFI:

-disabled ASMedia SATA controller* (left enabled last time)

-set native SATA controller to RAID* (default is AHCI so i'm now sure this was what it was set at last time)

-changed boot priority to UEFI USB drive* (USB drive was not listed as "UEFI" last time. picture)

-saved settings and rebooted

6. went through windows 8 install procedure

7. deleted partition on SSD and reformatted* (noticed windows 4 partitions, 3 were small and reserved for windows and 1 were the OS would go. only 2 partitions were created last time)

8. loaded intel SATA drivers*

windows finished installing and booted straight into the start page. last time, it stalled at the windows logo screen, even the first time it booted. now i don't even see that screen - windows boots straight into the Start page. checked the Task Manager and the Last BIOS time is consistently 4.8 - 5.0 seconds! :thumbup

i've since changed the intel SATA controller to AHCI b/c it showed and extra screen during POST in RAID. i've also installed all mobo drivers and enabled the ASMedia SATA controller in UEFI. and plugged in the other HHDs. i'm happy to say there's been no slow down in boot up time. :D

i still don't know what i did during the last install to cause such a delay in bootup. oh well ... i'm glad things are back to normal. thanks to all who tried to help!

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mine also sticks, it sits at a completely black screen for at least 2 minutes before the login screen shows up, except I get no hdd activity.

sounds eerily similar to my situation. i would suggest you run a boot trace to see what's causing the lag. instructions are provided in the link below.

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