Windows taking too long to load

I am a bit perplexed and confused whether this issue is a software issue or a hardware issue!
From power on to working desktop it takes about 15 to 20 minutes!
I updated from Windows 7 HP 64bit to Windows 10 Home Free when it was available and then to Windows 10 ANNV and all went well and Windows loaded in relatively quickly.
I have updated to Windows 10 Creators Version 1703 all seemed OK at first but in the last week Windows seem to take quite a lot of time to load, 10 or more minutes before the desktop is ready for use.
The sequence of events before Windows Desktop displays ready for use is as follows;
1. Power On and the motherboard splash screen display for a few seconds. (Nothing unusual here).
2. A black screen with the Windows logo and circling dots displays and stays on for 1 or 2 minutes.
3. Then the screen goes black with nothing else displayed for another minute or two.
4. Light blue screen displays with “Please wait” and circling dots displays again for a few minutes.
5. Light blue screen displays to choose either to load Windows 10 or Macrium Backup.
6. I choose to load Windows 10.
7. Windows 10 splash screen (beach scene) displays.
8. I press Enter to display the Log In screen and enter my local password but sometimes it takes a long time for the password dots to appear.
9. The Welcome screen displays but take some time to log in.
10. My background picture displays but the Task Bar takes a while to be fully functional and displaying my pinned applications.
11. The first application to run is Core Temp 1.8.1 which displays the temperature of the CPU as 40+ degrees and ascending to a max of 64 degrees. The CPU cores show frequencies and the loads which some show that the load is sometimes 0% but changes to higher loads of between 8% to 44% so the CPU seems to be functioning within its parameters.
12. Next applications to load are Anti-Malwarebytes Premium 3.1.2 in Real time, next HitmanPro 3.7.2 Quick Scan at Start-up.
13. McAfee Anti-Virus loads next.
14. The next application to load is WinPatrol Pro 35.5.2017.8 which then launches Fences with all my shortcuts.
15. Finally Windows 10 functions normally with no problems or delays and at a normal speed and function to whatever I wish to do!
16. Total time from power on to functional desktop it took just over 21 minutes?
I am uploading two (boring) videos to YouTube show the loading of Windows 10 as described above in real time will post link when finished uploading as it is taking a long time to upload!
1st Windows load (15mintues duration) from power on and 2nd Windows load (7mintues duration)!

So my question is why does Windows 10 1703 goes through the sequences as stated above and why it takes so long to load?

I do have backups of Windows 10 1604 so is it worth restoring to one of these previous backups?

Let's run some tests to figure out what's happening with the operating system, boot, and applications:

Open administrative command prompt and type or copy and paste:

1) winver (in the pop up about windows > view your windows version and build > type this information into the thread)

2) sfc /scannow

3) dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth

4) chkdsk /scan

When these have completed > right click on the top bar or title bar of the administrative command prompt box > left click on edit then select all > right click on the top bar again > left click on copy > paste into the thread

5) msconfig (in the pop up system configuration > move the dot from normal startup to selective startup > uncheck load startup items > click service tab > in left lower corner check hide all Microsoft services > in the lower right side click disable all > click apply or ok > do not reboot)

6) taskmgr (in the pop up task manager > click on the start up tab > click on status so that the column sorts with enable rising to the top > right click on each row with enable and change to disable)

7) shutdown /r (you will reboot the computer so that it is in clean boot)

Evaluate the performance on your computer in clean boot during typical use. Are the boots faster or slower? Are the shutdowns faster or slower? How has the video performance changed? Is it better, worse, or the same? Continue using clean boot indefinitely to monitor performance.


https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...oot-in-windows
How to perform a Clean Boot in Windows 10 - TechNet Articles - United States (English) - TechNet Wiki

dalchina said:

Hello, please read through some threads addressing the same issue, and consider if there's something there that may help:

Very slow boot on Win10 with SSD after creators upadte - Windows 10 Forums
Windows 10 slow after manually updating to Creators Update - Windows 10 Forums

Thanks for your input.
I have not tried any of the suggestions on the threads yet, I was concerned on one of them that suggested by fdegrove using CheckBootSpeed 2.0 which when downloaded it installed 8 malwares and 1633 PUPs!

zbook said:

Let's run some tests to figure out what's happening with the operating system, boot, and applications:

Open administrative command prompt and type or copy and paste:

1) winver (in the pop up about windows > view your windows version and build > type this information into the thread)

2) sfc /scannow

3) dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth

4) chkdsk /scan

When these have completed > right click on the top bar or title bar of the administrative command prompt box > left click on edit then select all > right click on the top bar again > left click on copy > paste into the thread

5) msconfig (in the pop up system configuration > move the dot from normal startup to selective startup > uncheck load startup items > click service tab > in left lower corner check hide all Microsoft services > in the lower right side click disable all > click apply or ok > do not reboot)

6) taskmgr (in the pop up task manager > click on the start up tab > click on status so that the column sorts with enable rising to the top > right click on each row with enable and change to disable)

7) shutdown /r (you will reboot the computer so that it is in clean boot)

Evaluate the performance on your computer in clean boot during typical use. Are the boots faster or slower? Are the shutdowns faster or slower? How has the video performance changed? Is it better, worse, or the same? Continue using clean boot indefinitely to monitor performance.


https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...oot-in-windows
How to perform a Clean Boot in Windows 10 - TechNet Articles - United States (English) - TechNet Wiki

Thanks for your suggestions.
I am running a folders and files backup at the moment. I will try your suggestion tomorrow.

zbook said:

Let's run some tests to figure out what's happening with the operating system, boot, and applications:

Open administrative command prompt and type or copy and paste:

1) winver (in the pop up about windows > view your windows version and build > type this information into the thread)

2) sfc /scannow

3) dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth

4) chkdsk /scan

When these have completed > right click on the top bar or title bar of the administrative command prompt box > left click on edit then select all > right click on the top bar again > left click on copy > paste into the thread

5) msconfig (in the pop up system configuration > move the dot from normal startup to selective startup > uncheck load startup items > click service tab > in left lower corner check hide all Microsoft services > in the lower right side click disable all > click apply or ok > do not reboot)

6) taskmgr (in the pop up task manager > click on the start up tab > click on status so that the column sorts with enable rising to the top > right click on each row with enable and change to disable)

7) shutdown /r (you will reboot the computer so that it is in clean boot)

Evaluate the performance on your computer in clean boot during typical use. Are the boots faster or slower? Are the shutdowns faster or slower? How has the video performance changed? Is it better, worse, or the same? Continue using clean boot indefinitely to monitor performance.


https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...oot-in-windows
How to perform a Clean Boot in Windows 10 - TechNet Articles - United States (English) - TechNet Wiki

Hi zbook,
Thanks for your help resolving this issue.
Here is the information you requested;
Forum response
Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.15063]
(c) 2017 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
C:\WINDOWS\system32>winver
Version 1703 OS Build 15063.413
C:\WINDOWS\system32>sfc/scannow
Beginning system scan. This process will take some time.
Beginning verification phase of system scan.
Verification 100% complete.
Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations.
C:\WINDOWS\system32>dism/online/cleanup-image/restorehealth
Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
Version: 10.0.15063.0
Error: 87
The online/cleanup-image/restorehealth option is unknown.
For more information, refer to the help by running DISM.exe /?.
The DISM log file can be found at C:\WINDOWS\Logs\DISM\dism.log
(I did run dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth at the end of the process as I did not type the instructions correctly the first time!)
C:\WINDOWS\system32> Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.15063]
(c) 2017 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
C:\WINDOWS\system32>dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth
Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
Version: 10.0.15063.0
Image Version: 10.0.15063.0
[==========================100.0%==========================] The restore operation completed successfully.
The operation completed successfully.


C:\WINDOWS\system32>chkdsk/scan
The type of the file system is NTFS.
Stage 1: Examining basic file system structure ...
505856 file records processed.
File verification completed.
12466 large file records processed.
Found unused file metadata marked as used
... queued for offline repair.
0 bad file records processed.
Stage 2: Examining file name linkage ...
Found an unneeded link ($FILE_NAME: "mag_hover.png") in index "$I30" of directory "\Program Files (x86)\Raptr Inc\Raptr\resources\images <0x16e,0x1593d>"
... repaired online.
Found an unneeded link ($FILE_NAME: "MAG_HO~1.PNG") in index "$I30" of directory "\Program Files (x86)\Raptr Inc\Raptr\resources\images <0x16e,0x1593d>"
... repaired online.
Found an unneeded link ($FILE_NAME: "PI180E~1") in index "$I30" of directory "\Users\Robert\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Tiles <0x116,0x20dde>"
... repaired online.
Found an unneeded link ($FILE_NAME: "PI79C5~1") in index "$I30" of directory "\Users\Robert\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Tiles <0x116,0x20dde>"
... repaired online.
Found an unneeded link ($FILE_NAME: "wimmount.sys") in index "$I30" of directory "\Program Files\Macrium\Reflect <0x8a,0x3118d>"
... repaired online.
Found an unneeded link ($FILE_NAME: "3112CED4-8B8C-40A9-B344-DEC5DC8CBF66.SNAG") in index "$I30" of directory "\Users\Robert\AppData\Local\TechSmith\SnagIt\DataStore <0xb,0x74c1a>"
... repaired online.
Found an unneeded link ($FILE_NAME: "3112CE~1.SNA") in index "$I30" of directory "\Users\Robert\AppData\Local\TechSmith\SnagIt\DataStore <0xb,0x74c1a>"
... repaired online.
Found an unneeded link ($FILE_NAME: "44D71617-3D9B-46C7-8358-406A1626FAA3.SNAGundo") in index "$I30" of directory "\Users\Robert\AppData\Local\TechSmith\SnagIt\DataStore <0xb,0x74c1a>"
... repaired online.
Found an unneeded link ($FILE_NAME: "44D716~2.SNA") in index "$I30" of directory "\Users\Robert\AppData\Local\TechSmith\SnagIt\DataStore <0xb,0x74c1a>"
... repaired online.
Found an unneeded link ($FILE_NAME: "582AB12D-395D-4A0C-AC24-6262AD9D0E73.SNAG") in index "$I30" of directory "\Users\Robert\AppData\Local\TechSmith\SnagIt\DataStore <0xb,0x74c1a>"
... repaired online.
Found an unneeded link ($FILE_NAME: "582AB12D-395D-4A0C-AC24-6262AD9D0E73.SNAGundo") in index "$I30" of directory "\Users\Robert\AppData\Local\TechSmith\SnagIt\DataStore <0xb,0x74c1a>"
... repaired online.
Found an unneeded link ($FILE_NAME: "582AB1~1.SNA") in index "$I30" of directory "\Users\Robert\AppData\Local\TechSmith\SnagIt\DataStore <0xb,0x74c1a>"
... repaired online.
Found an unneeded link ($FILE_NAME: "582AB1~2.SNA") in index "$I30" of directory "\Users\Robert\AppData\Local\TechSmith\SnagIt\DataStore <0xb,0x74c1a>"
... repaired online.
Found an unneeded link ($FILE_NAME: "RtkNGUI64.exe.Realtek HD Audio Manager.Realtek Semiconductor.1.0.560.0.ico") in index "$I30" of directory "\Users\Robert\AppData\Local\TechSmith\SnagIt\DataStore\AppIcons <0xd,0x74e80>"
... repaired online.
Found an unneeded link ($FILE_NAME: "RTKNGU~1.ICO") in index "$I30" of directory "\Users\Robert\AppData\Local\TechSmith\SnagIt\DataStore\AppIcons <0xd,0x74e80>"
... repaired online.
611182 index entries processed.
Index verification completed.
5 unindexed files scanned.
5 unindexed files recovered to lost and found.
Found 5 lost files (...\msapplication.xml <0x1b7,0x11129>, ...\msapplication.xml <0x196,0x15a3e>, ...); requesting reconnection to index "$I30" of directory "\??\C:\found.001"
... repaired online.
Stage 3: Examining security descriptors ...
Security descriptor verification completed.
52664 data files processed.
CHKDSK is verifying Usn Journal...
Usn Journal verification completed.
Windows has found problems and some were fixed online;
the remaining problems must be fixed offline.
Please run "chkdsk /spotfix" to fix the issues.
862608225 KB total disk space.
228524016 KB in 242806 files.
157368 KB in 52666 indexes.
0 KB in bad sectors.
698177 KB in use by the system.
65536 KB occupied by the log file.
633228664 KB available on disk.
4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
215652056 total allocation units on disk.
158307166 allocation units available on disk.

C:\WINDOWS\system32>msconfig
C:\WINDOWS\system32>taskmgr
C:\WINDOWS\system32>shutdown/r

Are the boots faster or slower? Yes much much faster.

Are the shutdowns faster or slower? Much faster.

How has the video performance changed? No difference.

Thank you very much appreciated you instructions.

What I do need to do is to enable the following applications to start in real time protection when Windows starts; Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, HitmanPro Anti-Malware, HitmanPro Alert and WinPatrol Plus.

3. Then the screen goes black with nothing else displayed for another minute or two.

Set EnableUlps = 0
Use regedit and search for EnableUlps ... It's usually located in 2 places in the registry, but could be more.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Class\{4d36e968-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318}\0000
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4d36e968-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318}\0000
Close regedit and reboot.

Note: Do NOT change the EnableUlps_NA

Eagle51 said:

Set EnableUlps = 0
Use regedit and search for EnableUlps ... It's usually located in 2 places in the registry, but could be more.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Class\{4d36e968-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318}\0000
Close regedit and reboot.

Thanks Eagle51.

That shortened the time the black screen displays.

Every malware scanner has different definitions in their databases.

Run these on your drive:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/down...l-details.aspxhttps://usa.kaspersky.com/downloads/tdsskiller



type defender in the left lower corner search > click on virus and threat protection > click advanced scan > place a dot in windows defender offline scan.

On reboot the offline scan will load then run a quick scan.

When you have completed the malware scans open administrative command prompt and type or copy and paste this command:

chkdsk /x /f /r (this may take many hours to run, plan to run overnight)

Please post this chkdsk scan results into the thread:


Read Chkdsk Log in Event Viewer in Windows 10
https://askleo.com/chkdsk_what_is_it...w_do_i_run_it/
https://askleo.com/how_do_i_see_the_...t_ran_on_boot/
http://winaero.com/blog/how-to-find-...in-windows-10/ uses 26226 find



Run one of these drive SMART studies and post images into the thread:

http://crystalmark.info/software/Cry...o/index-e.html
http://www.hdtune.com/
https://www.hdsentinel.com/


Before running the Microsoft off line scan please turn off e Mcafee scanner. And please remember to turn it bac on when you are back on the desktop.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/down...l-details.aspx