Need assistance improving boot time - Windows Xp - 12s

hidddenh · 01-29-2008, 03:36 PM

[Edited with updated info]
I have run into a brick wall trying to improve Windows XP boot time.

The problem i am having is that my CF card is increasing boot/hibernate time rather than decreasing it

This is a list of things i have which are available.

Hardware:
AMD Wafer-LX 500Mhz
256 / 512 / 1024 mb ram
80gb samsung HD / 20gb hitachi HD / 4gb Sandisk Extreme IV CF
(it has both a IDE cable and a IDE CF slot)

Software:
Windows XP (nlited)
12 services running
Minlogon
EWF
HORM

Specific Programs:
VLC
Winamp
Firefox

Nlite install(192mb) - Windows XP installed 300-350mb.

POST is 5-6 seconds!

XP Boot / Hibernate (with post)
With HDD - Boot time 20-24 seconds, hibernate 12 seconds
With CF - Boot time 20-25 seconds, hibernate 19 seconds

With a specially built linux this setup boots in 7-8 seconds with post.(including GUI)

I would really like to get XP under 10s from hibernate.

The Boot time increase occurs when the Windows XP loading screen is (blue cubes scrolling from left to right)

HDtach says - HDD 31mb/s - CF 29mb/s

Bios says - HDD / CF both run in UDMA

The problem i am having is that the CF card is increasing my boot rather rather than improving it. I believe it should not.

So far these are the things i have tried to reduce boot time:
1) Changed memory modules , it does not change anything regarding hibernate speed.
2) Changed the default windows shell (explorer.exe)
3) Tried with/without horm/ewf did not matter
4) Tried using a sata-cf converter, made it worse
5) Multiple tests with network(disable) , did not yield any definite results

I did attempt more things , dont think they are noteworthy.

What i am thinking may be wrong is that Windows XP is using a lesser driver when loading XP from CF than HDD. Perhaps the driver that NTLDR uses could be changed to a better one ?

However at this point any idears are welcome.

[Update]
Using bootvis i can see that my CF card has a 9 second delay after it loads ISAPNP.SYS
Next it loads scsiport.sys and after that everything is normal.

Does anyone know exacly what happends when ISAPNP.SYS loads that would affect my CF but not my HDD ?

jonessc · 02-08-2008, 03:56 PM

Post your LastSession.ini and ill see if theres anything that can speed things ups

I have my setup running on as little as 3 services, and just bare to run ok approx 60mb RAM without loading any of the main software of course.

Im using a 5400 2.5" laptop hard drive which is fast, im just experimenting with CF cards at the moment with EWF

galvitron · 02-08-2008, 04:34 PM

The CF card adapter has to initialize. This takes more time than without the adapter. This is probably why your boot time is now taking longer.

hidddenh · 02-09-2008, 03:24 AM

[Main]
Env = 1.4.1 - 2.0.50727.42.Microsoft Windows NT 5.1.2600 Service Pack 2
Target = Windows XP Professional SP2 - 5.1.2600.2180 - English (United States)

[Tasks]
Remove Components
Integrate Drivers
Tweaks
Options

[Components]
;# Compatibility #
Compat02
Compat11

[KeepFiles]
msconfig.exe

[RemoveFiles]
clock.avi
yahoo.bmp
swtchbrd.bmp

[Options]
CABNoHigh
DisableFreereq
DisableMinMem
ProfilesDir = "%SystemDrive%\Documents and Settings"
TargetPath = "WINDOWS"
temp_dir = %USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Temp
NoWmpComp
AdvTweaks

[Patches]

[Services2]
AppMgmt,4
ClipSrv,4
EventSystem,4
COMSysApp,3
Browser,3
CryptSvc,2
DHCP,2
MSDTC,4
DNSCACHE,3
Eventlog,3
FastUserSwitchingCompatibility,4
HTTPFilter,3
HidServ,2
NetLogon,3
NetBT,3
Netman,4
NetDDE,4
NetDDEdsdm,4
NLA,4
xmlprov,3
NtLmSsp,4
SysmonLog,4
PlugPlay,2
Spooler,3
ProtectedStorage,4
RDSessMgr,4
RpcLocator,2
RemoteAccess,4
SamSs,3
LanmanServer,3
ShellHWDetection,4
SENS,4
LMHosts,3
TapiSrv,4
TermService,4
Themes,4
WebClient,3
AudioSrv,2
SharedAccess,4
StiSvc,3
MSIServer,3
winmgmt,3
Wmi,3
WZCSVC,3
WmiApSrv,3
LanmanWorkstation,2

[Tweaks]
Desktop-My Computer icon-Show
Desktop-My Documents icon-Hide
Desktop-My Network Places icon-Hide
Desktop-Recycle Bin icon-Hide
Explorer-Change Windows Explorer folder view-Details
Explorer-Classic Control Panel
Explorer-Disable Autorun
Explorer-Disable Beep on errors
Explorer-Disable Prefix: Shortcut to
Explorer-Disable shortcut arrow
Explorer-Disable Web Files and Folders connection
Explorer-Display the contents of system folders
Explorer-Recycle Bin: delete files directly
Explorer-Remove Send To on context menu
Explorer-Show extensions of known file-types
Explorer-Show hidden files and folders
Explorer-Show protected operating system files
My Computer-Remove Manage from Context Menu
My Computer-Remove Search from Context Menu
My Computer-Remove Shared Documents
Network-Allow receiving Remote Assistance-Disable
Network-Disable automatic search for network folders and printers
Network-Disable LM HOSTS lookup
Network-Disable Simple File Sharing
Network-Remote Desktop-Disable
Performance-Disable Info Tips on Files and Folders
Performance-Disable Last accessed Timestamp on files
Performance-Disable Optimize harddisk when idle
Performance-Disable paging of kernel and core-os
Performance-Disable Tracking of Broken Shortcut Links
Performance-Disable Warn on low disk space
Performance-Do not cache thumbnails
Privacy-Disable Driver Update Internet prompt
Privacy-Remove Alexa
Start Menu-Disable popup on first boot
Start Menu-Do not use Personalized Menus
Start Menu-Hide Search button in Start Panel
Start Menu-My Computer-Display as a menu
Start Menu-My Documents-Don't display this item
Start Menu-My Music-Don't display this item
Start Menu-My Network Places-Don't display this item
Start Menu-My Pictures-Don't display this item
Start Menu-Network Connections-Don't display this item
Start Menu-Printers and Faxes-Don't display this item
Start Menu-Reduce popup delay
Start Menu-Remove Search the Internet from Search
Start Menu-Remove Set Program Access and Defaults
Taskbar-Disable Balloon Tips
Taskbar-Disable Group similar Taskbar buttons
Taskbar-Disable Hide inactive icons
Taskbar-Hide Volume Control Icon in System Tray
Visual Effects-Active window tracking-Disable
Visual Effects-Active window tracking speed-Zero delay
Visual Effects-Animate windows when minimizing and maximizing-Disable
Visual Effects-Combo box animation-Disable
Visual Effects-Cursor shadow-Disable
Visual Effects-Display mouse pointer trails-Disable
Visual Effects-Fade out selection-Disable
Visual Effects-Gradient captions in windows-Disable
Visual Effects-Keyboard shortcut underline-Disable
Visual Effects-Menu animation-Disable
Visual Effects-Menu shadows-Disable
Visual Effects-Show translucent selection rectangle-Disable
Visual Effects-Show window contents while dragging-Disable
Visual Effects-Slide taskbar buttons-Disable
Visual Effects-Smooth edges of screen fonts-ClearType
Visual Effects-Smooth-scroll list boxes-Disable
Visual Effects-Tooltip animation-Disable
Visual Effects-Use a background image for each folder type-Disable
Visual Effects-Use drop shadows for icon labels on the desktop-Disable

[Unattended]
ComputerType = Default
MaximumDataStorePercentOfDisk = 12
RestorePointLife = 30
DesktopTheme = Default||
AutoUDay = 5
AutoUHour = 15
ProgFilesPath = "\Program Files"

[NetAdapter1]
connname = ""
macaddress = ""
ipaddress = "192.168.0.1"
subnetmask = "255.255.255.0"
defaultgateway = ""
dnsserver1 = ""
dnsserver2 = ""
winsserver = ""
netbiossetting = "0"
ipxnetworknumber = "00000000"
ipxnetworkframetype = "0xFF"

[GuiRunOnce]

[Drivers]
D:\Windows XP Small\Wafer LX Drivers\WAFER-LX-R10_Driver_SATA_ALi_M5283\ALi_SATA_M5283\win_xp\m5 228.INF,m5281XP
D:\Windows XP Small\Wafer LX Drivers\WAFER-LX_Driver_Audio_XP_GeodeLX_WDM_v2.03.00\GeodeLX_XP _XPe_WDM_Audio_v2.03.00\LXWDMAu.inf,0
D:\Windows XP Small\Wafer LX Drivers\WAFER-LX-R10_Driver_Ethernet_WinXP-98-2k_RTL8100C_V6.21\RTL8100C Windows_XP_98SE_ME_2K V6.21\WinXP\NetrtOEM.inf,0
D:\Windows XP Small\Wafer LX Drivers\WAFER-LX-R10_Driver_IT8888\IT8888\ite.inf,0
D:\Windows XP Small\Wafer LX Drivers\WAFER-LX-R10_Driver_IT8888\IT8888\GeodeLX_XP_WDM_AES_v2.01. 00\LXAES.inf,0
D:\Windows XP Small\Wafer LX Drivers\WAFER-LX_Driver_VGA_WinXP_Norwich_Graphics_v3.00.02\Geod eLX_XP_XPe_Graphics_v3.00.02\lx_win.inf,0

[Hotfixes]

galvitron · 02-09-2008, 03:32 AM

Looks like a pretty lean .ini... You might shave another 0.5 sec. playing with Windows and trying to optimize this file.

You might get more Gain toolin' around in your BIOS. What MB? Try setting the hard drive auto-detects to manual pre-sets. Shave like a second off depending on your board.

hidddenh · 02-09-2008, 03:39 AM

Update:

I have gotten hibernate boot times from CF down to only 12 seconds(6sek post, 6sec windows load).

I dont have it certain but i think this has something to do with CF + Hibernate + Minlogon + EWF.
Not sure yet but it think this is what i have to do when i have everything set up. Hibernate the computer untill it does quick restore from hibernate(12 sec instead of 18) and then put EWF back on so windows wont overwrite the hibernate file.(which i currently only have 1 copy of) - so far i have reboot perhaps 200 times and only got maybe 5 quick hibernate files.

Memory usage is only 60-73mb depending on if i have Wireless or not.

My highest priority now is finding out what does make some hibernates fasters than others and reducing the size of XP even further (deleting OEMBIOS and such)

galvitron:
I guess its doubtful that it is the "initialization" of the CF adapter since this appearantly does not happend everytime i hibernate.

galvitron · 02-09-2008, 04:03 AM

A system boot taking inconsistent times is usually related to the last peripheral device you plugged in.

hidddenh · 02-09-2008, 04:39 AM

Alright.

Connected items are

all USB)
Mouse, Keyboard , Speakers , Hub , Thumb Drive , Wireless Card.

This would either be the mouse or keyboard since this problem has exists way before i started using the other items.

However my last successful Hibernate file has keyboard and mouse loaded.

Could it be caused by them in some wierd way ?

galvitron · 02-09-2008, 04:58 AM

USB is a nightmare. All software controlled which means bugs. Unplug all USB and see if anything changes.

hidddenh · 02-09-2008, 06:07 AM

Not possible im afraid, This is a EBC Wafer-LX
http://www.ieiworld.com/en/Product_I...model=WAFER-LX

Only ports i have are 4x usb and one RS-232

And i need the keyboard and mouse to shut down / hibernate the computer.

jonessc · 02-09-2008, 07:48 AM

Last sessions looks like youve covered most of the bases, to be more extreme i only have the following 3 services running which uses 38mb RAM (without everything else running)
------------------------------------------
Plug and Play
Remote procedure Call (RPC)
Windows Audio
RAM Usage.......... 35.7Mb
Processes............. 11
Threads................. 131
Handles................. 1780
--------------------------------------------

If i need to add more software/uninstall I have a registry file that puts all settings back to default, otherwise it causes crashes (but only when installing)

To get your Windows intall down you could also remove alot more of Windows

Seen as you integrate your drivers you could also remove (And PCMCIA if your not using a laptop)

Code:

;# Drivers #
Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM)
Cameras and Camcorders
Display Adapters
Display Adapters (old)
IBM PS/2 TrackPoint
IBM Thinkpad
ISDN
Logitech WingMan
Microsoft SideWinder
Modems
Portable Audio
Printers
Scanners
SCSI/RAID
Serial Pen Tablet
Sony Jog Dial
Sound Controllers
Tape drives
Toshiba DVD decoder card

You could also shave lots off my remove keyboards

Code:

;# Keyboards #
Albanian keyboard
Arabic (101) keyboard
Arabic (102) AZERTY keyboard
Arabic (102) keyboard
Armenian Eastern keyboard
Armenian Western keyboard
Azeri Cyrillic keyboard
Azeri Latin keyboard
Belarusian keyboard
Belgian (Comma) keyboard
Belgian (Period) keyboard
Belgian French keyboard
Bengali (Inscript) keyboard
Bengali keyboard
Bosnian keyboard
Bulgarian (Latin) keyboard
Bulgarian keyboard
Canadian French (Legacy) keyboard
Canadian French keyboard
Canadian Multilingual Standard keyboard
Chinese (Simplified) - Microsoft Pinyin IME 3.0 keyboard
Chinese (Simplified) - NeiMa keyboard
Chinese (Simplified) - QuanPin keyboard
Chinese (Simplified) - ShuangPin keyboard
Chinese (Simplified) - US Keyboard keyboard
Chinese (Simplified) - ZhengMa keyboard
Chinese (Traditional) - Alphanumeric keyboard
Chinese (Traditional) - Array keyboard
Chinese (Traditional) - Big5 Code keyboard
Chinese (Traditional) - ChangJie keyboard
Chinese (Traditional) - DaYi keyboard
Chinese (Traditional) - New ChangJie keyboard
Chinese (Traditional) - New Phonetic keyboard
Chinese (Traditional) - Phonetic keyboard
Chinese (Traditional) - Quick keyboard
Chinese (Traditional) - Unicode keyboard
Chinese (Traditional) - US Keyboard keyboard
Croatian keyboard
Czech (QWERTY) keyboard
Czech keyboard
Czech Programmers keyboard
Danish keyboard
Devanagari - INSCRIPT keyboard
Divehi Phonetic keyboard
Divehi Typewriter keyboard
Dutch keyboard
Estonian keyboard
Faeroese keyboard
Farsi keyboard
Finnish keyboard
Finnish with Sami keyboard
French keyboard
FYRO Macedonian keyboard
Gaelic keyboard
Georgian keyboard
German (IBM) keyboard
German keyboard
Greek (220) keyboard
Greek (220) Latin keyboard
Greek (319) keyboard
Greek (319) Latin keyboard
Greek keyboard
Greek Latin keyboard
Greek Polytonic keyboard
Gujarati keyboard
Hebrew keyboard
Hindi Traditional keyboard
Hungarian 101-key keyboard
Hungarian keyboard
Icelandic keyboard
Irish keyboard
Italian (142) keyboard
Italian keyboard
Japanese Input System (MS-IME2002) keyboard
Japanese keyboard
Kannada keyboard
Kazakh keyboard
Korean Input System (IME 2000) keyboard
Korean keyboard
Kyrgyz Cyrillic keyboard
Latin American keyboard
Latvian (QWERTY) keyboard
Latvian keyboard
Lithuanian IBM keyboard
Lithuanian keyboard
Malayalam keyboard
Maltese 47-key keyboard
Maltese 48-key keyboard
Maori keyboard
Marathi keyboard
Mongolian Cyrillic keyboard
Norwegian keyboard
Norwegian with Sami keyboard
Polish (214) keyboard
Polish (Programmers) keyboard
Portuguese (Brazilian ABNT) keyboard
Portuguese (Brazilian ABNT2) keyboard
Portuguese keyboard
Punjabi keyboard
Romanian keyboard
Russian (Typewriter) keyboard
Russian keyboard
Sami Extended Finland-Sweden keyboard
Sami Extended Norway keyboard
Serbian (Cyrillic) keyboard
Serbian (Latin) keyboard
Slovak (QWERTY) keyboard
Slovak keyboard
Slovenian keyboard
Spanish keyboard
Spanish Variation keyboard
Swedish keyboard
Swedish with Sami keyboard
Swiss French keyboard
Swiss German keyboard
Syriac keyboard
Syriac Phonetic keyboard
Tamil keyboard
Tatar keyboard
Telugu keyboard
Thai Kedmanee (non-ShiftLock) keyboard
Thai Kedmanee keyboard
Thai Pattachote (non-ShiftLock) keyboard
Thai Pattachote keyboard
Turkish F keyboard
Turkish Q keyboard
Ukrainian keyboard
United States-Dvorak for left hand keyboard
United States-Dvorak for right hand keyboard
United States-Dvorak keyboard
United States-International keyboard
Urdu keyboard
US English Table for IBM Arabic 238_L keyboard
Uzbek Cyrillic keyboard
Vietnamese keyboard
;# Languages #
;Arabic
Arabic (Algeria)
Arabic (Bahrain)
Arabic (Egypt)
Arabic (Iraq)
Arabic (Jordan)
Arabic (Kuwait)
Arabic (Lebanon)
Arabic (Libya)
Arabic (Morocco)
Arabic (Oman)
Arabic (Qatar)
Arabic (Saudi Arabia)
Arabic (Syria)
Arabic (Tunisia)
Arabic (U.A.E.)
Arabic (Yemen)
Divehi (Maldives)
Syriac (Syria)
Urdu
;Armenian
Armenian
;Baltic
Estonian
Latvian
Lithuanian
;Central Europe
Albanian
Bosnian (Latin, Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Croatian
Croatian (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Czech
Hungarian
Polish
Romanian
Serbian (Latin)
Serbian (Latin, Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Slovak
Slovenian
;Cyrillic
Azeri (Cyrillic)
Belarusian
Bulgarian
FYRO Macedonian
Kazakh
Kyrgyz (Kyrgyzstan)
Mongolian (Mongolia)
Russian
Serbian (Cyrillic)
Serbian (Cyrillic, Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Tatar
Ukrainian
Uzbek (Cyrillic)
;Georgian
Georgian
;Greek
Greek
;Hebrew
Hebrew
;Indic
Bengali (India)
Gujarati (India)
Hindi
Kannada (India)
Konkani
Malayalam (India)
Marathi
Punjabi (India)
Sanskrit
Tamil
Telugu (India)
;Japanese
Japanese
;Korean
Korean
;Simplified Chinese
Chinese (PRC)
Chinese (Singapore)
;Thai
Farsi
Thai
;Traditional Chinese
Chinese (Hong Kong S.A.R.)
Chinese (Macau S.A.R.)
Chinese (Taiwan)
;Turkic
Azeri (Latin)
Turkish
Uzbek (Latin)
;Vietnamese
Vietnamese
;Western Europe and United States
Afrikaans
Basque
Catalan
Danish
Dutch (Belgium)
Dutch (Netherlands)
English (Australia)
English (Belize)
English (Canada)
English (Caribbean)
English (Ireland)
English (Jamaica)
English (New Zealand)
English (Philippines)
English (South Africa)
English (Trinidad)
English (Zimbabwe)
Faeroese
Finnish
French (Belgium)
French (Canada)
French (France)
French (Luxembourg)
French (Monaco)
French (Switzerland)
Galician (Spain)
German (Austria)
German (Germany)
German (Liechtenstein)
German (Luxembourg)
German (Switzerland)
Icelandic
Indonesian
Italian (Italy)
Italian (Switzerland)
Malay (Brunei Darussalam)
Malay (Malaysia)
Maltese
Maori
Northern Sotho
Norwegian (Bokmal)
Norwegian (Nynorsk)
Portuguese (Brazil)
Portuguese (Portugal)
Quechua (Bolivia)
Quechua (Ecuador)
Quechua (Peru)
Sami, Inari (Finland)
Sami, Lule (Norway)
Sami, Lule (Sweden)
Sami, Northern (Finland)
Sami, Northern (Norway)
Sami, Northern (Sweden)
Sami, Skolt (Finland)
Sami, Southern (Norway)
Sami, Southern (Sweden)
Spanish (Argentina)
Spanish (Bolivia)
Spanish (Chile)
Spanish (Colombia)
Spanish (Costa Rica)
Spanish (Dominican Republic)
Spanish (Ecuador)
Spanish (El Salvador)
Spanish (Guatemala)
Spanish (Honduras)
Spanish (International Sort)
Spanish (Mexico)
Spanish (Nicaragua)
Spanish (Panama)
Spanish (Paraguay)
Spanish (Peru)
Spanish (Puerto Rico)
Spanish (Traditional Sort)
Spanish (Uruguay)
Spanish (Venezuela)
Swahili
Swedish
Swedish (Finland)
Tswana
Welsh
Xhosa
Zulu

Theres plenty more you can do on top of that, that will shave about 150mb off your image file, and make windows directory way smaller

jonessc · 02-09-2008, 07:53 AM

Also there is a way of getting windows to automatically disable the keyboard and mouse just before shutdown/hibernate and re-enable them on startup/resume using a tool called Devcon by Microsoft.

I use it cos my USB touchscreen doesnt always work after hibernate.

hidddenh · 02-11-2008, 12:30 PM

jonessc:
Thanks for the Devcon tip.

I have already stripped out all drivers and all keyboards(aside from 3 which i need).

Outof curiosity , how big is you nlite install and how big is your windows when installed ?

MindDrive · 02-11-2008, 02:35 PM

you guys are on the right track... but for even more *shaving the fat* so to speak, get a program called NLITE ( http://www.nliteos.com/ )

you can shave win2k pro down to 60mb's install cd, xp pro sp2 ive shaved down to 220mb's install cd

basicly what it does is break down the xp install cd so you can shave out all the bloat ware that ms thinks the common user needs, i use nlite to make gamer xp disks and have also used it to make my carputer install cd, you can incorporate nvidia drivers (graphix, chipset, sata, lan etc etc) or any other drivers you may need, its quite slick as you can remove ALL of the legacy support drivers and legacy garbage that make xp "compatable" but if you install your OWN drivers for your specific hardware you DONT need any of it cept the core files of xp

check it out definately a ++++!

hidddenh · 02-12-2008, 04:15 AM

Minddrive:

You might want to actually read the original post before replying

"Windows XP (nlited)"

not to mention the line in the above post

"Outof curiosity , how big is you nlite install and how big is your windows when installed ?"

And my install is 192mb from disk and 144mb from CD - i need to make it smaller than that!