Hi,I hope someone can help. It is driving me crazy that windows hangs while starting causing the start-up to take up to 4 or 5 minutes.I have run scandisk, removed programmes that were unnecessary. Installed a registry cleaner, and as far as I can tell. Done the usual stuff. Removed temp files, virus checkers etc.One other symptom I have noticed is that it hangs in safe mode when trying to log on as the administrator. Hangs (Loading your personal settings).Any suggestions?Best Regards Steve1 person needs an answerI do too

Uninstall the registry cleaner as that can cause more problems. What version of XP are you running and how many user profiles are on the system? Please review the malware removal steps at the link below. If you were that thorough, then probably the computer is not infected. If you weren't that thorough, please go through the steps. If the computer is truly clean, do clean-boot troubleshooting. When you post back with results/answers, please include some information about your computer, its recent history, etc. so we can narrow down the troubleshooting path.The First Question Of Troubleshooting: If the problem is new, what changed between the time things worked and the time they didn't?The Second Question of Windows Troubleshooting: what is the malware/virus status of the machine? If you think it is clean, what programs (and versions) did you use to determine this?Be sure the computer is clean:http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_MalwareClean boot in Windows XP -http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310353Clean-boot advanced troubleshooting in Windows XP -http://support.microsoft.com/kb/316434http://aumha.net/viewtopic.php?t=28099 - registry cleaner threadMS-MVP - Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!

Hi, Thanks for the reply. I do think the machine is clean, but you never know. The slow start up has been on the machine for some time, not a new phenomena. As you suggested I have removed the Registry cleaner, Registry Mechanic Version 9.0.0.128 by PCTOOLS Windows version is XP home Edition Version 2002 SP3 running on a Packard Bell with Pentium 4, 2.93GHz with 1.5G RAM Currently run Avast Anti Virus Version 5.0Malwarebytes Anti Malware Version 1.46Spybot Search and Destroy 1.6.2Let me have your thought if you think this is clean before I run the Clean Boot.Regards Steve

I think the machine is probably clean. Do the clean-boot troubleshooting so you can find the program/process which is taking its own sweet time. Another thing to check is Event Viewer to see if something is trying to run and timing out. Start>Run>eventvwr.msc [OK].MS-MVP - Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!

Hi,Have run event viewer and could see the following errors.1. The Windows Image Acquisition (WIA) service hung on starting.2. Timeout (30000 milliseconds) waiting for the IMAPI CD-Burning COM Service service to connect.3 The IMAPI CD-Burning COM Service service failed to start due to the following error:The service did not respond to the start or control request in a timely fashion.Can you advise on how to fix, these are common on start up looking at the timings.Kind Regards

But first, what happened with the clean-boot troubleshooting? Did that make a difference?MS-MVP - Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!

Hi,The clean start did make a slight difference, but it still hung for 1 to 2 minutes.I also got a error messageAn Access Denied error was returned while attempting to change a service. You may need to log on using Administrator account to make specified changesThere is only one user account and it has admin rights.Kind Regards