Very slow logon from Windows 7

Question

On my home laptop, I've noticed that the time to log in after boot is becoming increasingly slow.

This is only after a restart: it boots fine, and comes out of hibernation fine. But if you restart the machine and log on, it's a good 5-6 minutes before the PC is usable.

I assumed there was too much junk in the startup folder, but I was surprised to see that there was nothing either in the global statup or the user startup. Obviously there are processes starting when the machine does but I guess they're starting as Windows Services, which makes it difficult to sort the useful from the inessential, because I won't know what's what.

It's a solid machine: i7 processor, 16GB RAM and a decen hard disk (though not solid-state). So it can't be a power issue. It's running anti-virus and firewall and has automatic updates on, so I doubt it's malware.

There's only one account on the machine, and it's not logged into any networks.

I've tried flushing the DNS, to no effect. I also tried to install what looked like a Hotfix for the issue, but the installation fell over with no notification as to why.

EDIT: Boot is fine. The problems start after I enter my password. I deck a basic desktop right away, but then the shortcut icons start appearing one by one. I get my first tray notification (usually Java bugging me for an update) 2 minutes in, my first windowed message (usually Steam) about 3 minutes. From then I can start opening my own programs, but they're not responsive or usable for another 2-3 minutes.

Solution

Recently, I've noticed same slow log on time. System boots about 15 sec. - till login screen. After putting credentials it takes about 2 min. to show desktop icons. On other laptop it takes longer, about 3 min. Both of this laptops have SSD disks, so it was strange situation. After researching boot log made by process monitor, I've noticed that system is messing with tcpip configuration, reading it from registry. Solution for me was unplug LAN cable before putting credentials on login screen and then put cable back after desktop showed. Now, all takes about 1 minute, from computer start till desktop, including writing password.

Comments

[fixer1234]

Can you break down that 5-6 minutes? How long before you get the first boot messages? Then how long until the Windows logo appears? Then how long until you get the log-in screen? Then how long until the system is done playing with itself and is ready to use? What happens if you boot in safe mode?

[Bob Tway]

@fixer1234 Thanks for looking to help. It boots fine. It's loading the desktop after logon that takes time. See the edit.

[Sun]

Services.msc allows you to start some services with a delay on vista and windows 7. Try to delay start as many as you can, restart and see if you notice a difference. If it your login time is better, then it is disk contention. Too many stuff hitting the hard drive at once. There's also a program called startup delayer where you can space out your startup items which may help.

[fixer1234]

Try a "clean boot" (helpdeskgeek.com/windows-7/perform-a-clean-boot-in-windows-‌​7), which will identify whether the problem is Microsoft stuff or third party stuff.

[magicandre1981]

capture a boot trace: pastebin.com/CYGqRZXE