Home > Storage Technology Tips > > What causes slow startup in Windows 2000
Storage Tips:
EMAIL THIS
 TIPS & NEWSLETTERS TOPICS 


What causes slow startup in Windows 2000


Rick Cook
03.31.2004
Rating: -2.57- (out of 5)


Digg This!    StumbleUpon Toolbar StumbleUpon    Bookmark with Delicious Del.icio.us   


A Windows 2000 system can slow to a crawl on startup if it has too many partitions installed in the Disk Management MMC snap-in. The system appears to hang while the Starting Windows 2000 message is displayed and the status bar reaches between 50-70%. Eventually the system will finish loading but it can take a long time.

There are a lot of possible causes for slow start up in Windows 2000, ranging from having the pagefile someplace other than drive C: to the effects of adware or spyware, but this particular behavior is characteristic of a simpler problem: Failure to keep your service packs up to date.

This problem shows up on systems with 30 or more devices defined in Disk Management. It does not show up on RAID arrays where the entire array, no matter how many drives, is addressed by a single drive letter. The slowdown occurs because the system has to enumerate and mount every disk partition and the time to do that grows at least linearly with the number of partitions. The ...



problem has been corrected in Service Pack 3 and subsequent service packs. Microsoft's recommended fix is to install the latest service pack.

Microsoft discusses this issue in Knowledge Base Article 274349: Computer With Large Number of Partitions Starts Slowly, which is available at Microsoft's support web site http://support.microsoft.com

For more information:

Tip: Restore and recover with Windows 2000

Tip: Rid DFS of mystery folders

Tip: The case of the disappearing network adapter



About the author: Rick Cook has been writing about mass storage since the days when the term meant an 80K floppy disk. The computers he learned on used ferrite cores and magnetic drums. For the last twenty years he has been a freelance writer specializing in storage and other computer issues.


Rate this Tip
To rate tips, you must be a member of SearchStorage.com.
Register now to start rating these tips. Log in if you are already a member.




BROWSE BY TAG
Platforms,   General,   SAN management,   SAN (storage area network),   Software,   General,   VIEW ALL TAGS

Digg This!    StumbleUpon Toolbar StumbleUpon    Bookmark with Delicious Del.icio.us   



RELATED CONTENT
SAN management
Unilever maintains 5 PB Fibre Channel SAN storage performance with Virtual Instruments' NetWisdom
Storage Decisions Chicago 2009 Session Downloads
Storage Decisions Session Downloads: Managing Storage Networks Track (Chicago 2009)
Storage-area networks to become increasingly object based
Data storage management in virtual server environments
10 Gb Ethernet bodes well for iSCSI
Mellanox builds bridge to consolidation
Best storage Products of the Year 2008
Wide stripe before you dive into SSD
How your SAN will evolve
SAN management Research

General
Four steps rid disk inefficiencies in Windows
Restore and recover with Windows 2000

General
Still searching for the Holy Grail of management software
ISCSI and FC tools, where are you?
Can you really trust automation?

RELATED GLOSSARY TERMS
Terms from Whatis.com − the technology online dictionary
Fast Guide to Storage Technologies  (WhatIs.com)
fat provisioning  (SearchStorage.com)
oversubscription  (SearchStorage.com)
RAID  (SearchStorage.com)
storage area management  (SearchStorage.com)
storage area network  (SearchStorage.com)
thin provisioning  (SearchStorage.com)
unified storage  (SearchStorage.com)
virtual provisioning  (SearchStorage.com)
zoned-bit recording  (SearchStorage.com)

RELATED RESOURCES
2020software.com, trial software downloads for accounting software, ERP software, CRM software and business software systems
Search Bitpipe.com for the latest white papers and business webcasts
Whatis.com, the online computer dictionary

DISCLAIMER: Our Tips Exchange is a forum for you to share technical advice and expertise with your peers and to learn from other enterprise IT professionals. TechTarget provides the infrastructure to facilitate this sharing of information. However, we cannot guarantee the accuracy or validity of the material submitted. You agree that your use of the Ask The Expert services and your reliance on any questions, answers, information or other materials received through this Web site is at your own risk.



Find Data Backup Analysis
TechTarget Storage Media
Storage Magazine View this month\\'s issue and subscribe today.
Storage Decisions Apply online for free conference admission.
SearchStorage.com
HomeNewsMagazineTopicsLearningMultimediaWhite PapersBlogsEventsAbout Us

About Us  |  Contact Us  |  For Advertisers  |  For Business Partners  |  Site Index  |  RSS
TechTarget provides technology professionals with the information they need to perform their jobs - from developing strategy, to making cost-effective purchase decisions and managing their organizations' technology projects - with its network of technology-specific websites, events and online magazines.

TechTarget Corporate Web Site  |  Media Kits  |  Site Map




All Rights Reserved, Copyright 2000 - 2009, TechTarget | Read our Privacy Policy
  TechTarget - The IT Media ROI Experts