Weird startup issue 8.1

[steveoz]

Hi Guys,

I've been hit with this random, very odd problem today.

I noticed that my PC is booting up, but not loading all items in the tray, and windows based applications and functions are being delayed or not loaded and will not respond for around 10 minutes after startup.

Example, I will boot into windows, can launch games, internet browser and file explorer, but if I try and launch anything to do with windows such as Task Manager, Event Viewer, disk cleanup, command prompt, programs and features etc etc etc, it will not load. Wait ten minutes, everything pops up and then normal service resumes and anything will load when I want it to.

So I am thinking the system is hanging or getting stuck on loading a driver or application at startup, but I have no idea what.

Applications look fine in the event log, but in system I can see:

@22:18
A timeout was reached (30000 milliseconds) while waiting for the avast! Firewall service to connect.

@22:20
The server {4991D34B-80A1-4291-83B6-3328366B9097} did not register with DCOM within the required timeout.

:22:22
The server {4991D34B-80A1-4291-83B6-3328366B9097} did not register with DCOM within the required timeout.


This are the only errors I can see.

Programs enabled at startup:

Avast
Virtual CloneDrive
Nvidia Driver
Delayed Launcher (intel)
Realtek HD Audio
Killer Network software
ICST tray (intal)
Password Safe

That's it for apps, and I disabled all but Nvidia and HD audio, and it still did exactly the same thing.

I'm not sure what to do atm, but it is super frustrating having a computer that boots in all of about 5 seconds and I have to wait about 10 minutes before I can use certain things.

Any help really appreciated, I've tried a master boot record fix in case that was an issue (as I had to button it a few times earlier) and a disk scan but no errors found.


Cheers,

 

[hyperseven]

disable fast startup, shut down and try again.

 

[theforce]

I would boot in safe mode to see if the problem persists there as well. If safe mode loads without a hitch then you can start disabling programs that start at start-up one by one to locate the program that causes problems.

 

[steveoz]

disable fast startup, shut down and try again.

That's interesting do you think it's using a partially screwed hiberfile.sys?

I'll give it a try thanks.

 

[steveoz]

I would boot in safe mode to see if the problem persists there as well. If safe mode loads without a hitch then you can start disabling programs that start at start-up one by one to locate the program that causes problems.

Safemode works fine, tried it earlier and the problem vanished, although, I had to set it through bcdedit at command prompt in DOS due to CMD not loading forever in windows :/

 

[steveoz]

Shutdown after disabling fast boot still the same :/

 

[hyperseven]

Shutdown after disabling fast boot still the same :/

Try making a new profile to see if same occurs with that.
Got any sys restore points?

 

[steveoz]

Try making a new profile to see if same occurs with that.
Got any sys restore points?

Aha, another good idea, didn't think about profile being corrupt, I will create another and test

Had a restore point back to yesterday, not far I know, but it was the same. There is a change this could have been happening for a few days, but I only just wanted to use a few windows components and tools and have now noticed.

Going to set up a new profile now.

Once thing I have noticed is that Intel RST doesn't load, I can load all other startup programs even when it's lagged up (but they fail to launch as the system is hanging on something) but RST won't launch until that 10 mins.

 

[steveoz]

Oh yes disabled DCOM and that did nothing, also had a USB device showing an error, re-installed that and it was fine but alas not the problem.

And I am back to waiting 10 mins, I can launch the user admin control pannel but upon chosing anything in it it has just locked, I assume it will do it's thing when everything else fires up.

 

[steveoz]

Same with a new profile :S

Took 6 mins for me to be able to launch task manager, control pannel, device manager or anything like that.

I checked and a number of services were set to delayed start, so I made them all automatic as soon as window starts and still no difference.

No drivers reporting as malfunctioning, something for some reason is stopping some windows services starting for the first 5 minutes or so of windows it would seem.

The most annoying thing is that because of this, I can't even get into services or anything else to see what is or isn't running in real time.

 

[hyperseven]

mmm, I'm running out of ideas.

Anything 'wacky' in task scheduler?

 

[steveoz]

I've found this as information in the log:

The following boot-start or system-start driver(s) did not load:
dam

Whatever the hell that is, my google-fu is weak today, can't find much.

System powered on this time @ 23:45:59

Various services and other things start with logs showing up until 23:46:10, so not even a second later, thats fine.

Nearly 1 minute later I get a Bluetooth warning:

The local adapter does not support Bluetooth Low Energy.

No drama there.

Another minute and two seconds later I get:

The server {4991D34B-80A1-4291-83B6-3328366B9097} did not register with DCOM within the required timeout.

Then another two minutes exactly later I again get:

The server {4991D34B-80A1-4291-83B6-3328366B9097} did not register with DCOM within the required timeout.

Then a further two minutes exactly after that I get a Service Control Manager log:

The following boot-start or system-start driver(s) did not load:
dam

Then the computer starts responding normally.

I already disabled DCOM and that did nothing, so perhaps this odd system-driver error is the problem whatever DAM is.

It seems odd though that the startup is fast and things are logging every second until the DCOM and SCM errors that are all two mins apart.

 

[steveoz]

mmm, I'm running out of ideas.

Anything 'wacky' in task scheduler?

Appreciate all of the replies by the way

Not that I know of, will have a quick looksie.

 

[steveoz]

Apparently it stands for 'Desktop Activity Moderator' and it is a drive called dam.sys in sys32 > Drivers.

It's there, so maybe that isn't the cause of the delay but just a symptom that the message is showing late because of the delay.

Think I have had enough of troubleshooting this tonight, will re-visit it with a fresh and non-tired head tomorrow


Cheers,

 

[steveoz]

I'm running out of patience with this issue now.

I've done sfc /scannow, no problems, checked the disks for errors, no problems, no RAM problems, no driver issues.

I've done a clean boot and disabled everything apart from necessary microsoft programs and services and the same problem still persists.

I've no clue what to do now, seems it's perhaps a problem with the windows installation, but I've no idea how to identify it. If I rebuild it, and the problem persists then I guess it would be a hardware issue and that would really be annoying.

The only time I can get into windows without it taking 7 minutes to finish loading windows is safe mode, but that disables so much it could take forever to find out what it is.

 

[steveoz]

Disabled DAM through the registry - no more error.

Found a security audit message stating logon only occurs after 6 minutes of starting, changed group policy to delay login to zero, still no dice.

Something is stopping some windows services from loading for 6 -7 minutes.

I was going to do a reinstall today, looked at my list of installed programs and games that I use and it's frightening, if I do a reinstall I think I am looking at a couple of days work minimum to reload and install everything, then configure and set everything back.

I really don't fancy doing that :/

 

[steveoz]

Rebuilt it in the end, oh well!

 

[THMRK]

Thought I'd use this thread instead of creating a new one, so I apologise for the hijack.

I have an issue where loads of programs launch at startup, even when inside the programs themselves I have disabled the "launch at startup" option. Say for example Dropbox - I disabled it within the program and also disabled it in the Startup section of task manager yet it still launches at startup. It does this even after I created a new profile.

Any ideas anyone?

 

[Sighn]

There could be a service you need to switch to manual.
Run: services.msc