Computer not booting properly?

Question

OK, I turn my computer on, everything seems fine, no noises etc. I get the grey packard bell screen which usually only comes on for 5 seconds... it stays on for about two minutes!

Then my computer carrys on andf everything works fine.

I defrag, registry clean and keep my computer spick and span all the time, there are no viruses, I have norton 360, so what is the problem?

I have never seen anything like this before, and it is becoming increasingly more common on my PC. Ahhh!

Please help! Will give 10 points to the best answer.

Thanks!

Yeh, I mean the splash screen. Will try those links. Cheers.

Any other suggestions?

Answer 1

I have a Packard-Bell laptop and I guess the gray screen you refer to is the boot splash screen that comes up soon after switching the PC on. If this is the case, it's probably neither a Windows nor a Norton (or other applications) problem, but most likely a hardware problem.
Check for proper connection of all boot devices (hard disk, dvd, cd,...) and monitor your hard disk health using some tools from the HD manufactor or third parrty apps (S.M.A.R.T. monitors).

Example:
* http://www.stellarinfo.com/hard-drive-monitor.htm
* http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/Hard-Disk-Utils/SMART-Monitor.shtml

(the second one is free)

Hope that helps...
.

Answer 2

I recently gave up on Norton and got rid of it. You can download the Norton Removal tool from the Symantec website. I purchased F-secure instead. And you know what? Immediately my computer booted faster. And my hard drive's free space went from 43% to 51%. Norton's a monster.

Also, try an anti-adware software like AdAware (it's free) and a registry cleaner.

Answer 3

usually a slow start up is caused by there being to many things running on start up.

I would try finding out what items you have running on start up and change them.

Go to Start
Click on Run
type in msconfig
There will be a tab that reads Startup.
if you are not sure what it is dont change it, but if you see anything like for example: Yahoo messanger you can click it off.

Good luck hope this helps.