GA-770TA-UD3 ----- Long Boot Times - XP - Blue Bar Scrolls 17 Times.

[xerkon]

Hi, Everyone!  I just bought parts (GA-770TA-UD3 mobo, memory, cpu) from Newegg.com and sent them to my bro and he put the board together.  He's having some problems with boot times and doesn't have consistent internet so I figured I'd post for him here.

Based on what he's told me, board posts fine and seems to move through boot sequence quickly until the Windows XP screen with the blue scrolling bar comes up and then it sits there for a long time (15 to 20 passes of the blue bar, roughly 20 to 30 seconds) before getting to the Desktop.  Once in Windows everything's been running great.

At first I thought it was a driver that was taking its time loading so I had him re-install windows from scratch (SP2).  Didn't help at all.

Then I thought maybe some hardware on the mobo (ethernet, esata, whatever) was the problem so I had him disable absolutely everything that he wasn't using.  It made no difference.

I saw that there is a new BIOS for this board (F2) and that one of the fixes is improved boot speed.  I thought, "Yea!  Problem Solved!"  So he flashed his BIOS and........"No!  Problem NOT Solved!"

We ran bootvis and, besides a brief initial spike in CPU usage in the first second, all graphs are blank for the first 30 seconds and then suddenly windows starts loading.  Basically, it would seem that between POST finishing and Windows loading the computer is just sitting there doing absolutely nothing for half a minute.

We tried IDE mode, AHCI mode, tried different graphics card, tried with DVD Burner removed (and probably a few other things I'm forgetting).

Is this normal for a Gigabyte Board?  I have some experience building computers and installing Windows (Not calling myself an expert    ) but I've never had this problem.

Anyway, that's it.  Hopefully someone here can help.  THANKS!!      

(i should add that he's using his old peripherals and hard drive which didn't delay his previous system so they seem unlikely to be the culprit.  also, no cards installed other than graphics card)

[absic]

Hi,

Although your boot time does seem a little excessive, it is not uncommon with Gigabyte boards. I have built a lot of Gigabyte based PC's and, to be honest, none of them have been really fast out of the blocks (unlike ASUS or MSI) but they have all been very stable and reliable once they are running.

If you have Floppy Drive support enabled in BIOS this can cause quite a long pause in boot times as can additional HDD's. I am currently running Windows 7 64 bit on the GA-790XTA-UD4 with 5 HDD's and 1 DVD/CD drive and my boot time is around 30 secs.

hope this helps.

[xerkon]

Hi, absic115, thanks for the quick reply.   

If you don't mind, when you say your boot time is around 30 seconds, would you let me know from what point to what point that is?  (Example:  from time computer is powered up until desktop appears.)

I'm thinking that in my bro's case it's probably something like a little over a minute from the time he presses power until he can move his mouse cursor around, but I'll get a definite on that asap.  That's with one hard drive.

I'll also check to make sure floppy is disabled but I'm pretty sure it is as I had him disable everything that wasn't necessary.

On the computers I've built, with a clean windows install, I'm used to only seeing the Windows XP splash screen with scrolling bar for maybe 1 or 2 seconds.  Of course, installing drivers and programs always increases that, but with his it's 30 seconds of scrolling right out of the gate.

It drives me crazy because all I can think is, "WHAT IS IT DOING!!!!!!"   

(i'm one of those have-to-figure-it-out-or-go-insane types of people     )

[absic]

Hi,

Well, that was an interesting experiment as I have never actually timed everything before. I guess I am used to the old days when loading the OS took forever so it all seems pretty quick to me now! 

From pressing the power button to actually being in Windows and getting on-line, actually takes 70 Secs.

From pressing the power button to getting past post and boot screens is taking about 25 Secs. (this is the point I got my 30 secs from.) So the majority of the process is Windows 7 loading. If I run Unbutu my time to getting on-line is noticeably shorter and I have always accepted that it is Microc**p that keeps me hanging around.

Hope this answers your questions.

[xerkon]

Thanks for the feedback.  Yeah, his computer takes roughly 75 seconds from power button pressed to desktop, which sounds about the same as you except he only has one hard drive, is running xp and that's with a fresh xp install.  I haven't fooled around with Win 7 yet; how do boot times compare with XP?  My computer (dfi mobo, e8500) takes 50 seconds from power on to desktop in XP, about 20 seconds faster.  The thing is, if you take out the part of his boot where nothing is happening, his boot times would be the same as mine. 

How long does it take you to boot into Safe Mode?  Of course, that's probably different with 7, too.  (is there even a safe mode anymore?)  My computer  takes 17 seconds to boot into safe mode.  My bro's computer, 86 seconds!!.  It's taking LONGER to boot into safe mode than into windows!  What's up with that??

I think I've convinced my brother that long boots are just the way it is.  It would be nice, though, to know what's going on.  If a motherboard takes longer to boot it's too bad there isn't some sort of screen that pops up and informs you why it's taking longer.  Even if it was a lie, it would make you feel better!!   

[absic]

Hi
The boot time for all versions of Microsoft seems to be roughly the same for me but, to be honest, I've never worried about the time it takes to boot just so long as my system is stable.

Windows 7 64 bit takes a long time to enter safe mode (about 90 secs and yes, it is still there) and again it's never bothered me (I like lots of cups of tea!). I don't know the real reasons for this but have always assumed it was because safe mode had to configure the system to run with default drivers and also it needs to isolate areas so no further harm can come to the OS from corrupt drivers, faulty hardware, viruses etc.

As I mentioned before, Gigabyte boards do seem to take a longer time to boot than some other manufacturers but, and this is a big but, I have always found them to be very stable no matter what's been thrown at them.

[xerkon]

Alright, well thanks for all your help!  I'll tell him to accept the boot times and maybe get a few cups of tea to help sooth and relax!!   

Also, I'll remind him that his old computer (very crappy biostar mobo) was corrupting his mft on a regular basis and that with the new gigabyte everything is running error-free!  A little extra boot time is hardly a problem in comparison.     Thanks again!

[xerkon]

Turns out that maybe the F2 Bios fixed the long boot time after all.  After he first flashed I asked him if he had cleared CMOS and loaded default values and he said he had but boot times were still long.  Well later he didn't remember if he actually had cleared and loaded or if he'd just thought about it so he did it (again) and now his boot times are down from 70+ seconds to around 45 from power on to desktop up, almost 30 seconds faster than before.

If any more relevant info trickles in I'll update, but until then looks like Bios F2 for this board actually improves boot times.