What's hogging my machine for so long on startup?

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CCleaner (http://www.ccleaner.com) has a Startup tab in its Tools section, from which you can see the programs and apps which run during start-up, and which allows you to disable or delete unnecessary or unwanted programs from the start-up sequence. Personally, I disable Acrobat Assistant and delete the QuickTime at Startup entry.

I'm the person who originally asked the question. I followed Leo's advice and created a shortcut for Process Explorer in the Startup menu. It showed 3 processes running at startup: System Idle Process (2-3% CPU usage); my antivirus program (12-14%); and Windows Genuine Advantage (about 85% depending on the other 2 processes.)

WGA does not appear in any utility I've run to determine startup programs. Not in CCleaner, not in Autoruns, not in WinPatrol, not in r2 Studios' Startup Delayer. To add to the confusion, it only appears in Process Explorer for about 95 seconds and then completely disappears leaving only System Idle Process and my AV program using the CPU.

Leo thought it might be a corrupt or damaged WGA file so I ran a diagnostic tool from Microsoft (mgadiag.exe) and my machine came back as "genuine" with no flags or warnings. So for now, I'm following Leo's thoughts of "...booting the machine about 15 minutes before you need it..."

Leo's comment about not being able to have Process Explorer respond to a sort-on-this-column click in a timely manner is true on loaded systems. Fortunately, there is an easy workaround. Process Explorer starts with the same sort column that it exited with. So if you click on the CPU usage column before you exit Process Explorer, it will start out sorted by CPU usage the next time around.

I too, have determined that a 15 minute turn on before using the machine makes sense. It's frustrating sometimes to have to do this but it seems to work!!

Each time I startup my laptop there is a message, "Please don't turn off your computer --updates are being installed" and sometimes there are 10 updates, which take a very long time. I don't get this on any other computer. Would using Process Explorer help me rectify this so that installs are done at a different time? Thank you.

Roberta,
Sounds you are on a corporate network and hence are being "forced" needed updates. IT departments push these out at the most inopportune times, but best option is just to accept them, go get a coffee or get through the morning's phone calls.

As for booting machine and leaving it running for 15 minutes, I'd recommend agaisnt that sicne I REALLY want to see/know how it boots every time (what has changed, been added, etc). Following its boot on a daily (or however often you do reboot) basis, you can then also easily figure out why it is not behaving like it used to.

One thing that's annoying is that many of these programs wait to run until I log on even though I typically install everything to be used by "anyone on this computer". Would assocating these startup programs with a system account allow then to run immediately? If so, how do we do that?

One thing I've noticed is that startup takes longer after an "emergency" shutdown (i.e. holding the power button for a few seconds until shutdown occurs). In the Midwest we have powerful thunderstorms that can cause nasty power surges if lightning hits a power line or blows up a transformer. I lost one computer that way, even though it was plugged into a good surge protector. So when storms suddenly start forming we often need perform emergency shutdowns on our computers. In just a few seconds, Windows (XP or Vista) obviously does not have enough time to complete its usual orderly closeout and shutdown. So when the computers are restarted, they almost always take additional time to boot up completely. It can sometimes be 2 or 3 times as long as a reboot following a normal shutdown. It's a small price to pay for complete electrical protection, and we now know the computers need that extra time before they are useful.

As a novice, help me out. Where does one find "Process Explorer" and "CPU Usage"?

Given I'm having the same issues with start-up and enough patience to wait the suggested 15 minutes start-up time I'd like to try the other suggestions.

Many thanks,

Thom

Thom,
Your "CPU Usage" info is located at the bottom of your Task Manager. Find it via your keyboard by typing CTL+ALT+DEL two times; the dialog box should appear and you can scroll down to the bottom of it for CPU Usage.
I recommend you get the Process Explorer by going to "download.cnet.com"; it's a free license and program that's "worth the money." Happy surfing and you'll soon be overcoming that self-titled "novice" name. JRED7713

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