Long pause at boot

Dunno if it would make any difference but that link is to plain-Jane ZoneAlarm versions (not the Security Suite).

BTW, according to the page Dave linked,

Perhaps there is a similar improvement claimed for the other ZoneAlarm products.

 

ZoneAlarm® Internet Security Suite Release History

EDIT: Similar boot time improvement claims for the others:

• ZoneAlarm® Pro Release History
  
• ZoneAlarm® Antivirus Release History
  
• ZoneAlarm® Anti-Spyware Release History
  

 

Yes.

The boot time increase with Zone Alarm is noticeable, it is something I've dealt with for years. But this 2 min delay is not normal for Zone Alarm. (At least my two cents.)

The machine is running the 462 that Mailman mentioned and as was the laptop till recently. Now it's using 464 beta.

 

Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas to all of you who have been providing me with help. It has been greatly appreciated! I wish all the best for the season and I hope will form and continue a good relationship from now onwards.

 

Phenominal thread - I've been following this since its inception and have been fascinated with the progress towards a resolution. Kryptic Chewie, you deserve a lot of credit for the way you have handled your end of things - Nice job.

Merry Christmas to all.

 

Provided you feel things are working properly now (outside of the issue with ZA), there's a bit of cleanup to do. Naturally you can delete the text files we created on the desktop, as well as the regs directory and zip file. Click Start>Run and type combofix /u then hit enter to remove ComboFix, it's components and the files it has in quarantine.

That should be a wrap. Thanks for your patience and co-operation, as well as your willingness to comply with my many requests without question. It showed, IMO, quite a leap of faith. Happy Holidays!

@ electronerdz - whether or not the issue with your customer's machine is Zone Alarm only you may know at this point (or could still find out), but if not ZA, as I did with Kryptic's BootlogXP, see which of the hung processes resumes loading first and there's a good chance you found the culprit.

I have downloaded a trial version of the ZA Security Suite and will be testing to see if I can reproduce the logon hang, as well as determine the connection it has to the Shell Hardware Detection service. If I can find anything conclusive, I will most certainly post that information here.

 

noahdfear, granted I have no way to prove what I speak of, I don't think the 2 min delay is the normal problem associated with ZA. I do think it is something more. Especially as I have had ZA running on this machine before I started getting the problem. But I don't have much to backup it with though.

Either way Happy Holidays

 

I hear ya, Krypt. I would rather point fingers at something else too. Just so you know, I have installed the ZA security suite (on a test box) and I am now experiencing the same 2 minute hang at logon.

Before
C:\WINDOWS\system32\wtsapi32.dll
25.12.2007 11:34:17.048
C:\WINDOWS\system32\setupapi.dll
25.12.2007 11:35:55.641

time span = 38.0593

After
C:\WINDOWS\system32\wtsapi32.dll
25.12.2007 12:19:57.592
C:\WINDOWS\system32\setupapi.dll
25.12.2007 12:22:20.123

time span = 2:24.531

Just for the record, the test box is a sloth (hence the original 38 second delay).

I'm investigating possible configuration changes and will let you know if I find something that works.

 

Wow.

Thanks noahdfear. It's much appreciated.

 

OMG!!! I was so freaking out just now!! I was seeing error messages in black screen background. Turns out I didn't realise it was my screensaver had reached the folder with the pictures of error messages I sent. LOL!!!

 

Rofl!!

 

I went a posting in the ZoneLabs forum. Don't expect much help there though. People do seem to complain a lot about their Customer Service. But then again, don't all customers?

http://forums.zonealarm.org/zonelabs/board/message?board.id=gen&thread.id=47389

 

Hi Krypt

See if this causes a normal logon for you. Open the Zone Alarm security center and on the Overview>Preferences tab deselect 'Load ZA when windows starts'. Reboot.

Note: This will change the True Vector Internet Monitor service startup type to manual as well as prevent the zlclient from running at startup. Start True Vector via services console, then zlclient via All Programs>Zone Labs

If logon time is normal, you might also monitor how long it takes for the True Vector service to start and combine it with the time it takes zlclient to fully load. If not considerably less than the 2+ minute delay you have now, it wouldn't be worth reconfiguring.

 

Refrerring back to the discussion of Bootlog XP...

FWIW, I installed Bootlog XP v1.30 in my machine (Windows XP Home SP2) last night and the log it produced contains references to only C:

If your Bootlog XP is also v1.3, then I wonder what the variable is that causes yours to produce the G: instead of C:
(Granted, I don't currently have a G: drive, though I do have other drive letters.)

 

mailman,

Did you see this post?

 

Yes, but that doesn't convince me yet...especially since the developer requested a copy of the bootlogxp.txt file.

Perhaps the developer released v1.30 right after investigating and fixing Kryptic's issue with Bootlog XP. The download web page displayed v1.2 but the file I received from that link was actually v1.30.

EDIT: In fact it still is displayed there as v1.2

 

Well, I am using 1.3 and was when I posted this as well. I did not have the same results on the test box I used it on earlier today though (same BootlogXP setup package), as it showed only C: paths. I'm getting ready to run it on yet another box though, and will see what it reports.

Do you have 2 or more drives or partitions?

 

From what I read (I have never heard of that program before) If you go down the list, you will see times, and I see times from 9:49 and the next activity occurs at 9:51. What I would do is look for all the files/programs starting at that 9:49 before the 9:51 and see what they're meant to do and everything.

 

I have 2 IDE (PATA) drives.

My C: drive has a hidden Acronis backup partition. (Don't ask me why I have a backup partition on my OS drive. )

My 2nd HDD is split into two partitions, D: and E:. I use only the D: partition for data currently. The E: partition is currently empty except for the usual hidden system files.

DVD ROM drive is X
DVD R/W drive is Y

Sandisk USB multi-card reader occupies J, K, L, and M


EDIT: BTW, I ran the D:\DL\UTILITIES\Bootlog XP\v1.3\bootlogxp130.exe file from the Start > Run box (if I recall correctly) and it installed to C:\Program Files\Greatis\BootLog XP\BootLogXP.exe

 

Pretty much rules out my theory of drive/partition configuration.

I promise not to.