Aspire XC-885 with 128GB SSD and 16GB RAM takes 30+ seconds to boot

selroh18

My desktop takes over 30 seconds to boot (last BIOS time is 34.2 seconds and it is consistently this slow). Previously it has taken about 1 second to boot but I cannot pinpoint a system change or new program installation which coincided with it being much slower. I have tried disabling all startup programs in Task Manager and all non-Microsoft services in msconfig but the problem persists. When booting, the computer waits on a screen with the Acer logo and a message on the bottom left with the boot interrupt options for a long time, before the computer beeps. Once it beeps, the system reaches the login screen within a few seconds. Does anyone know what the issue may be? Thanks in advance

System details:

Processor    Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-9400 CPU @ 2.90GHz   2.90 GHz
Installed RAM    16.0 GB (15.9 GB usable)
System type    64-bit operating system, x64-based processor
Pen and touch    No pen or touch input is available for this display

Larryodie

I would run CCLEANER and make sure that you clean the REGISTRY after cleaning the junk stuff. 
Be sure that you have disabled all Virus scanners from loading.
Possibly select a restore point from an earlier time that all worked. Hold the SHIFT KEY then restart your computer will get you into the diagnostic screen. 
Possibly do a reset of Windows in the diagnostic section, but do not disturb your data files. I'd back your data file up and do a system image prior to reset.
Good Luck,

Larryodie

I'm assuming that your SSD is not full of data other than system ? 

Larryodie

I do this a few time a week on my active computer after doing the junk clean portion of CCleaner.
Note that they may be other cleaners, I've used this for 30 years so I'm stick with it. I did pay for the Preminum for a couple of years but it is now expiring. 
https://www.ccleaner.com/docs/ccleaner/using-ccleaner/registry-cleaning

Larryodie

The second picture is the screen that you should get after holding SHIFT and restart. Then go to troubleshoot.

Larryodie

I just Google that Microsoft doesn't recommend using registry cleaners and says that it doesn't help the speed. So my bad ??

selroh18

Larryodie said:

I'm assuming that your SSD is not full of data other than system ? 

No, plenty of space on it. It's very strange why it is so slow

ttttt

@selroh18

How many drives and devices you have attached to the PC?

My TC-885 with i3-9100, gen 3 M.2 NVMe SSD, 16 GB RAM (8 GB when new) took 9 seconds to boot when new (never be one second, unless it was a wake up from sleep mode). After all programs and bowsers loaded it took 16 seconds to boot. Attached another HDD took it 22 seconds to boot. Adding one more 2.5" SATA3 SSD (now two more drives) bringing the boot time to 30 seconds. 

In addition to all of the above drives, I added another gen 3 M.2 NVMe SSD to the x16 slot with an adapter, further slowed down the boot time to 38 seconds. As the drives getting fill up with time, I'll expect the boot time will be longer than that.

So, if you have multiple devices attached to the PC, this kind of boot time is normal. A lot of time being spend on the POST process for different devices.
Your case may be different.

billsey

Typically that slow of a boot is due to the system enumerating the file systems. If you have a drive that has errors on it the OS will scan it each time you boot, which takes a while. You can also see it if there's a shared network drive that's slow to respond.

selroh18

@ttttt The only items added to the motherboard are the SSD (it came with a 1TB HDD which is still attached but doesn't have the OS on it) and one of the 8GB RAM sticks I added. But I've had the PC about a year and those parts were added right from the start. Can I check how long is being spent on POST for each one somehow?

selroh18

@billsey There's no shared network but the OS error hypothesis could be correct - how would I check?

Larryodie

Have you run the diagnosis in the "troubleshooting" section of my post ?

Larryodie

I have a TC-895-UA92, that always has been the same at about 10 seconds both. All original except a USB ext HD.
I just tried the diagnostic in safe mode. I'm not sure as why it didn't run ?  The ACER care center has tune-ups hard drive and memory checkers. 

Larryodie

I noticed that ACER only checked memory and not the SSD ?

Larryodie

Check disk under properties of your SSD in File Explorer will check the SSD but not Acer Care Center. 

selroh18

@Larryodie Thanks for the suggestions, I tried error checking but didn't bring up anything

billsey

So the procedure your system goes through during boot is like this:

• You press the power button, which tells the motherboard to tell the PSU to turn on
• The PSU turns on which tells the MB to initialize the CPU
• The CPU comes up and starts to load the BIOS
• The BIOS runs and starts POST (memory test first)
• As POST gets to the display, the Acer splash screen is shown
• When POST is done, the file systems are started
• The Windows loader is identified and launched
• Windows loads all needed drivers, mounts the file systems and starts the load of the HAL
• Windows gets done loading HAL and starts displaying the juggling balls
• Windows gets done with the initial loading and displays your login screen

You can tell somewhat where the delay is by looking at the screen. If is stays for a long time on the Acer logo it's slow going through POST. If the logo goes away and it stays on the juggling balls it's Windows launching drivers. If the juggling gets done and you get a blank screen for a long time before the login appears it's still likely Windows initialization. If the login screen comes up, you put in your credentials and it takes a long time for the desktop to appear it's most likely a problem with your Windows profile.

Larryodie

selroh18 said:

@Larryodie Thanks for the suggestions, I tried error checking but didn't bring up anything

Did you check the 1TB drive too. Betcha that somehow Bios is checking it too. 

selroh18

@billsey I tried rebooting and had a look at where the delay is - the screen gets stuck on the Acer screen for a while, the one where in the bottom left it gives you options to press Del/F12 to interrupt. At some point while it's on that screen, the buzzer beeps once, and then a couple of seconds after the beep the juggling balls appear. Once they're on the screen it's basically just a second before I can login and access the desktop. So I guess it's a problem with POST?

selroh18

@Larryodie The HDD is also fine

selroh18

I had a go restarting the computer with nothing except the monitor plugged in and it loaded a little faster - 12 seconds according to Task Manager. This time after the Acer splash screen it almost straightaway displayed some text saying "Keyboard Error", then went onto the ball juggling which happened for much longer than usual. So could the keyboard be interfering with something when I boot it normally?