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PROBLEM

I installed a FRESH copy of Windows 10 Pro onto my formatted SSD RAID0 drive. This is not an Upgrade from an older OS. Each time on startup (not from SLEEP but actual full startup / restart) it takes Windows about 1 minute 30 seconds from Windows logo to Login Screen. The bootup time is awful -- under Windows 7 Ultimate this took about 20 seconds and that included all my 3rd party Startup apps.

Can you please help me diagnose what is causing the delay?

TROUBLESHOOTING

  • I've already updated Windows 10 with all the latest updates. All my drivers are updated. With this being a fresh install of Windows, "SFC /SCANNOW" is useless, "Clear the Cache" is useless, "Run Antivirus / Anti-Malware" is useless, "Defragmenting" is useless.

  • Besides my standard USB keyboard, mouse, and USB3 hub there are no other USB devices connected

  • For the record i've already tried disconnecting the USB3 hub and internal DVDROM.

  • Under Windows 7 i was using all the same hardware specs but with BIOS Legacy OpROM, MBR Partitions for both RAID0 drives, NTFS file system. The system ran flawlessly starting up in about 20 secs.

  • I created a "Windows Performance Toolkit" ETL file of my slow startup. You can view the file here.

SPECS

  • Mobo: Asus Maximus V Formula Z77 ROG ThunderFX
  • OS: Windows 10 Pro
  • BIOS: Asus Republic of Gamer / American Megatrends (v1803), UEFI
  • Secure Boot: Other OS
  • CSM: Enabled
    • Boot Devices Control: UEFI & Legacy OpRom
    • Boot from Network Devices: Ignore
    • Boot from Storage Devices: Both, Lgacy OpRom first
    • Boot from PCIe / PCI Expansion Devices: Legacy OpRom first
  • CPU: Intel i5-2500k
  • Chipset: Intel Z77 Express
  • RAM: 20 GB DDR3
  • Storage:
    • RAID0 - 2x Intel SSDSC2CW240A3 (Internal, SATA, 450GB capacity) - For Windows OS
    • RAID0 - 2x WDC WD6400AAKS-00A780 (Internal, SATA, 1.2 TB capacity) - For Apps, Dloads
    • DVD-RW drive (Internal, SATA)
  • Partition / File System: GPT, NTFS
  • Video: ASUS Geforce GTX 760 (PCIe)
  • LAN: Intel 82579V
  • Audio: Realtek ALC898
  • Monitors: 1x Asus VG278H, 2x Dell P2211H, 1x Acer K272HL
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  • Have you tried running cleanmgr.exe Disk Cleanup. After it runs on your Windows Partition, make sure you place a checkmark in the box for Windows Update Cleanup. If you have not run this often, it may have as much as 19 GB or more in unwanted files. Then restart your computer, it may need to finish. (I always place checkmarks in all the boxes). Then after the computer restarts, remove all older files from the Temp folder(s), finally defrag your hard disk. I try and run disk cleanup at least after two updates. Hope this helps.
    – vssher
    Commented Mar 5, 2020 at 9:56

3 Answers 3

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SOLVED

None of the provided comments resolved the issue. It turns out the problem was with the "Intel Management Engine Interface" driver -- seen within Device Manager >> System Devices.

The driver was failing to load -- exclamation mark Error Code 10. I tried updating the driver to the latest but Windows refused to update it claiming it had a sufficient version already installed. Trying to uninstall (+delete) didnt help as Windows would just reinstall the same driver and again it would fail to load.

I had to specifically DISABLE the "Intel Management Engine Interface" driver. Once i did this my startup changed from 1.5 mins to 17 secs. Disabling the driver has presented no noticeable harm.

Here's what i found about it...

The Intel Management Engine is “a small, low-power computer subsystem”. It “performs various tasks while the system is in sleep, during the boot process, and when your system is running”. This is a parallel operating system running on an isolated chip, but with access to your PC’s hardware. It runs when your computer is asleep, while it’s booting up, and while your operating system is running. It has full access to your system hardware, including your system memory, the contents of your display, keyboard input, and even the network. We now know that the Intel Management Engine runs a MINIX operating system. Beyond that, the precise software that runs inside the Intel Management Engine is unknown. It’s a little black box, and only Intel knows exactly what’s inside.

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Did you try these ways?

Disable fast boot

  1. Open Settings > Power & Sleep

  2. On the right side of this screen, click Additional power settings to open the Power Options menu on the Control Panel.

  3. Here, click Choose what the power buttons do on the left sidebar.

  4. Now, untick Turn on fast startup (recommended) and Save Changes to disable this setting.

Note: If. you don’t see the Fast Boot option, you don’t have hibernation enabled and thus it won’t show up. Open powershell as admin and run powercfg /hibernate on.

Adjust virtual memory settings

  1. Type Performance into the Start Menu and choose the "Adjust the appearance and performance of Windows".

  2. Under the Advanced tab, you’ll see the size of the pagefile and click change to edit it.

On the resulting window, what’s important is at the bottom. You’ll see a Recommended amount of memory and a Currently Allocated number. If yours is as well, uncheck Automatically manage paging file size for all drives to make changes. Then choose Custom Size and set Initial Size and Maximum Size to the recommended value below. Reboot and check if performance is improved.

Update graphics driver

  1. Open Device manager.

  2. Navigate to Display adapters to see which graphics card you’re using (can be Nvidia or AMD if you have a dedicated graphics card).

  3. You can usually open the corresponding software on your PC to check for updates. If you don’t have it, you’ll need to navigate to the vendor’s website (or your laptop manufacturer’s website, if you’re using integrated graphics on a laptop) to check for driver updates. Install any new versions available.

Thanks to: https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/windows-10-slow-boot-issues/

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  • Wasif, thank for the response. UNFORTUNATELY none of the above suggestions solved the issue. It it is still a 1.5 minute startup. I'm going to delve into understanding the WPT file for more insight as to the cause.
    – user933813
    Commented Mar 5, 2020 at 9:04
  • Please read How to reference material written by others. You must block quote text that has been written by some else.
    – DavidPostill ♦
    Commented Mar 20, 2020 at 21:22
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  1. Disable and block msmpeng.exe.

  2. Boot to a USB disk OS such as Windows 8.

  3. Locate all instances of msmpeng.exe on the target OS disk

  4. Rename each to msmpeng.exe_

  5. Place a read only folder named msmpeng.exe in the same location.

  6. It will be reinstalled if a new version is downloaded. Repeat the procedure.

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