[SOLVED] Sudden and extremely long boot times on Gigabyte laptop ?

[CanadaPlays]

Heyo. I recently bought a Gigabyte G6-KF laptop for some travel I've got planned next year, and have been breaking it in and using it a fair bit lately.

However, I noticed a recent significant increase in boot times. I'm not very good at PC troubleshooting, or just PCs in general, but I'm fairly certain it's before it even boots past BIOS. I see a black screen (screen still on, mind) for an indeterminant amount of time (more than a few minutes) before I see the BIOS splash and then it boots into Windows as quickly as it used to.

I say this happened suddenly, but I do have a suspicion. I ran into an issue, that required the Group Policy Editor to fix it. This required I upgrade my version of Windows 11 Home to Pro, which I did. I did confirm that the change I made was not the cause of the issue, and when I rebooted my PC for the change to come into effect when I applied it, it was still booting at its normal speed.

I'm this close to reinstalling Windows and hoping it works, but I figured a hail mary here wouldn't hurt. Thanks for reading, double thanks if you have any ideas.

 

[Lutfij]

I ran into an issue, and required the Group Policy Editor. This required I upgrade my version of Windows 11 Home to Pro, which I did.
What is this issue you vaguely mentioned above? What did you edit in your registry?

Did you check to see if your OS is pending an update? You could try and see if a system restore prior to when the issue cropped up helps alleviate the issue you speak of.

 

[CanadaPlays]

It was vaguely mentioned because I figured out it was not the issue, but for clarities sake, I needed to enable long file paths. I was moving some stuff from my main PC to my Laptop, but it was being fussy because the program that made the files had the file paths incredibly long.

It is currently up to date, not even any optional updates left.

 

[CanadaPlays]

Still grappling with this issue. Could it be a bios thing? I've never flashed a BIOS before

 

[ubuysa]

First thing I'd try is to (temporarily) disable all those start-up apps that I can do without. Open Task Manager and click the Startup apps menu item on the left. You can usually get away with disabling all these, the worst that will happen is that some features won't work, you won't break anything.

BUT DO MAKE A NOTE OF WHICH APPS WERE ENABLED TO SO YOU CAN REENABLE THEM AFTERWARDS.

See whether disabling those starup apps helps

 

[Ralston18]

And do be sure that all important data is backed up at least 2 x to locations away from the laptop in question.

Verify that the backups are recoverable and readable.

 

[CanadaPlays]

First thing I'd try is to (temporarily) disable all those start-up apps that I can do without. Open Task Manager and click the Startup apps menu item on the left. You can usually get away with disabling all these, the worst that will happen is that some features won't work, you won't break anything.

BUT DO MAKE A NOTE OF WHICH APPS WERE ENABLED TO SO YOU CAN REENABLE THEM AFTERWARDS.

See whether disabling those starup apps helps

I tried, but no dice. I think the issue is before Windows even gets a chance to boot.

 

[Ralston18]

On the laptop run "ipconfig /all" (without quotes) via the Command Prompt.

Copy and paste the full results into post here.

 

[CanadaPlays]

I'm not entirely comfortable posting all that here. Is there anything I should be looking out for? It all looks about what I'd expect.

 

[Ralston18]

"ipconfig /all" is a commonly used means to check the computer's overall network configuration.

There is nothing there per se that will make your system vulnerable.

Ensure that there is no personal information being presented such as your full name if the computer happens to be using that. Some people are concerned about MACs but that is not really a problem. MACs are reused.

Specifically you do not want to reveal your Public IP address provided to the router by your ISP. You can find that address by going online and using "What is my IP?"

From my system:

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : XXXXX (I masked out a geographical system name)
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : hsd1.XX.comcast.net (I masked out a USA state abbreviation)

Ethernet adapter XXXXX: (I masked out my network name.)

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : hsd1.XX.comcast.net
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek PCIe GbE Family Controller
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 8C-EC-4B-7E-7E-D4
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.201(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Tuesday, October 1, 2024 6:36:20 AM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Wednesday, October 9, 2024 6:36:20 AM
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 8.8.8.8
8.8.4.4
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Ethernet adapter Bluetooth Network Connection:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Bluetooth Device (Personal Area Network)
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 74-40-BB-D5-2D-BE
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
PS C:\WINDOWS\system32>


Specifically:

I look for the lease time (not really a technical issue per se but a very short lease time may be problematic.

I look to see if more than one network adapter is enabled.

I look to see if the router (or modem/router if combined) MAC is in agreement with the manufacturer's part of the mac address.

https://macvendors.com/

I look to see if IPv6 is enabled. IPv6 can cause problems.

I look to see what is being used for DNS Servers (8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 being Google and commonly used.) There are other DNS Servers available.

I look to see what the DHCP Server and DHCP Gateway IP addresses are. Especially if they do not match (without reason) the router's usual defaults. My Linksys router used the default 192.168.1.1 as do thousands of other small private networks. I also check the subnet masking: 255.255.255.0 being the usual value for private networks.

FYI:

https://www.lifewire.com/what-is-a-public-ip-address-2625974

If you believe that all is in order with respect to the ipconfig /all results from your system then fair enough.

However, in whole or in part there may be some issue, that another member will make note of and post accordingly. Or ask for more detailed information or clarification.

 

[ubuysa]

Will it boot in Safe Mode? Use the 'From a Blank Screen' option in the linked webpage.

 

[CanadaPlays]

Hey all! Managed to fix the issue by doing something I probably should've tried in the first place. The culprit was, of all things, the wireless dongle for my headset I use with it. When it's plugged in it delays my boot massively, and just unplugging it causes it to instantly start booting normally. No clue why, but hey, problems solved