Slow windows boot issue

Question

My Windows 10 pc takes around 5 minutes to boot to Windows, which is much slower than was normal a while back. i have tried to use Windows Repair in Winre, but it says it can't repair. The resulting log file is reported as being in drive E ( CD drive), whereas it is actually in drive C. I can't see anything wrong in that log.

I have also tried to follow other instructions to use the bootrec commands from command prompt.

fixmbr was reported as completing successfully. fixboot access was denied. scanos competed successfully, while rebuildbcd seemed Ok, but I'm not sure. Intriguingly, the drive letter for the command prompt was shown as X:. When i tried changing it to C: it went back to X; (which I don't have).

The PC is behaving quite normally once booted, with no noticeable loss of speed.

I am most reluctant to do a windows refresh, because of the loss of programs (BTW when did they become apps ?).

Anything else I can try?

Answer 1

Hi, ChrisMXN

Welcome to Microsoft Community.

We understand that you are experiencing a very slow Windows startup, the cause of this problem is usually due to the system's bootstrap file corruption or system component corruption, from your description, I noticed that you can't repair the system in WinRE, nor can you use the fixboot command, so maybe there is some corruption in your system components.  What programs and apps do you mean by “loss of programs”?At this time we recommend that you try to repair your system with Media Creation Tool, this will be a non-destructive repair of your system, it is not a reinstallation of your system, normally installed applications do not need to be re-installed, and the system will be updated to the latest version, but if there is any important data on your computer we still recommend backing it up in advance.Once you have completed the backup, follow the steps in the guide below:1. Visit the site below and click “Download Tool Now” (not “Update Now”) to download Media Creation Tool.Download Windows 10 Run the MCT tool, select Upgrade this computer now, and select Keep files and applications.2. For detailed instructions on the above steps, you can view the video tutorials at the link below:https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/videoplayer/embed/RE201WLDisclaimer: At this point, we have exhausted all troubleshooting and I recommend that we try to perform a clean install to get your computer back into a working condition. Please ensure that you backup any important data, including Documents, Pictures, Videos, and more. After that, you can find instructions on how to install Windows 10/11 in the following article by MVP Andre:How to: Perform a Custom Installation of Windows 11 and Windows 10 - Microsoft CommunityIf you are still experiencing slow startup after using the above solution, you may need to consider your hard disk and RAM hardware.If you have any progress, please feel free to contact us.

Best Regards

Nicholas.Z - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist