windows 7 boot time increase

[06skywalker]

hi people,

i have an issue with my external hard disk, its a Western digital My book essential version.

I have been running windows 7 for about a week now (New build) and all was fine, but.....

i needed a few files from my brothers pc so i took my external to his and copied files over ect about (6 gig). Anyway all was fine until i noticed that on bootup windows 7 will "hang" at the welcome screen (the one where the dots make the windows 7 logo) for about 1 min before actually going into windows. At any point when this "hang" is taking place if i unplug the external hard drive it will go into windows instantly.
if i let it "hang" and load up the HD will not auto run and will be available in my computer.

it seems others have had similar problems (some pc's wouldn't load at all) but i have been unable to find a fix,

i have made sure the external is deleted from my boot sequence, i have downloaded some sort of "fix" from WD site but this did nothing.

This is so frustrating as my comp will boot in about 10 secs so this extra 1 min is hugely frustrating,

i have been looking at the drive properties and i have noticed that in the "volumes" tab the "Partition style" = Master boot Record (MBR). I have no idea what this means but the only other drive in my computer that has this setting is my SSD which has the OS installed on it.

It should be noted that before i took the external to my bros house, this was NOT happening, BUT, once windows had loaded the external would "Autorun" every single time, this was also annoying but this current situation is even worse!!!!

please help me people, its so annoying unplugging the dam external drive to get into windows fast!

EDIT: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...ws-7-pro/f74e4d8a-c4ba-4bd3-b521-97596ea39734

it should be noted that i was trying to stop the hard disk from auto playing when windows started and followed instruction in the above link (Type "NoDriveTypeAutoRun" and <enter> ect ect)

, i have since done a sytem restore to a time "before" where i edited any registry info but this has not helped the situation, still hanging on boot

It also hangs on shutdown, but if i unplug the external drive it shuts down instantly- it like its reading the drive or something

i have also ran CCleaner and cleared any registry issues

 

[Automata]

The MBR partition style is fine, there is nothing wrong with that.

What I would do is test the drive on different USB ports if you have a different USB controllers (such as USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 ports). I would also try it on another computer to see if it has the same issue. If the problem happens on multiple computers, it is an issue with the external drive and there likely isn't anything you can do.

 

[06skywalker]

The MBR partition style is fine, there is nothing wrong with that.

What I would do is test the drive on different USB ports if you have a different USB controllers (such as USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 ports). I would also try it on another computer to see if it has the same issue. If the problem happens on multiple computers, it is an issue with the external drive and there likely isn't anything you can do.

Hi thideras, thanks for quick reply.... the external drive has been plugged into USB 2.0 slots thant are "extra" if you like. its an extra usb hub.
i just changed it to one of the usb2 on the motherboard directly and it didnt "hang". thought things looked good BUT, once in windows all of sudden i cant use my usb mouse or keyboard until the external drive shows up in my computer, my keyboard is back lit and it doesnt even light up until the drive shows up???

the weird thing is HD and boot "time" if you like, were fine until i took drive round my bros!!!

i will try it on my laptop, but this is running xp not windows 7

 

[Automata]

If moving it to a different plug caused other devices to stop working, I'd suspect the external drive itself. If there is a firmware update, I'd try that. If not, I'd send it in for RMA. I've always had troubles with external drives and I avoid them at all possible costs.

 

[06skywalker]

hmmmmm, it stopped them working for about 30 secs then once the hard disk showed up in "my computer" everything worked.

funny thing is i have run check disk on the external and it checks out fine? it also operates correctly once its "online" it just messes things up while its getting there!!

bloody thing :/

EDIT : plugged into my laptop it has no effect on boot time, laptop running windows XP

 

[Automata]

Doing a search for:

"my book essential" windows 7 slow boot

Gives a ton of results and quite a few people are reporting issues. I don't think you are alone with this.

 

[06skywalker]

hmmmm so it would seem, looks like i need to buy an internal for storage and then use my external only when needed

ow well



do you have any suggestions for reliable hard disk for internal storage?

 

[Automata]

For normal internal use, anything will work fine. I'd suggest finding one that fits your budget and has a good warranty. There really isn't a "best".