Slow winxp boot & fluctuating hdd activity

[F@TMAN]

I just finished installing a new SATA dvd+/-rw when I noticed it took a long time for windows to boot from my sata hdd (stayed on the winxp slash screen for a lot longer than usual). Upon booting into windows, it installed the new dvd+/-rw fine and it seems to be working. I restarted the PC to see if the slow boot had anything to do with installing the new device, but I found the long boot time continued to occur, and has been ever since. I've tried removing the new dvd+/-rw and seeing if boot time improved (or, rather, returned to original performance) but it did not, nor did changing the ports on the mainboard for either the hdd or the dvd+/-rw fix this.

 

What I noticed being peculiar is that, while the winxp splash screen displays initially, there is no hdd activity. Then, there will be a period where the activity lights are solid, then it will stop and start again (probably takes around 30+ sec as opposed to 10sec). It's as if the system doesn't detect the drive, initially, then very slowly decides to load up. But, once I've booted into windows, there's no noticable issue (file transfer speeds seem as fast as usual). Any suggestions appreciated, thanks in advance

[uneedav8]

Have you already put the OS hard drive as the first boot device and disabled the 2nd, 3rd and 4th devices.....network..etc? I would also disable anything that is not used in the BIOS. Set the master and slave IDE devices in the BIOS manually instead of auto. You can also download and try Bootvis in XP to try to speed things up.

[F@TMAN]

Hey uneedav8, thanks for your reply...I took my time trouble-shooting, and the issue turned out to be with my remaining IDE DVD-ROM, more specifically its jumper...when I unplugged it from the mainboard, windows booted up pretty quick smart. What had happened was that I'd also changed the DVD-ROM's position on the cable when rearranging my case. I've now set the drive to cable select, although I'm curious as to whether or not it even needs a jumper @ all since there's no other IDE devices? Thought some might find the outcome helpful, cheers