Random PC launches every ten minutes, ten times a day – malware detectors failed to detect anything.
Random PC launches every ten minutes, ten times a day – malware detectors failed to detect anything.
Your startup time jumped suddenly to about 250 seconds one day. You've used antivirus tools like Defender and MalwareBytes without finding anything suspicious, and your CPU usage stays low (15-20%) while running normal tasks. I’ve reviewed boot logs and process monitors, but nothing stands out unusual. Two start-up programs are grayed out—one labeled '9' was previously '7' and changed unexpectedly after a reboot. You’re wondering where to focus your investigation or what steps to take for fixing it.
Examine your equipment; if there are no changes in the software side, it’s possible your C: drive is failing.
Your system is still relatively modern with ample space available. Offloading some files to the extra 500 GB could potentially ease the slowdown. Regarding the startup programs, it’s worth checking if they’re using resources you might not realize are consuming time. The hanging pointer issue is a common Windows concern but may require more specific troubleshooting.
i7 10700K AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT ROG STRIX Z590-A 32 GB Kingston DDR4 RAM installed. Power up, monitor goes dark briefly, then shows ROG logo and spins a couple times before launching Windows. Behavior remains consistent except during BIOS boot, which now takes longer.
The Power to ROG branding took significantly longer to load, with the Windows version being marginally slower. I verified that fast boot is active in the BIOS settings.
Prior to the ROG logo, your setup is being examined for internal components, connected peripherals, and memory capacity. One by one, please share what else is present inside the device—WiFi, separate network cards, etc. External devices may impact performance, so consider disconnecting non-essential items to test. External storage solutions, especially drives and card readers, are common sources of delays. With RAM, it’s possible the system was expecting a different configuration, as it typically requires some time to adapt. The MCR setting in DDR5 has surprised many, including myself, while I haven’t faced issues with DDR4. It might help to check if your motherboard displays debug LEDs and monitor its boot behavior for any unusual pauses.
You have a WiFi card and an external drive connected through USB. I'll attempt to disconnect the external drive and then reconnect it.