# LAN/Network Connections Takes Awile To Load



## lyca (Apr 28, 2007)

My LAN (the two computers) icon (in the tray) takes an unusually long time to long. When I try to enter the Network Connections folder, it will also take a while to load, and will only open when the LAN icon appears.

Any ideas as to what's wrong? Could it be a problem with my Network Card?


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## OldGrayGary (Jun 29, 2006)

Hi lyca

. . . and Welcome to the Tech Support Forums!

How long does it take? A minute, two minutes, five minutes? ... Once your computer has completely finished it's startup routines, does your Network Connections screen open OK then?

You can run some malware scans, since malware tends to harm system performance in many ways. Should you find any signs of serious infection, try the 5-Step Security Checklist from our Security techs --- http://www.techsupportforum.com/sec...pdated-important-read-before-posting-log.html

How much memory does your system have? If you have Windows XP with Service Pack 2, and are loading over 50 or so background processes to run constantly (whenever the computer is on) you could easily have more than 400mb of your system memory already in use --- before you even open a program. If your system has less than 512mb of system memory ("RAM"= Random Access Memory), it would experience noticeable sluggishness at startup [and if the memory is 256mb or less = extreme sluggishness fairly often]. You can check how much memory your system is using with Task Manager. Right-click the taskbar, select Task Manager, and go to the Performance tab: the "Total" under "Physical Memory" should match the total system memory you have physical installed (your RAM modules), & the "Total" under "Commit Charge(K)" shows how much memory is in use by the processes currently running on your system. As the Total Commit Charge approaches the Total Physical Memory, noticeable system slowing will occur, because Windows will have to move data to the "swap file" (also called "page file", or "virtual memory") on your hard drive. Grabbing information from a hard drive is much slower than grabbing data from system memory.

Check, too, that things that don't need to run all the time aren't doing so. Some programs seem to think they need a background process at all times - QuickTime, RealPlayer, Adobe Reader, and such programs - load startup processes that are generally unnecessary. The programs can start and run just fine when you need them to. Here's a link to an article about startup processes, how to identify which are necessary and which aren't, and some handy tools --- http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_content.php

Here are links to two sites that help identify background processes ---
Answers That Work --- http://www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm
SysInfo's Startup List --- http://www.sysinfo.org/startuplist.php

Here are two utilities that can help you see what is running at startup ("AutoRuns") and what is constantly running in the background ("Process Explorer"): 
AutoRuns --- http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/Utilities/Autoruns.mspx 
Process Explorer --- http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/ProcessesAndThreads/ProcessExplorer.mspx

Best of luck
. . . Gary


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## lyca (Apr 28, 2007)

Thanks for your reply.

Well, the time it takes for my Network Connections to appear varies. Sometimes it starts straight away, sometimes a minute, sometimes 5 minutes. Strangely enough, ALL my other startup programs don't appear until the LAN icon appears in the taskbar first (such as my antivirus, firewall etc.).

This is actually a rather recent problem. Before that startup was fine. I've already disabled all the startup programs that I could, still no difference. My RAM, by the way, is 512mb.

As for Malware, I don't think so. I run the usual stuff regularly (Ad-Aware, Spybot etc.). 

But I think it might be tied in to a previous problem I had: My computer randomly rebooted, and I managed to trace the problem to my...Network Card (or so I think). I've since updated the driver and the reboots don't happen anymore, but now the Network Connections take a long while to start up.

Again, thanks for you help.


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## OldGrayGary (Jun 29, 2006)

Hi again

I think I'd still recommend running thorough scans - they are always a good first step when faced with unusual system behavior. Especially look at AutoRuns, Process Explorer & the PacsPortal article: these can help you to remove unnecessary startup programs without resorting to overuse or misuse of the msconfig tool [which is best used only as a diagnostic tool]. Many of the startups can be removed simply by an option in the offending program's "options" or "preferences" menus. For some others (like the Adobe Reader startup), you simple delete the program icon from the "Startup" folder in your Start Menu. But for some, the Registry Editor is the best bet (I believe the PacsPortal article references the common Registry Keys for startups, such as HKEY_Local_Machine\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run )

Also I'd double-check your local scanner with an online scanner, such as HouseCall or Panda. Local scanners can become compromised by malware from time-to-time, and double-checking doesn't hurt.

Check in on your Services, too. ElderGeek has a good guide to recommended settings --- http://www.theeldergeek.com/services_guide.htm

If you've had a lot of drivers coming and going lately, I'd also recommend running a Registry cleaner program. If you don't already have a favorite, I think CCleaner does a fine job --- let the "Cleaning" functions tidy up temp files and accumulating unnecessary logs, and let the "Issues" functions clear up tangles in the Registry. Run the "Issues" function a few times, until CCleaner reports "no issues found" --- http://www.download.com/CCleaner/3000-2144_4-10315544.html

Check in your EventViewer, too, for clues as to what trouble might be stalling your startup times:
*To Explore EventViewer*:
1) Click on Start/Control Panel/Performance and Maintenance/Administrative Tools/EventViewer.
2) Several logs are listed: simply select a log, and events will appear in a list in the window-pane to the right.
3) To view the details of an event, right-click the event, and select “Properties”.

Problems with a low-level driver such as a network card could cause all sorts of trouble, but it shouldn't have been hard to find a suitable driver. If any other drivers aren't quite right, they could be causing trouble as well. To avoid any future trouble with "random reboots" (which are likely not random, but caused by fatal errors), make sure to make this settings change: Right-click on "My Computer", select "Properties", "Advanced", & in the "Startup and Recovery" section - select "Settings", then in the "System Failure" section - remove the checkmark from the box "Automatically restart". From this point on, you will see the error message when an error occurs (rather than rebooting & wondering "what the heck"!).

Did you recently do a reinstall of Windows? I'm a little curious as to how you'd have problematic network drivers -- that's fairly unusual.

Best of luck
. . . Gary


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## poisson (Mar 29, 2010)

Hi, I have the same problem with lyca. but it seems its been year 2007 since the last post.
every time i start my loptop. it takes aroung 30sec before the icon in LAN show up. and i cant even open a folder or open a browser until it show up. but after that. everything work just fine. i reinstalled windows xp with sp3 and update everything in microsoft update. thinking that it may solve my problem. but nothings happen. pls help.
Email if possible. pls send a reply in my email too.

Thank you


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## OldGrayGary (Jun 29, 2006)

Hi poisson


Try:
1) Go to *Start - All Programs - Accessories - System Tools - System Information*
2) Select the plus sign (+) in front of the category *Software Environment*
3) Click on *Startup Programs*, and make a note of the entries listed there, including the information in the column *Location*.
4) Most of the startup items are likely necessary, but some might not be. You can use your favorite search engine (Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc.) to research which items might be starting unnecessarily.
5) For items that are unnecessary, you might be able to stop them from starting by changing an *Options* or *Preferences* setting from within the program that they represent. If they are listed as starting from the location of *Common Startup* (in the column mentioned earlier), you can simply delete that program shortcut/icon from the *Startup* folder in your Windows XP *All Programs* Start Menu. For items starting from Registry locations, you can remove their entries from Registry key listed in the *Location* column. Only edit the Registry if you are experienced in doing so, or have read complete instructions & taken the necessary precautions.

[An alternative method is to use the System Configuration utility (msconfig) to troubleshoot startups, as these changes can be easily restored. A quick start for this is Start - Run - msconfig - OK.]
_______________

If your system has less than 1gb of system memory, it's possible that you'd notice a performance increase with a little more memory. Windows XP with SP3 installed tends to use up a bit more memory than the earlier versions.
_______________

30 seconds, on average, isn't all that bad for an older XP system to have all it's system tray items started up after login. Firewalls and antivirus programs generally take up a lot of resources during startup, and afterwards - just as you experience - things run rather smoothly.

Best of luck
. . . Gary

[p.s. ... generally, in courtesy to our initial thread poster, it's best to start your own thread - so that the original poster doesn't receive unnecessary email notices regarding the thread ... thanks!]


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## poisson (Mar 29, 2010)

hi.. i forgot to tell you that i already tried to stop all unnecessary start up programs. but it doesn't solve anything. i have more than 1g of ram. 
By the way, I am connected trough my wireless LAN. I think i figure it out the problem in my laptop. _(it's only my guess, since I am not an IT pro.)_correct me if I am wrong.  I accidentally turn on my laptop while the wireless router is turn-off. And the LAN icon loads instantly. And I think that every time I turn on my laptop it just trying to connect trough my wireless LAN. And it takes around 30sec to connect. Is there anyway, so that it can connect faster than before?
thanks for the reply.


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## OldGrayGary (Jun 29, 2006)

Hi again


If the connection that you use most often wirelessly is the one in your home, the network might connect a little bit faster if you make sure that your home network is the first one on the list of wireless networks.

1) Click on the wireless icon in your system tray.
2) Click on *View Wireless Networks*.
3) Click on *Change the order of Preferred Networks*.
4) Make sure that your home network is first on the list.

Putting your home network first on the list will save time, since Windows will try to connect to the right network right away.

Best of luck
. . . Gary


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## nio_707 (May 17, 2010)

*LAN/Network Connection Loads "Limited" at times!! Help!*

Hello there! 
I have a slightly different problem. I’m running XP media Center Edition with SP3. I have just restored my laptop using the recovery dvds to factory state, and installed SP3 afterwards. The problem is that when my pc loads up sometimes my “Local Area Connection” appears but being flagged as “Limited or no connectivity”. I have found 2 ways to fix this each time it happens.
1. If I unplug my Ethernet cable, wait a few seconds then plug it back in, the connection appears normal.
2. If I disable the Network Connection, wait a few seconds and then enable it again, the problem is fixed. 
Sometimes when I boot, it loads ok from the start. So I suspect that my problem is caused due to the random loading sequence of services, drivers etc each time my system boots.
So my question is: Is there a way to either delay the loading of the network connection a bit or something else maybe that could solve my problem?

Thank you for your time!


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