this is ridiculous - 30 mins waiting for fucking things to install

I would assume (so I could be very wrong) that SP2 beta implies the beta to the Service Pack itself, but the patches and stuff in that beta would all be "final" patches, updates & upgrades.

I'm not sure if you got this resolved yet but I had the exact same problem with windows lagging on boot up and installshield freezing up for a long time. I replaced the ATA cable from my harddrive to the motherboard and all problems were resolved. Replaced it with an 18" copper one from frozencpu.com

This may not work for you but it worked for me, the magic of computers : )

edit: I have an athlon xp 2200+

Best advice ever :thumbsup

I have a 5 secs lag... it might be due to a shitty C drive tho...

but well, windows is windows, and Mr. Bill Hahahahahaha is making sure that MicroShit is producing the best quality shit in Town :thumbsup

http://www.terra.es/personal8/portia19/real.jpg
this is what startup is supposed to look like
http://www.terra.es/personal8/portia19/test.JPG
this is mine - notice the HUGE interval between 30 and 54 seconds where it does nothing

installshield is even worse, with a 30 minute lag time or something inbetween

0o

0o

hard drive cable caused the same problem for me...got a new ide cable and problem was fixed

For the 50th time, windows sucks :winkwink:

but how can an ide cable fix it?

damn - so no one knows?

Buy a new 120gig hd and install Windows XP on it and then install your programs one at time till it lags on bootup.

Once you findout what is causing it then you can go from there.

You might try installing Windows and all the apps you use then do a disk image to a few cd's and use that as a restore point and just redo your pc every 6months or so.

Otherwise use linux or a MAC