Dell XPS L501X - Slow Startup - New Laptop takes more than 2 minutes to boot up

GLSMAS1 - Can you tell me your startup time?  How long does it take from the time you push the power button until the Dell Doc appears?  Or  even - how long does it take from the welcome screen to the Dell Doc? 

As I mentioned in the opening posts, mine is taking 2 minutes and 20 seconds.  A tech came to replace my harddrive, but that hasn't fixed the problem. The startup time - even with no programs added - is over 2 minutes. So, can you please tell me if this is normal for this laptop?

In response to the person asking about 1080p resolution.  Mine has 1080 res - but I've noticed that the latest XPS offering on the site doesn't include this option anymore.  I"m guessing they change the options quite frequently.

With typing in my password, mine takes about a minute to get from the Dell logo to the desktop. I disabled the dock.

Have you tried typing msconfig into the search programs box and under "startup" uncheck unwanted programs that don't need to start with Windows?

I think that Qranger is saying that it's not an option for configuration anymore. It was available but isn't right now. This could be for a couple of reason, one being they are low on stock for the 1080p screens and the other could be that they are having issues with them. It's most likely that they are low or out of stock.

Well, that's odd. I just ordered an XPS 15 (XPS L501X). They say it is coming with a 1920x1200 WLED display. Maybe they're nutty. But if I get a seven hundred and something vertical rez display, it's going right back.

I doubt they would say it's coming with that screen if it isn't. They have to give you what you paid for.

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The reason why your PC start slow is too many application are started at the beginning, maybe you can turn off some in the control panel, or there is an easy way, you just need a software to help you do this, try Tuneup360, you will be surprised by its powerful function!!!

Soluto might help with improving your boot time (but use it at your own risk):

http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/could-be-future-pc-troubleshooting.htm

Personally, I would not rely on third-party apps to decide my boot-time startup apps. Here are my recommendations:

1. Remove McAfee:

    Why Dell wants to charge us a premium on their high-end laptops, and give us crappy trial software is beyond me.
    At least they can ship it with Microsoft Security Essentials instead of McAfee (MS recently released its v2 of MSE, which is now a very good product).

    Remove McAfee, either immediately or (if you prefer) after its tiny trial period is over. Antivirus software are known to cause boot delays.
    You will need to download the McAfee Cleaner tool from the McAfee site, as its default uninstall doesn't remove its traces completely.

    Unlike, earlier versions of McAfee, the recent version is stable and highly unobtrusive, but I would recommend
    Norton/Kaspersky/NOD32 (paid) or Avast/Outpost/MSE (free) instead.

    Avast is the leanest of the free antivirus (with a ton of features, including network/web/p2p/email shields), and Outpost recently released their Security Suite as free.
    Do not install Comodo as their virusdef updates process is frequently broken. Outpost has best virus detection and good firewall, and Avast/MSE are easy to use.
    Some people will recommend Avira or AVG, but in my opinion, Avast is better than them considering its feature set (with MSE/Outpost as secondary scanner).

2. Don't remove Dell Dock, just disable it from startup:

    The Dell Dock is a special software that comes only with Dell machines.

    Dell actually got a customized version of this dock built by StarDock Software
    (the guys behind the popular WindowBlinds and Object Dock UI-customization apps).
    If you want, you can use CCleaner or Winpatrol to disable the Dell Dock from running at startup. You can get these apps on FileHippo.com.
   
    In fact, it is a wise decision by Dell to introduce the Dock, as many home users will be new to Windows 7,
    and it is a handy tool for those who may be uncertain territory on their first Win7 bootup, trying to find their familiar shortcuts and apps.

    In my experience, the Dell Dock doesn't add much time to the startup and its memory overhead is very minimal, so just disable it for the time being.

3. Disable the FastAccess Face Recognition:

    This is another great app provided by Dell, again targeted at home users. You can use it to log into Windows, log into websites etc.
    It does have a bit of an overhead, but for a facial recognition software, it is one of the best (its makers Sensible Vision are very helpful to customers).
    I don't understand why Dell does not like to provide a fingerprint-reader, as it is much faster than facial recognition.

    But we must also acknowledge that families with kids would prefer a easy-to-understand-facial-recognition-software
    rather than a slightly-cumbersome-to-setup fingerprint scanner. FastAccess does not have a proper disable functionality, so disable its startup exe
    and leave its background services as is, especially if you want to be able to use it later.

4.  Disable Roxio:

    Roxio Burn and Cyberlink PowerDVD are shipped with the XPS, and are used for multimedia (CD/DVD/Blu-ray and media playback).
    Uninstall Roxio, and disable any startup services used by PowerDVD.
    You can find good alternatives to PowerDVD like MPlayer, KMPlayer, and ImgBurn instead of Roxio Burn.

5. Clean and Defragment your HDD:

    Regularly use CCleaner (and occasionally Defraggler) to keep your PC in shape.

Soluto might help with improving your boot time (but use it at your own risk):

http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/could-be-future-pc-troubleshooting.htm

Personally, I would not rely on third-party apps to decide my boot-time startup apps. Here are my recommendations:

1. Remove McAfee:

    Why Dell wants to charge us a premium on their high-end laptops, and give us crappy trial software is beyond me.
    At least they can ship it with Microsoft Security Essentials instead of McAfee (MS recently released its v2 of MSE, which is now a very good product).

    Remove McAfee, either immediately or (if you prefer) after its tiny trial period is over. Antivirus software are known to cause boot delays.
    You will need to download the McAfee Cleaner tool from the McAfee site, as its default uninstall doesn't remove its traces completely.

    Unlike, earlier versions of McAfee, the recent version is stable and highly unobtrusive, but I would recommend
    Norton/Kaspersky/NOD32 (paid) or Avast/Outpost/MSE (free) instead.

    Avast is the leanest of the free antivirus (with a ton of features, including network/web/p2p/email shields), and Outpost recently released their Security Suite as free.
    Do not install Comodo as their virusdef updates process is frequently broken. Outpost has best virus detection and good firewall, and Avast/MSE are easy to use.
    Some people will recommend Avira or AVG, but in my opinion, Avast is better than them considering its feature set (with MSE/Outpost as secondary scanner).

2. Don't remove Dell Dock, just disable it from startup:

    The Dell Dock is a special software that comes only with Dell machines.

    Dell actually got a customized version of this dock built by StarDock Software
    (the guys behind the popular WindowBlinds and Object Dock UI-customization apps).
    If you want, you can use CCleaner or Winpatrol to disable the Dell Dock from running at startup. You can get these apps on FileHippo.com.
   
    In fact, it is a wise decision by Dell to introduce the Dock, as many home users will be new to Windows 7,
    and it is a handy tool for those who may be uncertain territory on their first Win7 bootup, trying to find their familiar shortcuts and apps.

    In my experience, the Dell Dock doesn't add much time to the startup and its memory overhead is very minimal, so just disable it for the time being.

3. Disable the FastAccess Face Recognition:

    This is another great app provided by Dell, again targeted at home users. You can use it to log into Windows, log into websites etc.
    It does have a bit of an overhead, but for a facial recognition software, it is one of the best (its makers Sensible Vision are very helpful to customers).
    I don't understand why Dell does not like to provide a fingerprint-reader, as it is much faster than facial recognition.

    But we must also acknowledge that families with kids would prefer a easy-to-understand-facial-recognition-software
    rather than a slightly-cumbersome-to-setup fingerprint scanner. FastAccess does not have a proper disable functionality, so disable its startup exe
    and leave its background services as is, especially if you want to be able to use it later.

4.  Disable Roxio:

    Roxio Burn and Cyberlink PowerDVD are shipped with the XPS, and are used for multimedia (CD/DVD/Blu-ray and media playback).
    Uninstall Roxio, and disable any startup services used by PowerDVD.
    You can find good alternatives to PowerDVD like MPlayer, KMPlayer, and ImgBurn instead of Roxio Burn.

5. Clean and Defragment your HDD:

    Regularly use CCleaner (and occasionally Defraggler) and to keep your PC in shape.

I agree. Norton and MacAffee are just fine if you are willing to pay for them, but MSE is just great. Low profile, minds it's own business, and is free.

Hello Guys,

I visited a local PC vendor recently and my eye caught view of the Dell L501x with the  I7 processor. The specs are great and I am seriously thinking of purchasing one. But I observed the same problem Madison has with the demo machine in the store. The salesman tried to convince me that the machine was taking well over two minutes to boot due to it running on battery. I had him plug it in to the AC supply but same thing again, way too long for any new machine. Feels like an single core 300Mhz processor in there and not an I7. I was of the openion that this may be a defect in the display machine but since Madison has this same issue I am sceptical on making my much anticipated purchase as it could mean a $1500 mistake. Madison can you please tell me if you narrowed down the problem or was it an inherent defect in the model?

Thanks in advance

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Hi Maxpain12.

Unfortunately, no one has been able to speed up the boot time for me. Since the startup time was slow right out of the box – before I had installed a single program – there really wasn’t much Dell’s technical support could adjust to improve the boot time other than suggesting I remove the Dell Dock, which I’ve refused to do because I really like the dock.  So, I’ve just learned to live with the long start time.

There are other issues with this model too that you should be aware of that have been brought up in other threads.  For example, if you want to view your laptop screen on your television, the Netgear Push2TV that was sold with the laptop – isn’t compatible with it. As a result, I have this brand new Netgear Push2TV gadget that is collecting dust in my apartment because it can’t be used with this model.   Here’s the thread about this:  http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/laptop/f/3518/p/19353275/19812798.aspx#19812798

Then there’s the keyboard glitch that a number of people, including myself, have encountered.  Here’s the thread about it – and how to fix it.    http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/laptop/f/3518/p/19358264/19795997.aspx#19795997

I kept the laptop – mainly because I couldn’t be without a laptop for a month while I hunted for a  new one and then waited for it to be built. On the positive side, the 1080 resolution is great, and the fan on the side (rather than under the laptop) helps to prevent the system from getting overheated, which is also great.  But if I had to choose again, I wouldn’t buy this model.  Way too many glitches.

New out of the box doesn't mean fast boots. Speed depends on what time frame you are clocking. Time from the Dell BIOS screen and first appearance of the Desktop should take no more than 30 seconds. Most commercial AV programs can slow this down. If the time is till the desktop can be used, this also depends on what's loading and can be several minutes or more. Again, commercial AVs are a problem, as is the Windows indexing program. This should be disabled, as most people don't need super fast indexed searching. Switch to Microsoft Security Essentials, AVAST or AVG and completely remove whatever came with the laptop.

You can also use MSConfig to boot with only basic services and also stop all non-essential programs from running. If improvements are seen, determine what you really need and uninstall the rest. 

Slow machines can be fixed, but it takes some work and needs to be done on a system-by-system basis. Nobody can do it for you.

Just a thought. What mode is the SATA controller set to in the Bios? I know the newer SATA controllers have a legacy setting and high performance setting. Since you decided to keep it, its worth checking out. I think its unlikely that it can be a software problem as it seems like poor performance in either the hard drive or the mainboard. If it was a perticular peice of software behind it the machine should slow down during its loading and not uniformly work slow from the bios screen to full boot. Incorrect drivers are also highly likely. I purchased a Dell n5010 a year ago with no OS installed. After installing the OS, the Wireless driver from the site just did not work right. There are several drivers listed, tried all of them. I later found out that it was a common issue with the Dell n5010, you can read about it here. The XPS has many great reviews and is the only pre built gaming machine available locally; but its just not worth the risk as it is.

This is a very old thread, but I thought I'd pipe in here... I wish I had a 2 min. boot up time!

My 3-month old Dell XPS works beautifully and I love it... BUT ... When I select "restart", it goes to a black screen and stays there for 4 minutes.  The the Dell trademark and blue progress bar pops up and sits there for another 7 minutes.  Then "Starting Windows appears".  3 minutes later I get the "Welcome" screen.  I forgot to time how long from then it took to actually get to the desktop (I don't think it was very long).  That's over 14 minutes!  I'm not running the Dell Dock or McAfee.  

I've seen some useful suggestions in this thread which I'm going to try.  Just thought I'd mention ... it could be worse!