Windows

A slow start up could be caused by the number of services that are being loaded on the server.For WIN9Xcheck the start up menu and see what applications can be deleted from the list also graphics will slow machine,check if you need screen savers to load at start-up.The 1ombps could be the cause of the slow boot process.

You didn't specify which server(s) the DHCP, DNS, and WINS services are running on. If a client has to authenticate, or for that matter, talk over the WAN link for any reason, there will be a delay. For example, if a client in subnet A logs in andis forwarded to the server in subnet B for a DHCP assigned IP address, that traffic will be slow across the WAN link. This is also true when establishing a NetBIOS session during WINS registration. The only way to fix that is to get a faster WAN link or create 2 separate domains (one PDC at each site) and establish a trust relationship over the WAN link for resource sharing.

If it is in the Win9x "blue screen" I take it to mean with the Win9x logo etc. If this is the case, it isn't connecting to the network yet. (If this isn't what you mean, this will still shorten the actual boot time for Windows 9x).

1.) Reduce the number of fonts to the minimum required.

2.) Remove bitmapped backgrounds.

3.) Remove your autoexec and config.sys files (or at the very least remove anything unnecessary)

4.) Select "Quick logon" (if this is a real issue) from the Microsoft Networking Client properties.

5.) Check to see if there are any non-responding programs trying to run while in the blue screen by hitting CTRL-ALT-DEL. If there are (such as mprexe or msgsrv32) then troubleshoot these as a seperate issue.

Just a few recommendations off the top of my head.

Aside from removing uncessary programs from running at startup in the Autoexec.bat, WIN.INI, "StartUp" folder in Windows start menu, "Run" and "Run Services" in the registry... the next best thing you can do is optimize your hard disk.

The best program to do this is the Norton Utilities Speedisk. The "Disk Defragmentor" that's distributed with Windows is a piece of crap! Speedisk comes as a part of the Norton Utilities for Windows (a great toolset for Windows). Speedisk allows you to re-organize the files much better by placing files you specified (such as EXEs, DLLs) up front in a contiguous order for much faster access. It can also optimize the swap file, which Disk Defragmentor can't do...

During startup, Windows itself does a host of other things besides loading files, such as detecting your hardware and loading devices automatically for them... You really can't do much, but the above will help a little. This is what we get from a bloated Plug 'n Play operating system.

Make sure you remove the win logo
then you should reduce the programs loaded to minimum
also clean the startup and win.INI and system.INI files from unnecesarry programs to load
and also, you should make sure no stealth programs are running in your windows