Good Evening:

I have a system that displays on startup "Verifying DMI Pool Data." The system does not hang it justs boots real slow.

How can I get rid of this message.

Can't be done.

That's a normal, standard part of the boot process and cannot be removed. What it does, basically, is after the basic hardware test is completed the computer then reads the rest of BIOS information and verifies/enables the options and settings saved there.

Nothing up to and including that point can be removed, except by physically removing hardware, or telling BIOS not to check for a floppy drive during boot, disabling unnecessary hardware such as unused COM ports, onboard NIC or sound etc.

Slow booting can be for a variety of reasons, and some motherboards/chipsets always boot slower than others no matter what you do. NIC cards looking for network connections can slow the boot process down considerably.

How slow? If it's in the 2-2 1/2 minute range that's fairly normal. Under 2 minutes? Don't complain, you're in good shape. 3 minutes is not great, but not all that uncommon either...

Under 2 minutes? Don't complain, you're in good shape.Hehe, mine takes about 1 minute. :D I love my new chipset!!

I think you do have a problem.
Normally this message would only be displayed after changing the hardware.
If you change hardware and get this message and have problems they are probably caused by that hardware.
I think you should shut down, disconnect one item of hardware, restart and see if the problem has gone.
The removal that eliminates the problem identifies the problem hardware.

See this
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;287553

It may be that you need to "Force Update your ESCD".
Try it before the above; it can do no harm and may fix the problem.
HOW?
Go to "BIOS Setup>PnP PCI Configuration"
and set
"Reset Configuration Data : Enabled" [or "Yes"]
Then "Save & Exit Setup".
This will force the BIOS to re-detect the hardware, make non-conflicting resource allocations, re-lock the ESCD and use these new resource allocations at every startup.
See this
http://www.qdi.nl/support/dmipool.htm

Hmmm.......
My system shows 'Verifying DMI Pool Data' during startup, and it always boots up in little over a minute.

Do you have 'Quick Boot', 'Quick Power On Self Test', or similar enabled in BIOS?

Also, how many programs load up during startup?
You can check this by pressing Ctrl-Alt-Del on the Desktop.

So - it looks like there is agreement that the message per se is normal and not part of the problem since the boot process does complete - be it all slowly.

So - when did this start happening and had there been any specific software/hardware changes?

Networking and "Hardware" have been mentioned as being possible causes. Cutting back on some hardware might indicate a problem device.

And, what about other more general things like a highly fragmented HDD, a flakey HDD, or even Heat or some other more general problem.

BTW - Which OS? The only thing I really didn't like about Win2K was how the bootup time got progressively slower as time went by. Installing IIS, for example, turned everything to treacle - and remained treacley after it was uninstalled. WinXP's boot times were one of the major reasons for migrating to it. Boot up is now about 20 secs (after SATA 10k drives installed) and shut down almost immediate.

Ken
How many programs do you have running at startup? The more oyu have the longer it takes. I have often seen that message on other computers and they have run just fine (don't know about mine as I just switch on in the morning and then let the dog into the garden whilst it boots)

Could you post a startup log to let those that know see what could possibly be causing the slow boot time.

Good Morning:

Thank you for all your replies!

The system is a Systemax with an AMD processor, Award BIOS, and Shuttle motherboard.

I do not know much about the history of this system as it came from my son's school. They asked me to take a look at it when it would not boot. That problem was a bad video card.

For all I know, it may have always displayed the DMI Pool Data message on boot. I have another system at work that also has displayed this message for years and has never had a problem. Both systems are faily old.

I reset the BIOS and when the system restarted the message "Update Successful" appeared - but "Verifying DMI Pool Data" still shows up on each reboot. Disconnecting hardware also did not yield any results - good idea though.

I have very few programs running. This thing was a mess when I got it and I ran defrag and shut down a lot of programs that were starting on start-up. It is still taking about 2-3 minuites to boot, which seems long to me for an 850MHZ machine. Maybe I shouldn't complain.

One other odd thing I noticed about this computer is that it runs the memory check on start up 3 times before proceeding with the boot. Any idea what is up with that?

Thanks again for your insights, they are very much appreciated

Which OS or version of Windows??

One other odd thing I noticed about this computer is that it runs the memory check on start up 3 times before proceeding with the boot.

That means the QuickBoot feature is off....so it will do a full memory check each time. Also it may be doing a full hardware scan too...always looking for new hardware will slow it down. See if you can find the option to enable the "Quick" option.

See if you can find the option to enable the "Quick" option.

Hmmmm....
Why does that recommendation sound familiar to me?

Windows 98SE

If the OS is XP then there is a microsoft troubleshooting tool called bootvis.exe (http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/hwdev/platform/performance/fastboot/BootVis.mspx) but which is no longer available for download at that page - and I cant find it anywhere else. The self extracting exe is 329KB and I can zip it up and eMail it - if anyone wants it then eMail me.

Refs:-
strdoc Troubleshoot Slow Boot Times (http://www.strdoc.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=76)
Scroll Down to BootVis (http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_b.htm)

EDIT: Sorry no good for you - but didn't see your reply till I had posted the above.

Ummm....ummmmm

Oh, I know....I read somewhere else......:D

If anyone wants it - you can download a bootvis tool for XP at Kellys-Korner XP Tweaks (http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm); let the applet load and then click on 31. Windows XP Startup - Boot Performance to start the download.

Don't know how long it will stay there since M$ seem to have hidden their own download links to it. There is some info about it under Prefetch at THIS PAGE (http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_p.htm) but the link on this page doesnt get the download.