Windows 8.1 slow start up before log in screen

[davindersangha]

Using a Sony VAIO SVE15, recently upgraded to 8.1.

It's has a horrendous slow start up before I can access the log in screen. If I shut down and restart, it goes to the Sony VAIO start screen, with the circular rotating symbol. Then it goes blank. The drive is flickering and then stops. Around three or four minutes after, the hard drive starts to liven up and then I see a brief "Please wait...." message before the log in screen pops up and I can enter my details.

However, even after that, the hard drive flickers for quite a while and is slow to boot.

All drivers are updated, etc. including the Sony ones.

[davindersangha]

Is there any support for this from Sony? Not good. I'd expect a helpful response.

If I shutdown the computer and restart, it's considerably quicker, but it seems to be loading drivers, etc. while the computer is on.