Windows takes a long time logging in

Ilias Kslr 185 Reputation points
2025-10-23T20:03:11.5033333+00:00

SOLUTION: Disable "Automatically save my restartable apps and restart them when I sign back in"

So, there's this weird thing I've noticed: When powering on my PC and get past the DELL logo, the Windows sign in appears. Now, two things can happen:

  1. If I leave it untouched for a few seconds, the time format converts from 12 hour to 24 hour and the lock screen widgets appear (all this with a delay). Later, I hit enter, type my PIN and the log in happens instantly.
  2. f I hit enter before any of the stuff mentioned before happen, the log in is very slow and the spinning dots sometimes freeze.

Also, night light takes a bit to be enabled.

I also have the event viewer logs to see which apps cause startup delay.

Is this time format change and widgets delay and the corresponding slow log in normal?

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Accounts, profiles, and login
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Answer accepted by question author
Restee Miranda 14,105 Reputation points Independent Advisor
2025-10-27T21:34:30.0166667+00:00

That's a great observation Ilias!

I have upvoted your solution so that others can see the fix you tried. Feel free to mark my answer as helpful/accepted, it might make it easier for others to find the solution too.

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  1. Andrei Gheorghiu 0 Reputation points
    2026-06-12T22:50:19.77+00:00

    I ran into a very similar symptom and eventually found a different root cause worth checking.

    Symptoms in my case:

    • PIN/password authentication succeeded quickly.
    • Then Windows sat on the spinning dots / pre-desktop phase for about 2-3 minutes.
    • Wi-Fi was not really usable at the sign-in screen.
    • Once the desktop finally appeared, Wi-Fi connected almost immediately.
    • Startup apps/profile load were not the cause; a local test account also reproduced the delay.

    What finally identified it:

    In Event Viewer, Winlogon showed authentication succeeded, but Winlogon event 12 / desktop release was delayed by about 168 seconds. Services diagnostics showed camsvc (Capability Access Manager Service) was requested at the same time and only reported fully running right before Winlogon resumed.

    The actual culprit was:

    C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\CapabilityAccessManager\CapabilityAccessManager.db-wal

    That file had grown to about 58 GiB. After stopping camsvc, deleting only CapabilityAccessManager.db-wal and CapabilityAccessManager.db-shm — leaving the main CapabilityAccessManager.db file intact — and restarting camsvc, the next reboot was fixed.

    Before:

    • Auth success -> desktop release: ~168 seconds

    After:

    • Auth success -> desktop release: ~0.7 seconds
    • Wi-Fi was already awake before authentication and connected immediately afterward

    So for anyone with the “Windows accepts login but sits on spinning dots before desktop” symptom, especially if Wi-Fi/network only becomes usable after the desktop appears, check the size of:

    C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\CapabilityAccessManager\CapabilityAccessManager.db-wal

    Notes:

    • Do not permanently disable camsvc.
    • I would not start by deleting the whole folder.
    • Leave CapabilityAccessManager.db alone unless you intentionally want Windows to rebuild that database.
    • The folder may require SYSTEM-level access, not just normal administrator access.

    If anyone needs it, I can share the PowerShell helper I used. It runs elevated, creates a temporary SYSTEM scheduled task, stops camsvc, deletes only the .db-wal and .db-shm side files, restarts camsvc, logs everything, and removes the temporary task.

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  2. Ilias Kslr 185 Reputation points
    2025-10-27T21:31:24.2666667+00:00

    You won't believe what was the root cause: I had to disable "Automatically save my restartable apps and restart them when I sign back in"!!!

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    2 people found this answer helpful.
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  3. Restee Miranda 14,105 Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2025-10-27T20:24:43.33+00:00

    If you still notice something, you may submit a feedback via the feedback hub.

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  4. Restee Miranda 14,105 Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2025-10-27T19:18:38.87+00:00

    Based on my experience and observations, it's a yes.

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