Extremely slow to boot when external drive plugged in

[kemsiro]

I'm using Air on 10.7.2, using a LaCie hdd connect via usb port.

I experienced a really slow boot whenever the external drive plugged in. 1-2 mins in grey screen before the Apple and the spinning cycle appear. usually it boots in <20 seconds. If I unplug the drive, the boot process continues as usual(fast).

I test my drive on my iMac and it boots just fine.
I test with HFS+ Journal as well as exFAT, problem persists.
I test with both of the USB ports on my Air, no change.
My guess is the machine is trying to see if the external drive is bootable!? how do i prevent this action?

Any help?

 

[moikeyy]

Why don't you just plug the drive it after it boots?

 

[kwajkat]

I don't have that problem when I plug in my external drive and then flip open the lid. When it wakes up the external is ready to go.

 

[fade-]

how about not shutting down?

 

[digitalhen]

System Preferences --> Startup Disk --> Select Macintosh HD. Sorted.