Why Windows Takes So Long to Start Up.

[Garritan]

IntelAdmin has an article about why Windows takes to long to boot up and tips on how to speed things up.

Here (http://www.intelliadmin.com/blog/2006/09/why-windows-takes-so-long-to-start-up.html)is the link: http://www.intelliadmin.com/blog/2006/09/why-windows-takes-so-long-to-start-up.html

This is not for the faint of heart and if you do these tweaks proceed at your own risk as they involve changes to the registry.

And check out their article (http://www.intelliadmin.com/blog/2006/07/why-windows-takes-so-long-to-shut-down.html) on speeding up the shutdown process too!

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[Haydn]

Thanks for the tweaks, Gary. I tried the startup one and it cut down my boot time to half. The shutdown solution saves about 1/3 to 1/2 the time needed to shut down.

Jim

[dnortana]

Interesting.

I tried the startup tweak. I turns out that I don't even have in my computer the windows folder called 'prefetch' that we're supposed to empty out. I must already be mega-optimized.

Trond

[howardv]

Only applies to WinXP. Also, make sure you look in the right directory. It's not always C:\Windows. Might be C:\WINNT. Try run this at a dos prompt to verify which one is right for your system:

echo %windir%
Howard

[trhayes76]

This may seem obvious for some, but try typing msconfig in the run command. Click on the startup tab in the box and disable any programs that are not necessary. Real audio and Quicktime are notorious for adding programs to startup. Also, you can disable print spoolers and Microsoft Office from running at startup. They will run fine later on. You can also turn off the messenger startup.

Do not disable antivirus

Hope this helps,

Trent Hayes
MCSA 2003
A+, Network +
Cubase SX2, Sibelius

[dnortana]

Howard,
Thanks for the idea. Didn't work. I have windows xp, but even a search fails to turn up the prefetch folder. Maybe some of the audio optimizing I did in the services manager eliminated this entirely?

Trond

[rwayland]

Well, the shutdown info was useful. Big decrease in shut down time.

Changing the prefetch config was not helpful. After purging the prefetch, and changing the configuration, start up time was increased.

Richard

[Haydn]

Richard,

The 1st reboot will always take longer as Windows has to rebuild the Prefetch. My system takes only about half as long to boot. I had a really full prefetch.

Jim

[rwayland]

Richard,

The 1st reboot will always take longer as Windows has to rebuild the Prefetch. My system takes only about half as long to boot. I had a really full prefetch.

Jim

Well, yes, I understand that. My time check was not on the first boot, but at least three times afterwards. My prefetch had 125 items.

My cold start time is 2 minutes and 5 seconds. I don't have any idea how that compares to other similar systems. Shut down is about 30 seconds, which is more important to me than startup, since I shut down when I am ready to go out or to go to bed. Startup is normally while I am making my first coffee, so a little slow is okay.

Richard

[Haydn]

Richard,

It depends on how many programs you've used over time. If you use the same few programs, then you won't notice much difference. I've used quite a few programs over the years so my prefetch was quite large. What did you set the prefetch key to in your registry? Mine is set to '2' which only prefetches operating system files. My system takes a little over a minute to load now. I have a P4 2.8 GHz system with 2 GB of RAM using SATA hard drives.

Jim

[marce]

Thanks to post this. I apply the tips (the prefetch one, and the service improves the shutdown), and all is running like expected.

[rwayland]

Richard,

It depends on how many programs you've used over time. If you use the same few programs, then you won't notice much difference. I've used quite a few programs over the years so my prefetch was quite large. What did you set the prefetch key to in your registry? Mine is set to '2' which only prefetches operating system files. My system takes a little over a minute to load now. I have a P4 2.8 GHz system with 2 GB of RAM using SATA hard drives.

Jim

Well, I tested a few times each with 2 & 3. No detectable difference -- probably because I use the same few programs. So it is now set on 3, because there is a big improvement in load time for applications. My clock, which seemed so fast when I got the system, is only 1.8 GHz. I have no problems with a 2 minute start up. Seems like it used to be much slower. I have all my data on a separate drive, keep the C drive cleaned up, daily checks for spyware and adware, defrag often, which helps, although defrag is a very small issue on C drive, which contains only operating system and applications, which change very little.

Richard

[Haydn]

Richard,

If you only use a few programs, then the prefetch tip won't help you. Time for a faster processor!

Jim

[Brian2112]

Richard, do you have a firewall like Zone Alarm? If so, it can take forever to find your local net if not configured properly....

just a thought...

...2112:)