Near-certain ways to improve PC startup times

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	TOP STORY Near-certain ways to improve PC startup times
	By Fred Langa Four free tools offer safe and certain ways to pare your boot times to the minimum. The process takes a little time and effort, but if you follow the steps outlined here, better boot times are all but guaranteed!

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The full text of this column is posted at windowssecrets.com/top-story/near-certain-ways-to-improve-pc-startup-times/ (paid content, opens in a new window/tab).

Columnists typically cannot reply to comments here, but do incorporate the best tips into future columns.[/td]

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That’s a nice article. Thank you Mr. Langa…Also worth mentioning, is the fact that some malicious software (viruses, malware or some very intrusive explorer search bars), use the windows startup process to insert themselves into your OS.Those can sometimes identified by the File name (often jibberish), the file location (when a file name is ‘google–‘ and it’s located in ‘windowssystem32’, that’s not normal) or sometimes even the file’s properties page that can be used to make sure the file’s publisher/creator is a trusted company and who it should be.A good anti-virus can help you avoid all the above, but if you are stuck with a company-forced bad anti-virus that’s running without the latest updates, you’ll have to do something about it…Thatnks again for this, and all, your articles

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Thank you for a useful article. However, I think Anvir Task Manager deserves at least a mention alongside WinPatrol. I have used both, and while I respect and admire WinPatrol, I use AnVir. In addition to selecting and deselecting startup items, AnVir offers user-configurable startup delays. The paid version also provides detailed information about each item. I hope this is helpful.

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Fred, Great article, thanks again for your work… I read this one with interest, but I did not learn what I was hoping for. I have suffered from boot time issues and over the years have learned pretty much what you’ve covered here. Back in NT4 days, I used to have a utility that displayed all of the tasks that occurred during start-up and how long they took so you could really see who was the biggest offender. I have searched casually for such a utility these days with no success. Maybe it doesn’t exist. Any ideas?

One of the things I learned from that utility was that Windows Browser (the local network manager thingy) frequently got hung up on searching for an IP address, or other devices on the LAN. I was hoping you would shed some light on that aspect of start-up delays. I frequently leave my home network and attach regularly to other networks – all with shared drives, and it seems that Windows always wants to find everything I map to – causing delays. I must say that now that I am on Win7, the problem is not nearly as bad. But I wonder if there is a better way to deal with multiple network shares?

-Thanks…

-Nate

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Hi, Fred:
Maybe it’s obvious, but you might also point on that eliminating some of the programs slowing down startup may also speed up Windows in general, another plus.

Thanks for another great column.

Bill Woolfolk

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Hi, Fred:
Maybe it’s obvious, but you might also point on that eliminating some of the programs slowing down startup may also speed up Windows in general, another plus.

Thanks for another great column.

Bill Woolfolk

Yes and no. Some of the Quick Launchers (Office, Java, and Adobe Reader, for examples) actually speed up tremendously the launching of the associated programs once Windows has launched. But the price in terms of startup delays may be more than we choose to suffer, so at least delaying the Quick Launchers at Windows Startup may get us up and running faster, without sacrificing the measurable improvements in program launch times if these Quick Launchers are permitted to run — AFTER Windows has gotten up and on its feet, so to speak. The answer here is to use a program which permanently DELAYS these Startups, not one which does away with them altogether. Fred Langa has recommended several of these Startup Delay programs in past columns.

For those who connect to networks frequently, Windows Automatic Network Discovery is a feature which can be turned on or off. When not in use, or if it delays Windows startup, this feature can be left turned off. It can be turned on, or you will be prompted to turn it on, when you want to connect to a network. I have a very simple home network, with only two laptops connected by a crossover Ethernet Cable, but this trick works for me there, and it may scale out to more complex networking environments. The feature is located within the Network and Sharing Center in Windows 7 and Vista.

-- rc primak

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The best thing I ever did to speed up my PC startup times was install an SSD drive. With prices the way they are today, it’s not a real expensive upgrade. I turned my hard drive into a data drive and install programs on the SSD drive. Not only do I boot up in half the time as before, but my programs run faster. My windows experience score went from 5.9 to 7.4.

To do this, I took an image of my hard drive, installed the SSD drive, and copied the image to it. I was up and running again in less than an hour.

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I got all the tips about Start-up (Near-certain ways to improve PC startup times), except one: How do you add programs to Start-up? I want to add Chrome to Start-up and would love to know how to do it.

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I have long been ‘speeding up’ my XP computers and those of many others using the techniques you have shown. Unfortunately, these days, way too much software behaves “impolitely” and inserts itself in ones’ Windows startup. It’s a rare piece of software that once it has started, provides an option to refrain from further automatic startups. Some varieties of IM have this feature. I haven’t found any others that are that ‘polite’.

Programs like Chrome, QuickTime, Real Player, and numerous others automatically put themselves into the auto-startup list via registry entries. While it’s reasonably trivial to either turn them off via MSCONFIG or going to the registry directly and deleting them, these are truly OBNOXIOUS programs that will simply re-insert themselves into your startup, adding another entry into your registry the next time you start them. Even if one has disabled them via MSCONFIG or other software, they simply create a new entry.

In an effort to prevent them from re-inserting themselves, I formerly used a freeware program on my XP computer that would “ask” EVERY time the registry was going to be modified by something other than Windows itself. One of the optional replies was to permanently block updates from whatever program was then trying to update the registry. It was 100% effective and 100% flawless. Unfortunately, my current Internet Security program required it to be removed. And now that I’m on Win 7 using the same Internet Security, I have been unable to replicate that capability. Even at the most restrictive of security settings within IE and Win 7, “impolite” programs still insert themselves into the startup.

I have even gone so far as to physically delete the offending “update checker” programs (not the application programs themselves) from my computer. Unfortunately, the “impolite” ones magically re-install the missing programs when they re-install themselves into the startup. It’s a no-win situation.

So, consistently performing various ‘startup cleansing’ is ongoing necessity to maintain computer startup speed. Most frustrating!

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Great overview, Fred. I subscribe because of your contributions.

I noticed that you did not mention the new Win 7 (WS 2008) “delayed start” option for “automatic” services.
I’ve switched non-critical services to this option, and achieved not only a measurable, but a noticeable (and satisfying :)) decrease in start-up time.

Here’re some details from the Performance Team blog on TechNet:
http://blogs.technet.com/b/askperf/archive/2008/02/02/ws2008-startup-processes-and-delayed-automatic-start.aspx

I’m running about 18% of automatic services as “delayed start” (14 of 76). I’d like to get that closer to a third, because once I’m reading an email, I don’t care what the system is doing in the background. So as I progress past 20%, I’m delaying additional service one-by-one and observing for any degradation in functionality.

Things I’ve delayed:
– Bluetooth service (until I get a BT keyboard/mouse, at least)
– Backup service (I use Cobian)
– Intel Rapid Storage Technology
– MS .NET Framework v4
– Software Protection
– Windows Image Acquisition

There are still plenty of event monitoring, logging services that I plan to delay one-by-one.

It would be great to hear from others on *successfully* delayed start-up services.

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I have long been ‘speeding up’ my XP computers and those of many others using the techniques you have shown. Unfortunately, these days, way too much software behaves “impolitely” and inserts itself in ones’ Windows startup. It’s a rare piece of software that once it has started, provides an option to refrain from further automatic startups. Some varieties of IM have this feature. I haven’t found any others that are that ‘polite’.

Programs like Chrome, QuickTime, Real Player, and numerous others automatically put themselves into the auto-startup list via registry entries. While it’s reasonably trivial to either turn them off via MSCONFIG or going to the registry directly and deleting them, these are truly OBNOXIOUS programs that will simply re-insert themselves into your startup, adding another entry into your registry the next time you start them. Even if one has disabled them via MSCONFIG or other software, they simply create a new entry.

In an effort to prevent them from re-inserting themselves, I formerly used a freeware program on my XP computer that would “ask” EVERY time the registry was going to be modified by something other than Windows itself. One of the optional replies was to permanently block updates from whatever program was then trying to update the registry. It was 100% effective and 100% flawless. Unfortunately, my current Internet Security program required it to be removed. And now that I’m on Win 7 using the same Internet Security, I have been unable to replicate that capability. Even at the most restrictive of security settings within IE and Win 7, “impolite” programs still insert themselves into the startup.

I have even gone so far as to physically delete the offending “update checker” programs (not the application programs themselves) from my computer. Unfortunately, the “impolite” ones magically re-install the missing programs when they re-install themselves into the startup. It’s a no-win situation.

So, consistently performing various ‘startup cleansing’ is ongoing necessity to maintain computer startup speed. Most frustrating!

Programs like WinPatrol (mentioned in the article) are designed to monitor these sorts of events, and you can control (to some extent) what does or does not get changed. At the very least, you would be presented with a dialog box warning you that a change is about to occur.

I have a program called DriverMax which behaves the same way — every time I run it, it sets itself to Start With Windows from then on. I use CCleaner after running DriverMax, and Disable two Startups items associated with this behavior. This works until the next time I run DriverMax.

-- rc primak

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How do you add programs to Start-up? I want to add Chrome to Start-up and would love to know how to do it.

From Windows Help (F1):

Run a program automatically when Windows starts

If you always open the same programs after starting your computer, such as a web browser or an e‑mail program, you might find it convenient to have them start automatically when you start Windows. Programs or shortcuts placed in the Startup folder will run whenever Windows starts.

1. Cick the Start button , click All Programs, right-click the Startup folder, and then click Open.

2. Open the location that contains the item you want to create a shortcut to.

3. Right-click the item, and then click Create Shortcut. The new shortcut appears in the same location as the original item.

4. Drag the shortcut into the Startup folder.

The next time you start Windows, the program will run automatically.

Bruce

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I got all the tips about Start-up (Near-certain ways to improve PC startup times), except one: How do you add programs to Start-up? I want to add Chrome to Start-up and would love to know how to do it.

There’s a little wrinkle with Chrome. It installs on a per-user basis. So, you need to do the following for each User on the computer:

(1) You will probably have on each user’s desktop a Chrome Start Shortcut. Right-click and Pin To Start Menu if it isn’t already there. (In Windows 8, we won’t have the Start Menu, but this advice is for Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7.)
(In Windows 8, Chrome may be an App which can be pinned to the Start Screen, which shows before the Welcome or Login Screen. Apps pinned there can be launched before you even log in to Windows 8.)

(2) From the Chrome item in the Start Menu, right-click and Copy the shortcut.

(3) Locate the user’s Startup Folder in the Start Menu and open it. Paste Right-click inside the Startup Folder and Paste the Chrome shortcut there. To verify, msconfig will now show the Chrome item as a checked Startup Item.

(4) Repeat for each user on the computer, as Chrome runs on a per-user basis.

For a good summary of these steps, see this article. Just remember to repeat for each user.

-- rc primak

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You skipped right over WinPatrols’ Delayed Start feature, which is the best and most important of all! How depressing

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You skipped right over WinPatrols’ Delayed Start feature, which is the best and most important of all! How depressing

I got that one covered. Thanks for the confirmation on this.

-- rc primak

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Having to install a 3rd party application that deals with this is a joke and a bandaid solution at best.

IMO most people who are having problems with long start up issues, are not paying particular attention when they are
installing software in the first place.

Pay attention to what you are installing during the entire install process. Slow down and look for the options that many applications
will have provided. Like whether to start when the OS starts or not, or only install specific aspects of the software one is going to use.
If one does comes across a program that provides little in terms of configuration options, then MSCONFIG is still a very
usefull built-into windows utility.

Complex software with multiple running services and processes will almost always be configurable. It’s up to you to learn
about what you are installing on your machine and the best way to configure the software to be usefull to you. That does mean
taking the time to read it’s factsheets and learn how to set it up.

With many free applications and badly coded garbageware, one will likely be confronted with an install routine that includes
the installation of other applications, wanted or otherwise…
Maybe even malicious code that was inserted into a secondary or tertiary download website that has been hijacked.
Get the software from the primary site of the manufacturer rather than just a secondary or tertiary download site link.

Free applications can be realy good, but they can also have a cost that is actually higher than the price of a paid for application
in terms of OS load times, adware, and buggy behavior. With freeware one really does need to be picky.

The over installation of software on a very weak and anemic system is another big problem I see on many countless occasions,
especially on laptops. One does needs to work within the confines of the hardware one has purchased, to a great extent.

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Near-certain ways to improve PC startup times by Fred Langa on September 6, 2012 in Top Story

Dear Fred, thanks for your good and down to earth advice. This morning it took my 5 year old XPS M1330 5 min 25 sec to start up. After the clean-up it now takes 3 min and 5 sec. The laptop is also faster while in use. THANKS! Dirk

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I personally think too much emphasis is being put on boot times. Boot time is NOT an indicator of performance once the computer has fully booted. Sure, “excessive” boot times could indicate a problem, but what’s excessive? My 3.04GHz P4 XPSP3 system with 1Gb of RDRAM and RAID1 typically took (takes) 4.5 seconds to fully boot. But once up, it still does well compared to todays machines (a good graphics solution helps there). This 64-bit W7 i7 8Gb system takes just under 3 minutes, but I have seen W7 machines with more complex drive and graphics solutions take 4. Even how you connect to your network can affect your boot time.

CCleaner, Windows own Disk Cleanup, and your security software can, and often does “mark” files it cannot delete while Windows is running, to be deleted during the next boot process. Those can significantly affect that next boot time. As can other program updates. Just the setting up the security during boot takes a lot of time (and resources).

So IMO, if your times are not excessive, the computer performance is fine once fully booted (everything works, no errors in Device Manager, etc.), then stop worrying about boot times.

I have lots of things start at boot. My anti-malware, of course, but also my PDA hotsync program, Ultramon, Secunia, WinPatrol, and CoreTemp. Plus I have a few icons on my Desktop (which expands across two 22″ monitors) and each desktop icon adds to the boot time. If you have network shares set, they can add boot times.

Long boot times is what sleep mode is for, isn’t it? I boot my PC only when some update requires it. Meaning I could go several weeks and never need to boot. Is an extra minute really going to hurt me that much?

If you turn your computer on in the morning then off at night, or at end of you computing day (as I believe most users do) does that extra minute in the morning really hurt? Of course, this assumes the computer is working fine once it completes boot. If it does not, then long boot times is a symptom, not a problem.

Even if you have many programs that start at boot, computers today are coming with 4Gb of RAM at the minimum, and often 6 or 8Gb with 64-bit W7. Once the Start up programs are loaded and go “idle”, it is not likely they are “hogging” enough resources to impact performance. If something is, then I agree to use Autoruns to see what’s really happening. Hard core gamers may say different – but hard core gamers are not “normal” users.

Actually, (in theory anyway), if you load up your start options with the programs you use regularly, after a few boots and pre and superfetches do their thing (better yet with a smart “hybrid” boot drive), you “should” be able to start your normal computing day quicker and start using each of your applications faster than if you had slimmed down your start options, and start your applications manually as you need them.

That said, I do agree to periodically review what is starting at boot to make sure you don’t have any updaters or something else just don’t need running.

Bill (AFE7Ret)
Freedom isn't free!

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I am running w7-prof on manually assembled system, based on aGA-P55A-UD3 mainboard, i5-760 processor, 8GB memory, index 5.9. after taking out 2 programs from startup my startuptime was 2 min. cleaning startup and services with msconfig braught the time down to 42 sec – that was enough for me.
At an older Labtop, DELL latitude D420 with CoreSolo U1300@1.06GHz, 2.5 GB memory, the improvement was almost zero: before 45″, taking 2 programs out of startup 41″, editing with msconfig 40″.
Anyway: If startup is longer than 1 min, probably its reasonable trying to reduce!
Thankyou Mr. Langa

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Some excellent points made Bill.:cheers:

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You have, as always, made good points in the article. I downloaded the Autoruns app but really do not see why to use it effectively. I remember having it downloaded it in the past and not able to make any sense of the information it provides. Anyone who can guide me on that would be appreciated.

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You have, as always, made good points in the article. I downloaded the Autoruns app but really do not see why to use it effectively. I remember having it downloaded it in the past and not able to make any sense of the information it provides. Anyone who can guide me on that would be appreciated.

Try this brief tutorial: Using Microsoft Technet’s free Autoruns utility to manage your start-up programs

Bruce

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I am surprised that Fred did not mention one of his formerly mentioned favorite tools, Revo Uninstaller. There is also a tools feature in Revo that allows you to control some of the autoruns. I use it after every time I update some of the drivers that then insist on autorunning and plunking themselves in the system tray.

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I am surprised that Fred did not mention one of his formerly mentioned favorite tools, Revo Uninstaller. There is also a tools feature in Revo that allows you to control some of the autoruns. I use it after every time I update some of the drivers that then insist on autorunning and plunking themselves in the system tray.

Revo has some limitations. Especially in 64-bit Windows. But it is yet another tool for the box.

And yes, driver updates are particularly difficult to manage, as they are not in the Windows Programs and features list in many cases.

-- rc primak

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Revo has some limitations. Especially in 64-bit Windows.

Like what?

Bruce

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I also use the online scanner at http://www.pcpitstop.com that identifies some running programs as ‘crapware’ that you should consider switching off. Either you then need to buy their tools to help you with this, or just follow Fred’s advice in the column to do it yourself (as I do). The same applies to all of their other recommendations – you don’t have to buy their tools, and to be fair they do normally give you a brief guide on how to do things yourself.

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I also use the online scanner at http://www.pcpitstop.com that identifies some running programs as ‘crapware’ that you should consider switching off. Either you then need to buy their tools to help you with this, or just follow Fred’s advice in the column to do it yourself (as I do). The same applies to all of their other recommendations – you don’t have to buy their tools, and to be fair they do normally give you a brief guide on how to do things yourself.

If we’re going this route, there are online databases with a LOT of info on what can and cannot be safely disabled from Startups. One of the better and more up to date databases is maintained by PACS-Portal.co.uk . It links to the PC Pitstop database and the Uniblue Process Library, both of which are excellent resources. Search or browse these libraries to see if your proposed trimmings are safe.

-- rc primak

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Like what?

Bruce

The free version does not uninstall 64-bit applications. The free version is a 32-bit application and can only “see” the 32-bit parts of the Registry.

Joe

--Joe

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The free version [I]of Revo Uninstaller[/I] does not uninstall 64-bit applications. The free version is a 32-bit application and can only “see” the 32-bit parts of the Registry.

Joe

However, these features are included in Revo’s paid Pro version ($39.00 last time I checked). Edit –they are having a sale price now, at just under $28.00 for Revo Pro.

Also in the paid version is a limited ability to get rid of programs which have bad or corrupted uninstallers or no uninstallers at all. Both Revo versions at Level Four can really clean up a lot of leftovers.

-- rc primak

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I’ve been a follower of Fred even before Windows Secrets started and long many years back he suggested CCleaner. Have always used it and it has worked to its perfection. Thanks Fred for many years of support.

Does anybody know why ‘hibernate’ and ‘sleep’ buttons don’t work anymore on my new mother board, new hard drive Dell XPS 1330; OS W7 Ultimate 64bit, 4Gb ram?
I’ve to ‘Shut Down’ each time.

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I’ve been a follower of Fred even before Windows Secrets started and long many years back he suggested CCleaner. Have always used it and it has worked to its perfection. Thanks Fred for many years of support.

Does anybody know why ‘hibernate’ and ‘sleep’ buttons don’t work anymore on my new mother board, new hard drive Dell XPS 1330; OS W7 Ultimate 64bit, 4Gb ram?
I’ve to ‘Shut Down’ each time.

Start a new thread in the Windows 7 forum regarding your sleep and hybernation issues and include as much detailed information as possible.
Thanks
CLiNT

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Just a quick note to let you know of another program that allows you to look at and edit startup items, it is called Runalyzer and is available from Spybot Search and Destroy’s site. It is quite comprehensive and even lists the Winsock LSPs, Host file entries, Installed software, Process list and Services.

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