Decrease Computer Boot Time - System Configuration [Tutorial]

[AceInfinity]

Tutorial written by: Infinity
(2010)

System Configuration:

• msconfig
  • Go to your start menu and in the search box, type in "msconfig" when the available searches come up, choose the one that says msconfig.exe. (Or, you can go into run, and then type in "msconfig" and click on "Ok" to bring up the system configuration)
  
  
• Boot Options
  • In here click on the "Boot" tab at the top. You will se a few options in this area, but you'll want to particularly pay some attention to the "No GUI boot" checkbox, the (Boot) Timeout (in Seconds), and the "Advanced Options..." button. Most importantly, the checkbox in the very bottom right that says "Make all boot settings permanent" because you'll want to check this box after making your changes in here.
  
  
• Timeout
  • We'll start with the boot Timeout. The default should be 30 seconds, but I would say around 15 seconds is a safe number to go by. You don't need to go crazy with this area because it can mess up your computer if you don't know what your doing. I'd recommend you to stick with 15 if you want to change that number. So, instead of a 30 second timeout upon your computer startup, it will only have a 15 second timeout. Thats half the regular time taken to boot your computer.
  
  
• No GUI Boot
  • Next is the "No GUI boot" option. This will take out that fancy windows animation that takes a few seconds to get past, which should also decrease boot time. However this is OPTIONAL.
  
  
• Advanced Options
  • The next step after that, you will want to click on the Advanced Options tab. Click the checkbox that says "Number of Processors:" at the top to enable the menu, and select the maximum number of processors that your computer has. Mine is 4, so i'll set that menu list to 4. If "Maximum Memory:" is checked, just uncheck that, you don't need to limit yourself with that option. Click "Ok" to exit the Advanced Options window.
  
  
• Make Settings Permanent
  • Once you are back to the Boot options in the system configuration. Check the checkbox that says "Make all boot settings permanent," if you are satisfied. Otherwise leave that out if you are testing settings for now.
  
  
• Startup Programs
  • The next area is what will affect the time taken to load your computer after you have signed into your account. Click on the "Startup" tab at the top. In here, you'll see a list of programs that are set to run on computer startup. Depending on how many programs you have installed on your computer, you may want to disable, or uncheck a few of these. Just make sure that if you don't know what a specific startup program does, that you don't uncheck it. Some things that you'll want to leave checked are things like your display driver (for your video card or your graphics card), and possibly others like software used for your wireless keyboard or mouse if you have one. It all depends on the list you have.
    
    For me, i've disabled things like "Windows defender" which I find useless. Google toolbar notifier, and update. etc...
    
    If you dont know what a spcific program does, search on the internet for it. Sometimes they give different names to them for the startup item, so you can go to the location or command column to see what folder it's in to give yourself a clue.

Extra Advice:

• Registry
  • I would recommend that you keep your registry clean, get a registry cleaner, and always make registry backups. I highly, recommend "CCleaner" as it's one of the best registry cleaners out there, and it's free. It will also clear internet data for you if you run it for that.
  
  
• Disk Defragmenter
  • Defragment your hard drives. Sometimes your Hard disks can slow down your computer, including it's performance if there are fragmented programs and other installs on your drive.
  
  
• Unwanted Files?
  • Get rid of unwanted files on your computer Back them up on an external hard drive or a disk, if you want.
  
  
• Computer Condition
  • Keep the dust out of your computer. (For several other non-related issues as well)

[XiX Eb0y XiX]

Just what i needed thanks soo much for this!!

[AceInfinity]

thanks, hope you enjoyed it. I just added an image of the system configuration window as well. So the tutorial is just a little more visual than it was before.

[Win]

Good tut, I Defragmented my hard drive with JkDefrag and now it boots like 2x quicker, and is faster in general

[AceInfinity]

Good tut, I Defragmented my hard drive with JkDefrag and now it boots like 2x quicker, and is faster in general

Yeah, thats why I put that option up there in speeding up your computer. Even on boot, your computer uses your Hard drive to boot from, and defragmenting your hard drive repairs fragmented parts on your disk. Therefore your computer will boot faster.

[Disruption]

It works well thanks. There are also others ways to

[AceInfinity]

It works well thanks. There are also others ways to

Of course, but I wouldn't go into details about buying more RAM and all that for improving functionality. If you have some others that you want to add, post them in here.

[Diabolic]

Just done this, And its a hell of a lot faster already!

[AceInfinity]

Just done this, And its a hell of a lot faster already!

Glad I could help you out with computer optimization

[Kate]

It was really a pain. Thanks for the TUT.