Speed ​​up booting for Windows

Network Administration - One of the questions we often ask is how to speed up Windows startup or its load speed. There are indeed some coefficients (both hardware and software) that are related to Windows load time. Therefore we will cover most of the ways in the lesson by starting with changes to the system BIOS.

All the changes here are optional, which means it doesn't have to be done. In addition, we recommend that during the process of minimizing Windows boot time, one of these changes is very advanced and should only be done if you are really proficient in implementing these change the couple and should have a backup of their own data.

Change the system BIOS

One of the first places that can speed up Windows startup is to change the system BIOS. The BIOS or Basic Input / Output System is a set of instructions and commands included in the motherboard to let your computer know what hardware is connected and how to communicate with that hardware. You will have to access the BIOS setup screen to make these changes. Do not change system settings in the BIOS in a rude way because only one of your errors can lead to the computer not being able to boot or causing more serious problems. For that reason, do not try to make changes to the system BIOS unless you are willing to take the risk. That said, you have to follow the instructions below meticulously and make some simple changes to speed up Windows startup.

1) You must completely turn off your computer and then reboot.

2) Enter the system BIOS screen using the manufacturer's instructions. Depending on the computer, these operations may vary slightly, possibly by pressing the DEL key, pressing F1 , pressing F10 , holding CTRL-ALT-S , or a host of other hotkeys to access the screen. BIOS image.

3) When entering the BIOS setup, look at the BOOT menu and select it with the keyboard arrows , Tab and Enter .

4) In most modern BIOS screens, you will see a Quick Boot option. Activate this option to skip the memory test and other source test operations ( POST ).

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5) Find the device boot option to prioritize the B Prior Device and change the first boot device to be the hard drive. Changing this option will speed up the boot process, but it will not allow your computer to boot from a floppy disk or CD-ROM drive . If booting from any other component other than the hard drive, then keep this step. If you later need to boot from the CD-ROM , simply enter the BIOS setup and place the CD-ROM as the first boot component.

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6) Select the option to exit and save the changes, then your computer will restart.

There are a number of other options in the BIOS that can speed up your computer's boot speed such as choosing the correct settings for your hard drive, and disabling the AUTO DETECT feature for drives and other devices. . However, we will ignore these changes and leave them for the following discussion.

Change Windows settings

The next set of changes to consider is some Windows settings. We will use a tool called System Configuration Utility to perform most of these changes. Follow the steps below to open and use this tool.

Change in the Startup tab

1) Click Start , Run and type MSCONFIG then press Enter

2) Click the STARTUP tab in the System Configuration Utility to view all the items included in Startup . See the example shown below.

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Each entry in the Startup tab will be loaded immediately after Windows starts. If there are multiple items selected here, your system will take longer to boot. Each of these items can be turned off or turned on simply by using the checkbox to the left of each item.

The column to the right of the check boxes is the name of the program, the next column next to the name column is the location on the hard drive or other file storage device. The last column shows the location inside the computer that the file is taken to boot. This location may be in the registry in case it starts with HKLM or HKCU, or it may be in the Windows Startup folder in ALL PROGRAMS of Windows XP.

You can consider each of these dynamic startup items and uncheck any component if not needed. So what is the unnecessary item. In most computer configurations, you will need to have drivers used for graphics processors or video and sound cards, and also anti-virus or firewall programs. Other startup items are often added components and can be removed from boot up. To see which specific item is used for what component, use this link, then type the process name and click Find. This is a very useful tool in finding which startup items are really needed.
When you are done changing the check boxes in the Startup tab, click OK, and then you will be restarted to restart the system.

Change Windows services

When your computer restarts, click Start, Run and type MSCONFIG and press Enter again. This will reopen the System Configuration Utility. Click on the Services tab, then on the options below called "Hide All Microsoft Services" to see what Windows services are unnecessary and remove them. In general, you need to have services related to video / sound cards and antivirus or firewall programs, and all other components can be removed. Remember that in order to remove unnecessary services, you also need to experience the risk of startup issues. Use Google to find more information about services you don't know about. Another address you can refer to in English is Black Viper services.

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Change hardware to reduce boot time

Add more memory (RAM)

In addition to upgrading the motherboard and CPU, you can increase the amount of RAM in your computer to help your computer load programs and applications faster, and also calculate faster for your system. You need to check how many RAM slots your motherboard has and the maximum amount of RAM it supports.

Replace hard drives with faster RPM drives

If you own a slow-speed hard drive (for example, only at 5400 RPM or lower), you may need to consider upgrading to a faster drive (7200 RPM such as). The difference in RPM speed is generally quite clear.

Change to a static IP address

If your computer is connected to a local network for you to control and has DHCP server enabled on your router, then during the boot process your computer will require a network to validate the address. IP. As a result, you may spend a few seconds assigning a valid IP address to your computer instead of using DHCP to assign it. To set a static IP address for a mine computer, follow these steps:

1) Click Start, Run

2) Type NCPA.CPL and press Enter to open the Network Connection Control Panel

3) Right-click Local Area Connection and select Properties

4) Click Internet Protocol (TCP / IP) and click Properties

5) You need to look at the screen like the screen below. Fill in your static IP address, default gateway, DNS server information and click OK. If you are not sure about the IP address range on your router, consult the router's user guide or a friend who is knowledgeable about network technology. This is an optional item and does not need to be done. Using DHCP is good, but you should sacrifice a few seconds to assign an IP address from the network.

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Switch from Master / Slave to Cable Select

Switching the hard drive configuration Master to Cable Select will reduce the boot time of the machine by 2 minutes.

Windo ws performance tips

Reduce the number of fonts installed

Every font installed in Windows must load when Windows starts. So if you install more fonts, your Windows will load more slowly. Although you can have about 1000 fonts loaded in Windows, I only keep the font list in my computer about 300-500 or less if possible. However there are many fonts that Windows needs, so you have to be careful about removing fonts from your computer since you know they are not needed. Fonts such as Verdana, Arial, Trebuchet, Tahoma, Tahoma, Times New Roman, MS Sans Serif and Courier New need to be retained on your system. The steps below will help you remove unnecessary fonts in Windows XP.

1) Open My Computer

2) Double click on drive C

3) Click File , New Folder and set it to be Fonts Backup

4) Double-click the Windows folder to open the Internet

5) Double-click the Fonts folder

6) Mark the font you want to remove, click Edit and select COPY

7) Navigate back to folder C: Fonts Backup and PASTE these fonts into that folder

8) Return to the Fonts folder and right-click on any font you copied into the backup folder first, then select Delete .

If you accidentally remove a font, perform a reverse copy and paste font procedure back to the WindowsFonts folder

Disk Cleanup, Scandisk and Defrag

Doing maintenance on your hard drive every few months will not only avoid problems before they cause serious damage but also ensure your hard drive runs optimally. Follow the instructions below to perform hard disk cleanup.

1) Open My Computer

2) Right-click a drive (eg C)

3) Click the Tools tab

4) In the Error Checking section, click Check Now . You can choose to check the "Automatically Fix File Errors" checkboxes and "Scan For and Attempt Recovery for Bad Sectors"

5) Next, click on the General tab, then click Disk Cleanup . After the computer calculates the number of files to remove, place a checkmark next to the type of files you want to remove and click OK . Read the detailed description for each file type to determine if you should delete it.

6) Finally, click the Tools tab again and in Defragmentation click Defragment Now

7) Click on the hard drive you want to perform defragmentation, click Analyze and then click Defragment . This process will take a long time to complete.

Virus / Spyware scanners

Finally you need to complete a virus or spyware scanner for your system. We recommend the online virus scanners in the list below, then check for spyware. You can click on the links below to scan your entire system for viruses.

Online virus scanners

Trend Micro Housecall
BitDefender Scan Online
Ewido Online Scanner
Jotti's Online Malware Scan
Kaspersky Online Scanner
Panda Activescan
McAfee FreeScan
eTrust Antivirus Web Scanner
Symantec Security Check
Dr.Web Online Check

Trojan scanner

TrojanScan by WindowsSecurity.com

Spyware scanner

Lavasoft Ad-Aware SE 1.06
Spybot Search and Destroy 1.4
Microsoft Windows Defender

Use Antivirus, Firewall or AntiSpyware programs

If your computer is still running slowly after changing and checking all of these options, then use other antivirus, firewall, or antispyware security programs. An online blog called The PC Spy has a graph showing the boot delay time of most popular products on the market, including Symantec, McAfee, Trend Micro, ZoneAlarm .

Not surprisingly, Symantec's Internet security products are at the top with a 40+% delay, which is calculated by Panda Antivirus and Zone Alarm. Therefore, although these products can help you avoid infections and attacks, they also contribute to reducing the speed of your computer. Avast, AVG, NOD32 and other components perform much better, also according to that chart.

C evil tips

There are a few other tips we offer you here that can speed up the Windows boot process, but some of them are still controversial.

Empty the Windows Prefetch folder

The Prefetch folder is located in C: WINDOWSPREFETCH which is often a source of controversy about its impact on startup time. This directory will preload some applications that are still used to open faster. There are some tips to guide you to change the value of the registry or empty the prefetch folder that will improve the startup time or just slow down the time required to open the program. However there is a restriction on the number of items that will be loaded into the directory so it must not be too heavy, so is it necessary to empty this directory while its purpose is to speed up loading application.

Disable the Windows boot logo

Many articles recommend disabling the Windows boot logo to speed up the system's boot time. Although it may be reduced by a few seconds, the concern is to face a blank screen and wonder whether Windows dies or freezes during the boot process. However, if you want to disable this boot logo, follow the steps below:

1) Click Start, Run and type MSCONFIG then press Enter

2) Click BOOT.INI tab

3) Check the N OGUIBOOT checkbox and click OK

4) Restart the computer

Use BootVis

When Windows XP was first released, Microsoft had a utility called BootVis, a performance testing tool that Microsoft developed from software developers and system designers. It was used to detect performance problems while developing new PC products, but was not widely available later. Microsoft claims on their Website about BootVis.

' Please note that Bootvis.exe is not a tool to improve boot / resume performance for all users. In contrast to some published reports, Bootvis.exe cannot reduce or change the system's boot or resume performance. Bootstart optimizers related to Bootvis.exe are designed in Windows XP to run completely automatically at the initial times as part of operating system operations . '

We tried Bootvis and found that it improved for a few seconds during the entire boot process, but it was not effective in reducing the overall boot speed.

Conclude

Although we have tried to gather as much information as possible in this article, there may still be some tips, hacks, or other practices that may be missed. However, the basic steps in this article will help you significantly reduce Windows boot time.