Computer start up times?

How do you people tolerate this? If my pc takes more than 30 seconds before I can use it then there is something wrong. Even the vista thing takes about 90 seconds to boot (I hate that). One big change was swaping the antivirus and going through the things in the start up list. You wouldn't believe half of the programs that add themselves to the start up list.

Ubuntu Jaunty, the going rate is around 30 seconds!!
Steve

+1 with all the advice the msconfig is one of the best options but be sure you know what you are doing my laptop some reason runs at very high memory useage and like to use and run out of physical memory! i did msconfig > start up (i think cant access it at college) and unticked what i found uneccesary it uses less ram now but is still being using loads and the physical memory so next option from there for me maybe same for you back up and reinstall windows.

Deffo worth a re-install of windows every now and again!

[flymo]

Originally Posted by Jamiebridges123

Windows gets slower and slower over time, it's just a downside of the operating system unfortunately.

I've done research on this subject as part of my job and all my results would indicate that this is generally not true.

Focussing mainly on Windows XP as this seems to be the OS discussed here I found in virtually every case of poor client performance it was down to additional software, more data and junk left behind from poorly written uninstallation routines.

One of the most recent ones I examined in detail was a Dell D630 with 4GB ram and a 120GB 7200rpm hard disk. It was running like a dog. Turns out it was down to a faulty plug-in that had been installed to IE, Apple iTunes and no less than 3 AV products installed at the same time.

In something like 45 machines I've looked at in real detail there have been 2 that stuck out as OS related, one of them had a faulty installation of Windows Search (re-indexed and its perfect) and the other had a faulty memory module.

One common thing that generally adds to startup time (assuming the client is not part of a domain) is software and add-ons that launch a service or start a process as part of the logon process. All these little so called helper services running in the background all take time to start and will consume processor cycles and hard disk reads adding to the start up time.

As others have said, get rid of anything you no longer need, data, software and if you have the expertise examine exactly what is being launched. Download and run this Autoruns utility from Sysinternals, you'll be surprised just how much stuff might be running in the background.

[SoulKiss]

Originally Posted by flymo

I've done research on this subject as part of my job and all my results would indicate that this is generally not true.

Focussing mainly on Windows XP as this seems to be the OS discussed here I found in virtually every case of poor client performance it was down to additional software, more data and junk left behind from poorly written uninstallation routines.

One of the most recent ones I examined in detail was a Dell D630 with 4GB ram and a 120GB 7200rpm hard disk. It was running like a dog. Turns out it was down to a faulty plug-in that had been installed to IE, Apple iTunes and no less than 3 AV products installed at the same time.

In something like 45 machines I've looked at in real detail there have been 2 that stuck out as OS related, one of them had a faulty installation of Windows Search (re-indexed and its perfect) and the other had a faulty memory module.

One common thing that generally adds to startup time (assuming the client is not part of a domain) is software and add-ons that launch a service or start a process as part of the logon process. All these little so called helper services running in the background all take time to start and will consume processor cycles and hard disk reads adding to the start up time.

As others have said, get rid of anything you no longer need, data, software and if you have the expertise examine exactly what is being launched. Download and run this Autoruns utility from Sysinternals, you'll be surprised just how much stuff might be running in the background.

Erm your findings seem to back up the post you were refuting.....

As a windows system matures, more junk is added/failed to be installed properly, this causes the windows system to slow down.

Windows itself may not be any slower, which is what you are saying and I agree with, but the System as a whole is, and as most users believe that the System and Windows are one and the same, the distinction is meaningless to most people, some of whom consider the box the PC is in to be the "Hard Drive".............

[flymo]

Originally Posted by SoulKiss

Erm your findings seem to back up the post you were refuting.....

As a windows system matures, more junk is added/failed to be installed properly, this causes the windows system to slow down.

Windows itself may not be any slower, which is what you are saying and I agree with, but the System as a whole is, and as most users believe that the System and Windows are one and the same, the distinction is meaningless to most people, some of whom consider the box the PC is in to be the "Hard Drive".............

Not really, my point is that its rarely the OS that is degrading over time, its just that its doing so much more, but I see your point.

Originally Posted by SoulKiss

Erm your findings seem to back up the post you were refuting.....

As a windows system matures, more junk is added/failed to be installed properly, this causes the windows system to slow down.

Windows itself may not be any slower, which is what you are saying and I agree with, but the System as a whole is, and as most users believe that the System and Windows are one and the same, the distinction is meaningless to most people, some of whom consider the box the PC is in to be the "Hard Drive".............

Im not ignorant of the facts as im a geek. But to be fair who can be bothered hunting down issues after a few years of running an OS, there will be so many little issues due to data and program installs over that time period that its not worth the effort.

Backup music and game saves and then flatten it

[SoulKiss]

Originally Posted by ThEGr33k

Im not ignorant of the facts as im a geek. But to be fair who can be bothered hunting down issues after a few years of running an OS, there will be so many little issues due to data and program installs over that time period that its not worth the effort.

Backup music and game saves and then flatten it

Thats why I build my Windows boxes with a System Partition and move all the "My" folders off that - flattening and rebuilding is sooo easy.

[flymo]

Originally Posted by ThEGr33k

Im not ignorant of the facts as im a geek. But to be fair who can be bothered hunting down issues after a few years of running an OS, there will be so many little issues due to data and program installs over that time period that its not worth the effort.

Backup music and game saves and then flatten it

Thats sometimes an option but it can be very time consuming especially if there is a lot of software to put back. On a personal PC I would do that everytime, often do anyway as I install new OSs fairly regularly.

It can sometimes be worth the effort though as otherwise we never actually find out the root cause of the problem. I've come across very badly written applications that slow machines down. Once we know the cause it can often be a 30 second modification that puts the client back as it should be. Recently had a machine that would take 15 minutes (if you bothered to wait that long) to logon to an https website. I traced it down to a plug-in from a company called Entrust, removed a single dll and the same machine logged in in 3 seconds!