Windows boot times improvement

[no_numb]

I was looking at msconfig and noticed under the boot tab then advanced there is a thing for number of processors from 1-4. It is currently set to 1 does this mean that is only uses 1 core of my processor to load up windows would it be faster if i selected 4?

What is the best way to improve windows boot times?

Thanks

[no_numb]

Ah just read somewhere that no it does not improve boot times. So whats the best way to reduce boot times? Is there anything worth doing software wise or is it just a case of more ram and a faster processor?

[Funkstar]

There are lots of things you can do.

Make sure things are not being loaded unnecesarily.
Make sure you have enought memory (which you do with 4GB)
Get an SSD? Expensive, but massively reduces boot times.

[no_numb]

Its only a 2 day old installation of windows 7 so not much on there but I've already stopped a couple of programmes from loading.

Cant really afford an ssd at the moment I've only just bought this system. My boot times are not too bad but I was talking to a friend about it earlier and it got me thinking.

Would you notice a big difference with say another 4gb of ram?

[Singh400]

Wait, what? It's only 2 day old installation of Windows 7 - just how long does it take you to boot?

[no_numb]

Wait, what? It's only 2 day old installation of Windows 7 - just how long does it take you to boot?

Not long about 40-50 odd seconds with password typing. As I said in my previous post I was talking to a friend about general boot times as mine was quite fast and his was pretty slow. It just got me thinking of how fast you can get them and what things you can do to improve, and also what gives the best improvement.

Also changing from vista on a laptop to new computer with windows 7 has just got me curious as to what I can do with the computer.

[Funkstar]

I doubt another 4GB would help wth booting.

Speed of the hard drive will make a large difference.

[no_numb]

Fair enough say for my friend then who has 2gb of decent ram upgrading to 4 would definately be worthwhile?

[lodore]

How much of that boot time is the bios?
what programs are running at boot?

[no_numb]

ummm not sure roughly half I guess? Would disabling the motherboard picture have any effect? and things like usb support in the bios?

I'm not really complaining about the speed just curious.

[lodore]

ummm not sure roughly half I guess? Would disabling the motherboard picture have any effect? and things like usb support in the bios?

I'm not really complaining about the speed just curious.

Make sure you use quickboot. you could try disabling the picture.
set boot order to disc drive and then hard drive. or if you dont use bootable discs much put hard drive at top of list and change back when you need to use a bootable disc.

I havent timed windows 7 boot times on this machine yet.
I will once i get the final in the post in october.

I can boot fedora (linux distro) in around 30seconds. thats to the login screen. thats with my motherboard picture enabled and hard drive as second boot device.

btw did you disable stuff like adobe speedloaders,java update checker process etc?

[Agent]

Ah just read somewhere that no it does not improve boot times. So what's the best way to reduce boot times?

Defrag, keep items that load at startup to a minimal amount, uninstall "soft" drivers that you're not using (things like ISO mounting drivers, if any).

If you're on XP check out Bootvis.exe, if on Vista - a standard system startup includes timestamps of the boot process in the event viewer IIRC. These will allow you to see where your boot time is going.

If you're using Windows 7 then use suspend to RAM / S3 / Suspend and not a total power down. Coming back to the Windows desktop after that is pretty much instant.

[Paul Adams]

If you're using Windows 7 then use suspend to RAM / S3 / Suspend and not a total power down. Coming back to the Windows desktop after that is pretty much instant.

Bingo.
Hybrid sleep is the best solution by far - don't try to reduce boot times, remove it entirely, and have a "back to desktop" time of ~2 seconds, plus no waiting for services to start, disk I/O to complete or delays on launching apps (your system cache is still populated).

[GheeTsar]

How much power consumption is being used in a "suspend"? I imagine not a lot, but it would be useful to know.

[dangel]

How much power consumption is being used in a "suspend"? I imagine not a lot, but it would be useful to know.

About the same as when off often - the PSU is always active unless you turn off the plug. A power meter shows this..

[GheeTsar]

About the same as when off often - the PSU is always active unless you turn off the plug. A power meter shows this..

Scary. I guess I should power it off at the mains each night then!