Ways to Reduce PC Startup Time
Uninstall unnecessary programs
Even though not needed, we tend to install and keep a lot of
programs. Not only does this take up precious disk space, but it also includes
the added headache of background agents and startup entries. To make the
software startup faster, developers usually include background agents to keep
information cached and ready for launch. This slows down general performance as
well. So go ahead and remove programs you don’t use frequently or haven’t used
in a while, your computer is better off without them.
Remove useless startup entries
Probably the easiest and most common way to reduce your computer startup time,
removing useless startup entries is a solution that makes a lot of difference.
You can do this in a couple of ways. If you use tools like CCleaner or Tune Up
Utilities, you can simply go to the startup programs tab and get rid of entries
that aren’t needed. Even if you don’t use any such tool you can still do this
though the Microsoft System Configuration Utility (msconfig). Here’s how you do
it:
Step 1: Go to
Start>Run.
Step 2: Type
“msconfig” and press enter.
Step 3:
Navigate to the Startup tab and simply uncheck entries that aren’t needed on
startup, like the Java Updater, Adobe Updater or programs like a media player
that really have no business during immediate startup. Make sure not to uncheck
driver control panels. If you’re using Windows 8, you will be redirected to the
new Task Manager that now houses startup entries.
Get rid of old or unused hardware drivers
At startup, Windows loads all your hardware drivers which can
slow down boot time. There might be hardware that you don’t use anymore that
are still listed in the device manager which are slowing down startup. Head
over to your device manager and remove unused or old hardware entries like old
printers, memory card hubs, Bluetooth controllers etc. Here’s how you do it:
Step 1: Go
to Start>Control Panel>Device Manager (or) Right click left bottom corner
and click Device Manager on Windows 8.
Step 2: Select
View>Show Hidden Devices.
Step 3: Find
out the hardware you don’t use and right click them to see the “Uninstall”
option. If there’s something you use occasionally, consider just disabling it
and enabling it only when required.
Just make sure you don’t remove anything important, eh?
Tweak your BIOS settings
Usually when your computer is booting up, unless set
otherwise, it searches for other boot devices then boots into the HDD. Setting
your HDD as the first boot device eliminates this search and makes sure that no
time is wasted in looking for other boot devices. You can do this through the
“Boot” menu in your computer’s BIOS. Oh also check if “Quick Boot” or “Fast
Boot” is checked in advanced boot options, it skips some tests that would
otherwise take some time.
Defragment your hard drive and run disk cleanup
Fragmentation is a problem every standard hard disk drive has
to deal with. It basically happens when chunks of data are stored physically
apart on the magnetic disk inside an HDD. Naturally, this distribution makes it
difficult for Windows to read efficiently, so it’s recommended to keep your
drives defragmented, specially if you’re someone who moves a lot of data back
and forth. This can be done through external tools or the built in Windows
Defragmentation tool. Even getting rid of temporary files through disk cleanup
helps. Windows 7 lets you do this through the System Tools in Accessories, and
disk cleanup can be done by right clicking a partition. On Windows 8, simply
click on a partition in Computer and under the ribbon menu you should be able
to find “Manage”, with options to Optimize and Cleanup the disk.
Those were 5 easy ways to reduce PC startup time, do let us
know if you have any queries or if you have any more solutions!
