Optimize your PC for a faster startup

Speed up the Windows XP boot process

According to a report published by Microsoft several years ago, one of the most sought-after features for PC users over the years has been a lightning fast system start-up. Perhaps that is just the way we expect all our gadgets to work; punch the correct button and expect an instantaneous response. While the folks over at Redmond have since then taken tangible steps in making this a reality in the beta release of the upcoming Windows 7 operating system for now, their claim of getting boot time down to under 15 seconds is still wishful thinking at best.

In general, modern systems these days take anywhere between 30 seconds to a full minute before they are able to run a program for the user. As a matter of fact, real world telemetry data at the Engineering Windows 7 blog suggests that an overwhelming majority of computer systems (approximately 75 per cent of the total) running Windows Vista SP1 take up to a minute to boot before they are actually usable and ready to carry out tasks. Unsurprisingly, Windows XP-based systems fare better in this regard, though only marginally.

Getting started

Simply put, the main factors that determine boot time are the processes, programs and drivers that load up automatically each time you start your computer. So if you have countless processes and start-up items scheduled to run whenever your computer boots, it will take more time for it to start up. Unfortunately, there is no definite way to highlight the exact cause of these slowdowns using the functionality built into Windows XP. However, there are a few sure-fire ways, apart from the hackneyed defragmenting-your-hard-drive routine, that can help you speed up your boot process substantially and thereby cut down the time it takes for the desktop to appear whenever you turn on your computer. This is where BootVis comes in.

BootVis

Originally released by Microsoft (though no longer supported by them) for system designers and software developers to identify boot performance issues, BootVis essentially is a "performance tracing and visualisation tool" that can quickly determine how long a machine takes to boot up Windows XP; display all its findings graphically and then optimise the system's boot sequence, thus reducing the start-up time in the process.

A typical BootVis trace presents a complete timeline of a computer's start-up sequence on easy to read graphs, displaying useful data, such as when each process starts and finishes during the entire boot up phase. This, for instance, can be used to precisely pinpoint where the slowdowns, if any, are occurring.

However, depending largely on your system configuration, you may or may not see a dramatic reduction in start-up time. To get a good estimate of the difference, record your original start-up time with a stopwatch to obtain a reference reading before using BootVis.

Procedure

Assuming you have already downloaded and installed BootVis from the link provided at the end of the article, the overall optimisation procedure is as follows:

I

Once you have run the BootVis executable, the first step involves running a boot trace. From the BootVis window, click 'File', followed by 'New' and 'Next Boot + Drivers Trace'. In the subsequent Trace Repetitions' window that appears, accept the default values for the number of repetitions to run. Note that the more times the utility runs, the more accurate the results will be, although the trace will take an even longer time to complete. Secondly, ensure that the 'Restart automatically after tracing' option is selected before clicking OK. After a ten-second countdown, BootVis will reboot your system to perform the trace.

2

Once the system restarts, wait a few seconds for BootVis to automatically launch and display a series of graphs on boot activity, CPU usage, driver delay, etcetera. You don't specifically need any knowledge of these graphs as the utility will automatically make the appropriate adjustments to your machine later. To proceed with the boot sequence optimisation, click Trace', followed by 'Optimise System' and BootVis will display another ten-second countdown before rebooting.

3

After rebooting, wait a few seconds for a BootVis prompt to appear, alerting you that it's reorganising your boot files for faster start-up. Once the alert goes away (it normally takes a couple of minutes), you can use your computer as you would normally. Reboot again and see the difference.

4

By default, Windows waits for a certain amount of time to display a list of available operating systems before loading. If you're not multi-booting and wish to remove this delay, right-click 'My Computer' and select 'Properties'. Click the 'Advanced' tab and, under the 'Startup and Recovery' section, click 'Settings'. In the "time to display list of operating systems" box, set the default value to 0 (zero) seconds and restart your computer.

5

One of the most effective ways of reducing boot time is to keep all Windows services in check. Every time you start up, a boatload of components or 'services' get crammed into your PC's memory. However, not all of these are essential to the normal working of your system. To do away with the ones you don't need, use the Services applet in Windows XP. To access it, go to 'Run', type 'services.msc' and press Enter. For a comprehensive list of services that can be safely disabled in Windows XP SP3, visit Black Viper's website mentioned in The Sites.

6

Next, you need to disable any unnecessary programs that automatically start at the beginning of each Windows session. To do so, click 'Run', type 'msconfig' and press Enter. Once the System Configuration Utility opens, click the Startup tab and uncheck the boxes on the left-hand side to keep items from loading. For instance, you can safely disable programs such as MSN or Yahoo Messenger, RealPlayer, etcetera. You will need to experiment to see what you can do without.

7

Contrary to popular belief, Windows isn't the only culprit that can slow down the boot process. Your computer's hardware, too, can put everything on hold for quite some time. This is where tweaking the BIOS utility can prove to be so beneficial. Tap the F1, F2 or Del keys while booting (check your documentation) to enter the BIOS and change the boot device priority by setting your hard drive as the first boot device. Additionally, ensure that the Quick Power On Self Test (POST) option is enabled and that the hard disk pre-delay is set to disabled. Also, if you don't have a secondary IDE disk drive in place, configure the BIOS to not look for one on the primary and secondary channels. For instance, when set to 'Auto', your PC pauses to identify each IDE device as it boots, thereby wasting a few seconds.

Set this to 'None' where applicable.

While BootVis is a powerful tool with several optimisation options, it can't work miracles. This is where you need to manually tweak your system by exercising good judgement and some common sense. Not only will these tips help shave a few seconds off your boot time, they will ultimately lead to a better user experience with Microsoft's aging beast.