What is considered a normal boot time?

[Panda Man]

XP usually loaded in about 30 seconds for me, I kept it neat and finely tuned. vista loads in about 50 seconds.

Originally Posted by polobunny

Edit: OH also I think it should be noted that in my booting process, while Windows is loading, there's around 5 seconds it looks like nothing is going on. The bar goes left to right but there's no disk activity. It's not the first time I see that though, I always wondered what's going on at this point. Can't Windows try to push more data or something? Geez...

I think its caching drivers and other dll files at this point, not much disk activity

[screwballl]

using Bootvis on my C2D setup, it dropped the startup time from 48sec to 44sec

[polobunny]

Originally Posted by Hitman

Linux doesn't start any faster, in fact it takes longer most of the time.

Never said that, I just miss the Windows 98 days. :(
Also my computer is quite optimized. Nothing really much at startup (ATI Tool, AMD Dual core optimizer, Antivir, the rest loads at session open), no additional services and no welcome screen (old logon prompt). I've used Bootvis too (been using that for a while). So really, at this point it's just Windows being slow. For that matter I also removed quite a load of "useless" fonts in my Fonts directory... ;P

Nothing beats regedit:
HKEY_LM->Software->Microsoft->Windows->Current Version->Run
Replace HKEY_LM by HKEY_CU for your user.
Don't forget to check for Run once, Run services and such.
Then check the startup directory in your start menu.

There's also winlogon/explorer.exe hooks that could be hidden somewhere, but that shouldn't be the case unless you have something nasty. No reason to hook a process if you're legit.

[Carl Martin]

Two minutes might be a little slow, but as noted already, it depends a lot on what programs are starting with Windows. A few of those programs - e.g. antivirus, clock synchronizers, antispyware, and others connect to the internet on start-up to check for updates. Some programs such as Adobe Acrobat and Office load partially in order to launch quickly.

I remember that when I first installed Windows on my new build it loaded in about 45 seconds. I thought I had a rocket on my desk!

Unfortunately, once I added all the programs I wanted, my rocket lost half its speed. Oh well, it's still faster than a hot-air balloon.

[dedgar]

Originally Posted by Quakindude

Small app that does a great job and isn't from MS.

That's a given isn't it?

[polobunny]

Originally Posted by dedgar

That's a given isn't it?

TweakUI would be an exception. Works good enough for my taste.

[[Dr. V]]

it takes me (from the time i push the power button, and selecting the appropriate windows installation) max 30 seconds to be at the vista screen, and max 40-45 seconds for xp. vista DEFINITELY starts up faster (and logs in faster) log-in time for vista i mean fully loaded with sidebar, aero all that is never more than 20 seconds from the time i press enter after my password. xp usually takes around 30-40.

[Gig-O-Ram]

I downloaded BootVis 1.3.37 and was messing with it a bit. I did a Boot+Drivers delay trace, and this is what I got after a reboot:




Can anyone tell me what this all means? Can I eliminate any of that stuff from my startup without causing problems?

[screwballl]

ys, go to msconfig and remove any checks by anything that has aol in the name this will help reduce boot tims significantly.. and unless you are using them for your ISP, I would suggest removing those programs from your system altogether and using programs like Avira or AVG, AdAware, SuperANTISpyware, a-squared, spyware blaster and zone alarm.

[Gig-O-Ram]

I'm using them for my ISP and for security at the moment, so I kinda need them. And when I powered on this morning, I timed it at about 1:45, which I can live with.