You've done this all before. And got the t-shirt. You have to do something right now on your PC but the screen is blank, meaning it's turned off. You curse under your breath. You've got time to brew and drink a cup of coffee whilst Windows decides what it needs to do to get your computer to run. If you didn't know better, you'd think it had never done this before.
Just how do you make your computer boot faster?
It seems like the longer you own your computer, the more time it takes for it to boot up and start running. It's as though no-one at Microsoft thinks you'd ever want to switch your PC off in the first place.
The good news is that there are a few things you can do to speed up the time it takes your computer to boot up.
When it starts, Windows double checks all the programs that run every time you start your PC. All the essential stuff like Windows itself. Plus all the other software that absolutely must run on your system. Windows Messenger. Apple's iTunes music program. Anti-virus (this is essential). Maybe anti-spyware software. Skype or another VOIP program. Anything and everything you might need. In case anything's changed since you closed your PC, Windows will go off and check all these programs that run when it starts up.
It is possible to discover what these programs are. But you need to be a bit cautious - whilst you may not recognize a program by name, that doesn't mean you can safely remove it. Some essential Windows services that run in the background have names you wouldn't begin to guess at. But if you remove them, you'll be in trouble. The rule with startup programs should be if you're in doubt, leave it running. It won't do you any good if you remove a program, only to spend hours (or dollars) fixing the trouble. So it's probably worth leaving this to your friendly techie.
The next thing you can do is clean up the Windows registry. This is the dark place where Windows stores information about your PC and the programs on it. Most of it is necessary. Trouble is, every time you remove or delete a program it can leave debris in the registry. Over time, this will mean your computer slows down while it checks all this out of date stuff. Lots of PC problems have been traced to this old information laying around.
The good news is that you can fix this yourself using a purpose designed Registry checking program. This will scan through the Windows registry, checking for things that shouldn't be there. After the scan, you'll get a simple report and if you're happy to let it, the software will trot off and fix the reported errors. This is simple, quick and effective. I recommend this registry cleaner software - it's the one I personally use.
Check here for more ways to speed up your Windows boot time.
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