Of course, there are other ways to speed up computers, without using other programs, but those require money to be invested, such as buying more RAM, or buying a SSD drive, or even installing Windows 8, that has really revamped its boot up process, now taking much less time than what it used to (but with all of this innovation, some users still want to downgrade to Windows 7).
Tricks to Boot up PC Faster
Of course, the biggest improvement on any PC will be to add more computing power, but to change the components requires some technical knowledge and it can cost quite a lot. By using optimization programs and implementing some simple tricks, you can make your computer much more responsive and faster. We’ll start tuning your PC from the bottom up, and the lowest level you have is the motherboard’s BIOS.
BIOS Tricks
When you start your computer, press the BIOS key (it’s not the same for all the computers, but it usually says in the bottom of the screen “Press [key] to enter Setup”). When you have entered the BIOS, you can enable or disable some features that will allow your computer to boot faster. Note: Not all BIOS versions are the same, some have different menus or features, do some research on your BIOS version to see what features are available for you. One feature you can disable is Quick Power On Self-Test. What this means is that the BIOS will no longer do all the hardware and memory tests at startup, thus making it faster. Set this setting to “Fast” something similar. If your BIOS has IDE and Floppy Drive check, you can disable these if you do not use IDE drives or a Floppy drive.
Windows Tricks
Moving on from the BIOS to the operating system, the first step here is to scan your computer for viruses. There are lots of free antivirus utilities that do an excellent job, but I would recommend buying a good antivirus also. After scanning your computer (I usually use 2-3 antivirus utilities to scan my computer), you can move on to deleting useless files and cleaning the startup process. Some programs have the option of starting on Windows startup, but each program takes up some memory, and with the more you have, the startup of your computer has a lower speed. To disable the non essential programs, click on “Start” and the “Run”. When the Run windows opened, type ”msconfig”. The Msconfig utility is a Windows integrated tool that allows you to remove startup programs. In the main window, click on “Startup” and you will see a list of startup programs. All you have to do is uncheck those that you do not necessarily need. Apply and exit without restart.
Note: For those who have dual boot, you can adjust the “timeout” time and the default OS from the Msconfig tool. This feature is located under the “Boot” menu.
Cleaning the Temp files is something that might make your computer a bit faster. You should know that if your C: partition is running low on space, the performance of your computer drastically decreases. These files are temporary files that have no actual use for Windows on startup, so can delete them with no problems. There are two temp folders on your computer, you can find them here: C:\Users[Yourusername]\AppData\Local\Temp or C:\Windows\Temp.
After doing this, you can clean your registry for entries that are not used anymore. These can really pile up after some time because each program you install creates registry entries and they are not deleted after uninstalling the program. There are lots of utilities that allow you to clean the registry of your computer, we will feature a list later on.
Updating the drivers of your computer can have a beneficial effect on the performance of your computer and sometimes it will help it boot faster, so visit the websites of the manufacturers of your components and download the latest drives and install them. Defragment your drive for better seek times. We have previously discussed the benefits of defragmenting your drive, and you can also use defragmentation programs. A list of the best can be found here. Remove unused fonts that make your computer run slow. You usually do not use all the fonts installed on your computer, so removing some of them is a benefit. Head to Control Panel -> Fonts and right click on unused fonts and delete them.
The last thing you might want to change is the visual aspect of your desktop. This is why desktop customization apps are not recommended for slower computers, they take up RAM memory and increase the boot time of your computer. Setting your desktop background to blank or solid colors and disabling transparency for Windows can free up some memory. Also, try disabling the Windows widgets. These are some of the tips you can use to speed up your boot time for your computer. But there are other methods to optimize a PC. There are programs that can help with the boot time of your computer. Also, they have some other optimization tools that can lend a helping hand. Here is a list of such programs:
Programs to boot up your computer faster
Soluto – Soluto is a complete PC optimizing solution. It helps you identify and remove start-up programs slowing down the PC boot in addition to identifying crashes. Regcleaner – We previously talked about this tool. It allows you to delete the unused registry files. Tuneup Utilities – This is one of the best optimization utilities that I have ever used. It features lots of optimising tools for making your computer faster. PC Doctor – Similar to Tuneup Utilities, this program offers some great optimization tools that I have used to great success. Norton 360 – 360 is right, Norton is one of the best antivirus utilities, but apart from this, it provides a good parental control feature and a great PC optimizing tool. Startup Faster – A utility that has a very low resource footprint but it can also have a massive impact on your computer. It allows you to very easily stop or delay startup processes.
If your computer had problems with the booting time, after using these tips and programs, you surely won’t have any more problems. Try them out for yourself and see what an impact they can have on your computer.
