Speed Up Windows Boot

Do you find yourself turning on your computer, going to get a cup of coffee and brushing your teeth just waiting for your computer to boot up? Do you want to know 3 ways to speed up Windows boot time that you can do right now for a faster computer? Keep reading and you will find out what you need to do.

#1 Defrag Your Computer

If you do not know what defrag your computer means, then it is no wonder your computer runs slow. Seriously though, this is a problem that all computers have and thankfully Windows gave us a way to fix it for free!

• Windows Vista & Windows 7 - The good thing about Vista and 7 is that Windows has thoughtfully, set it to run on a regular basis. Therefore, you may not need to do this. However, to do it manually:

  • You can find the disk defragmenter by clicking start and searching for "Disk Defragmenter."

  • Click "Disk Defragmenter"

  • Depending on your computer settings, you may need to click continue or OK to get the menu to pop up.

  • The click Defragment Now

• Windows XP and Older Versions - It is not automatically done for you, therefore you need to do the following:

  • Click Start

  • Click My Computer

  • Right Click Local Disk (C:). This opens an dialogue panel where you will click Properties

  • A new window will pop up, click the "Tools" tab

  • Midway down click the "Defragment Now" button

  • Another window and you can click "Defragment"

#2 Change Your Start Up Options

Many programs will load on start-up. This takes time and slows down your boot up. Therefore, taking off the unnecessary ones will speed things right along.

• Start MSCONFIG

  • Windows Vista & Windows 7 -

    • Click Start

    • Type MSCONFIG in the search box

    • Click continue and a box will open

  • Windows XP
    • Click Start
    • Click Run
    • Type MSCONFIG

• Click the "Startup" Tab

  • Uncheck any programs that you KNOW do not need to start with every boot up. These could include:

    • Instant Messengers

    • Games

• Click the "Services" Tab

  • At the Bottom, check "Hide All Microsoft Service"

  • Then uncheck any unwanted programs running

• Click Apply

• Click Restart (this should already show a marked improvement)

#3 Run a Registry Cleaner

Think of a registry cleaner like getting your oil changed. You know it needs to be done and when you do, you can tell your car runs better.

You also know that if you do not change the oil, then the car will break down and not last as long. However, you are not quite sure how such a small thing makes such a big difference.

A registry cleaner does something similar. It cleans up all the small files that are misplaced, damaged, overwritten and just plain wrong. If you don't clean them up, then over time they will slow down your computer and make it break faster.