No, I’m not talking about some new super fan-tabulous company that will solve your problems with this flyout menus and misspelled name. I mean the actual act of starting up your computer.
Some people will be like “Startup? I never turn it off!”. This didn’t use to be the case.
I started wondering about this as I was turning on my system this morning; an act that take about 10 minutes as there are a lot of things that load. As I was sitting here waiting desperately for the login screen to appear, I started longing for the days of Windows 3.1 where I started my computer and in 30 seconds I was off and running.
Nowadays, people don’t turn off there systems; only their monitors. It is “recommended” that folks keep their systems running 24/7. The reason is mostly because your system updates in the middle of the night so as not to bother you during the day. Personally, I find it really annoying as my system draw a lot of power (to the tune of about $40 a month).
It would be great if my system started faster, but I find it quite unlikely that it will be under 30 seconds. I found a somewhat old (from 2005) PC Mag article that had tips for a faster startup, but mostly its about killing services you don’t need and programs you don’t use. Kind of unhelpful really.
So my question is: Does anyone out there have a good way to make a Windows XP box load faster? Some tweak or program that they have tried that works? Leave a comment if you have anything that you tried and found to be useful.
Oh, and if you (and you know who you are) suggest that I get a Mac, save your breath. I already spec’d out my Macbook Pro and I need only the $5k that it will cost. Even so, I don’t want to give up my windows box quite yet.
-Cheers