You remember the days when you just bought your computer. Starting it up seem to happen in just a few seconds. Now, after several months or years, you switch on your computer, make coffee, prepare your breakfast, and still wait for a couple of minutes before the startup process of your computer completes. Start-up, What’s that? When you turn on your computer, it boots into the operating system you have by loading the essential software needed. This software includes:
•Device drivers. Drivers are software that directly communicate with the hardware connected to your computer.
•System Services. Various services loaded into the memory to enable the various functions and features of the operating system.
•Security Software. Software like antivirus, firewalls, and anti-spyware products automatically load at startup. (Tips on how to get rid of spyware)
•Other Software. Software like media players, synchronization managers, file sharing applications, and other utilities may also load on startup. Even viruses, trojans, and other malware execute on startup. (Learn how to check for viruses on your computer)
Startup Time: What are the Factors? A computer's start-up time depends on a couple of factors like speed, file fragmentation, and the number of programs that are automatically loaded upon startup. A computer startup is basically the process that makes the operating system ready to handle requests from the user. Drivers, services, security software, and other programs are loaded into the computer's memory from the hard drive. There are several factors that affect the startup time of a computer. It generally depends on the speed or processing power of the computer, factors like fragmentation, the number of programs starting, the available free space, amount of physical memory (RAM) and the speed, type, and condition of the hard drive.
Factor 1: The Number of Startup Programs Though start-up applications may slowdown the booting process of your computer, it does not mean you have to remove or disable these software on startup. Since security software and other essential services automatically start, disabling everything will compromise your security and make your system unusable too. The key here is to keep the startup items in your computer under control so the only programs that start are the ones you really need. P2P programs, IM clients, and other non-essential software should be kept off the startup programs list. Software like the following should ideally be the only ones on your system tray:
•Antivirus
•Firewall
•Anti-spyware
•Often-used applications
Factor 2: Available Free Disk Space The software that you run, be it on startup or during your ordinary use of your computer, is stored on your hard drive. It can be compared to your kitchen cabinet, which also has limited space. When too many files are stored on your hard drive, it tends to slow down. The operating needs additional free space to load completely, plus the use of swap or paging files. Swap or paging files are used by operating systems as a secondary storage of the contents of the physical memory (RAM). The size of the paging file varies, but when there is not enough space for it, the system may not start up fast.
Fragmentation is also a common issue on hard drives with low disk space. Fragmentation occurs when files are not stored in a contiguous manner, further slowing down the access speed of the drive.
Factor 3: Amount of Physical RAM Available When you start a program, the operating system loads it into the memory. The amount of RAM used varies. The same thing happens on start-up. When there is barely enough RAM installed on the computer, the system will automatically slow down and move some programs into the swap or paging file, making the process much slower. Every operating system has required minimum system requirements. However, these requirements only imply how much (or less) is needed for the system to work. It does not include the other software (that have their own system requirements) that you may use on your computer. Of course, the more, the better. Modern operating systems today recommend at least 1 gigabyte of RAM.
Factor 4: The Hard Drive There are many different types of hard drives, but the main differenances are in interface, speed, and capacity. The interface is how they connect to a computer. The common hard drive interfaces are IDE or PATA and the SATA hard drive. The IDE interface is older and slower than SATA. A hard drive stores data on metal platters that spin. The access speed is determined by its interface and how fast the platters spin (RPM). Older hard drives spin at 5,400 RPM while most newer models spin at 7,200 RPM or even faster. Hard drives, because of their moving parts, are also susceptible to wear and tear. Over time, their speed or performance is affected, thus slowing down the computer. Speed up Your Computer Start-up Since there are many factors that affect the start-up speed of a computer, there no single solution. Here are the things you should try to speed up start-up time:
•Reduce Start-up Applications. The fewer programs that start, the faster the computer will be able to load. Make sure that only the important programs automatically start.
•Defragment your Hard Drive. Most operating systems have built-in defragmentation software. This type of software sorts the files in your hard drive so that it can be easily read, dramatically restoring the speed of your hard drive. (For more information disk defragmentation, read how to get rid of disk defragmentation)
•Delete Unnecessary Files. Deleting files and other software you don't need will free up disk space, making more room for you and the operating system to use.
•Increase RAM. RAM modules are not very expensive today. Buying additional RAM will not only speed up your startup time, it will also increase the overall speed of the computer. Just make sure you are buying the right type of memory that's compatible with your computer's motherboard.
•Replace the Hard Drive. If you don't have enough disk space to accommodate all your files and you can't delete them either, or you notice that your hard drive makes weird noises or responds slowly even after defragmenting, then you should invest in a new hard drive. Hard drives are not too expensive and you don't want your hard drive to suddenly crash and lose all the data stored on it.
Defining the Limits The amount of speed that you can get by doing these mentioned tips may only work to some degree due to the limits of your computer hardware. If you try all these tips and you still find your computer slow on start-up, then you might want to consider getting a newer and faster computer. If you don't have the money to buy a new computer, your last resort is to backup all your data and reformat your computer. You might have malware running in the background, draining your computer's resources