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How
to Speed Up PC Startup
Speed up PC startup and chop minutes off of your computer boot time.
Computer speed is affected by a lot of things. Common culprits for slow
computer launch are the presence of unnecessary or unused programs, a
fragmented hard drive, presence of malware, bloated registry and virus
infection. Implementing certain PC speedup tricks can help speed up PC
startup en route to optimized PC performance.
Speed Up PC Startup Tips
Prior to undertaking any computer system changes, do some basic
housekeeping. Make sure that the basic PC maintenance chores are taken
care of. See to it that you know your way back to where you started
– in case certain tweaks don't work out. The stuff that need
to be done on a regular basis include: running antivirus and
anti-spyware programs, emptying the Recycle Bin and the temp files,
backing up the system and running disk fragmenter and chkdsk.
The configuration and default settings for your PC aren't necessarily
set at their most efficient, in terms of your particular PC usage.
While Windows XP loads fairly quickly, there are still some ways to
hurry up the process a bit more. There are a number of PC speedup
tricks to help speed up PC startup and improve PC operation.
- Clear
Recent Documents History in Windows XP. The Windows XP
Start menu includes the entry “My Recent Documents,
” which lists all of the recent docs that you've opened or
utilized. After a while, this list grows so long that it begins to slow
down the boot-up process.
Clearing the
list can be done several ways. The list consists of shortcuts stored in
the \Documents and Settings\{User}\Recent\
folder. It's possible to delete things there.
Another option would be to use the Start menu Properties dialog box.
Right-click on the Start menu and select Properties from the context
menu. Hit the Customize button followed by the Advanced tab found at
the top of the new window that opens. A dialog box will appear. From
here, click on Clear List and then hit Ok twice to enable removal of
the Recent Document History entries. If you totally don't want to
bother with the history, uncheck the box next to “List my
most recently opened documents” and then hit Ok.
- Do
some network tweaks. Network cards can drag down startup
time significantly since they often spend a lot of time obtaining
network addresses. If you've got plenty of network protocols, loading
them could also take ages. For people who have home networks and use
automatic IP assignments, they might be able to speed up PC startup by
assigning permanent IPs to the PCs on their network. Check the
instructions for the router.
If you use
DSL and connect via PPPOE directly to one modem, assigning a permanent
IP to your specific network card will help improve computer speed. Not
doing so would mean considerable delays in startup as the network card
has the added task of hunting for an address whenever booting. Consult
your ISP for specific instructions.
If You have multiple network interfaces on your PC, disable the ones
that you do not use. If you have a onboard ethernet connection as well
as a wireless interface, disable the interface that you do not use.
This will speed up the computer startup.
- Keep
everything updated. The booting process includes
launching and initializing hardware. Keep drivers for the peripherals
as well as other PC hardware current. You might need to check the
manufacturers' sites regularly for this. For those using older PC
equipment, make sure you're using drivers that are written or designed
for the particular operating system you've got.
- Consider
disabling rarely utilized peripherals or other hardware services to
speed up PC startup. Examples of these are IR and game
ports. Disabling these devices doesn't remove them. You can re-enable
them at a later date if so desired. Go to the Device Manager to make
the necessary changes.
There are many more ways to speed up PC startup without having to tear
the system apart. The tips mentioned here can help improve computer
speed and make sluggish PCs act like they used to when they were first
delivered. For additional PC speedup tweaks, do try our recommended
tools.
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