For you Windows users...

[REWahoo]

...who wonder why it takes so long for your computer to boot up, here is a new, nifty and free utility that calls itself "Anti-frustration software".

Once you've installed the software and rebooted your PC, Soluto springs into action, tracking every single process that runs during the boot process, and then allows you to easily drill down into the list of processes to see exact times for each one. To make it easier for the layman to understand what processes can be removed, the applications are grouped into "No-brainer" or "Potentially removable" groups.

Soluto Is an Awesome Tool to Speed Up Your System Boot, Fix System Slowdowns

I installed it last night and have cut my boot-up time in half.

 

[bbbamI]

Speaking of boots, I need to re-think my avatar...

Oh, and thanks for the tip. I'll look into it.

 

[Nords]

Speaking of boots, I need to re-think my avatar...

So, you're going to lose your... eh, never mind.

 

[bbbamI]

Umm, hmmmm....reminds me of a scene from Porky's.....

 

[RonBoyd]

... I installed it last night and have cut my boot-up time in half.

Yes, it is a good idea to take control of the Startup process. I am unsure about cutting the time in half but you can certainly speed it up depending upon how many programs that are loaded during Startup. The explanation is simple -- every program wants to be loaded first. This is similar to what happens at 5:00 at the factory gate or on the Freeway Entrance Ramp during Rush Hour. If you act like a "traffic cop" and make the programs load in a specific order the process is improved.

I use r2 Studios - Software -- I have 42 programs load during the Bootup stage -- but any such program does speed it up.

(Nice find, BTW)

 

[TromboneAl]

Is there a reason you guys are not using Standby or Hibernate? My laptop comes back from standby in 3.5 seconds. Hibernate can be almost as fast. I rarely turn the computer all the way off.

If those don't work for you, upgrading your firmware might help.

 

[RonBoyd]

Is there a reason you guys are not using Standby or Hibernate? My laptop comes back from standby in 3.5 seconds. Hibernate can be almost as fast. I rarely turn the computer all the way off.

If those don't work for you, upgrading your firmware might help.

In a word (or two): Memory Leak. I use FreeRAM but still have to "clear the decks" quite often.

Firmware? You mean like "Windows Update"?

 

[Nords]

Is there a reason you guys are not using Standby or Hibernate? My laptop comes back from standby in 3.5 seconds. Hibernate can be almost as fast. I rarely turn the computer all the way off.
If those don't work for you, upgrading your firmware might help.

Doesn't matter whether it's a reboot or a wake-up, there are processes which I'd like to be able to turn off and have them stay off.

For example, one or two times per year I use our desktop's TiVo software to move programs off one of the TiVos to the desktop. Yet once I start that TiVo product and finish using it, it helpfully stays resident and insists on restarting itself with every boot. I can't get rid of it without spending some time on the process table and wading through a bunch of MSCONFIG commands.

It'll also be nice to get rid of some of the other helpful utilities that Dell & Vista are sure I can't live without, and which I haven't been able to kill off by myself without spending way more time & effort than I care to.

Maybe everything will be all better when I finally get around to Win7. The DVD is sitting right there on my shelf waiting for me to use it. But I just want to use the damn computer, not spend all day rebuilding the engine or washing & waxing it. This Soluto utility might take less time than a Win7 "upgrade" and have many fewer unintended consequences.

What specific firmware upgrades are you referring to? Our desktop is a whopping nine months old...

 

[Leonidas]

Maybe everything will be all better when I finally get around to Win7.

I know it's a PITA, but it was worth it for me. Of course I did a new install because I rebuilt the whole box, and that's always easier than upgrading the OS. I was considering becoming an Apple user, but with Windows 7, 4 gig of RAM, and a RAID of some pretty inexpensive discs I'm just about loving Windows again.

 

[RonBoyd]

I agree with Leonidas. I have Win 7 on two machines and am very pleased with it. (on the other hand, I don't/didn't have a problem with Vista.)

 

[scrabbler1]

I use Standby on my system all the time. Several years ago, I had problems with the power supply on my system which required replacement a few times (covered under warranty). Using Standby solved that. It is as quiet as if it were powered down and returns right away. However, if it is Standby for a while (more than a few hours), I have to put it back into Standby for 10 seconds then take it out of Standby again because the sound gets loused up. Weird, but it works.

Even though I removed (unchecked) nearly every program (including those which are not harmful but appear to serve no actual purpose) from the list in the MSCONFIG program option, my system still takes a while (15 minutes) to reboot, the few times I have to do it (i.e. installing some Windows XP updates or other software).

 

[RonBoyd]

Even though I removed (unchecked) nearly every program (including those which are not harmful but appear to serve no actual purpose) from the list in the MSCONFIG program option, my system still takes a while (15 minutes) to reboot, the few times I have to do it (i.e. installing some Windows XP updates or other software).

15 minutes is waaaay too long. (and it could be caused by a single program on a never-ending search for a missing Registry entry.) There are a number of utility programs designed to ferret out the offending program.

A Google search on something like "startup list windows xp" might give you some direction. In the meantime, here is a place to start:

How to Make Windows XP Startup Faster - wikiHow

 

[scrabbler1]

15 minutes is waaaay too long. (and it could be caused by a single program on a never-ending search for a missing Registry entry.) There are a number of utility programs designed to ferret out the offending program.

A Google search on something like "startup list windows xp" might give you some direction. In the meantime, here is a place to start:

How to Make Windows XP Startup Faster - wikiHow

I run Symantec antivirus every week and run Spybot every week or two and MalwareBytes every month or two. They come up clean.

I had an issue with low hard drive space but I cleaned that up, at least for a while. The slow bootup has been that way ever since the hard drive was replaced in 2003. I usually find something else to do whenever I have to boot up so the once-a-month long reboot is not a big deal.

 

[REWahoo]

There are a number of utility programs designed to ferret out the offending program.

Like the program that started this thread?

 

[TromboneAl]

In a word (or two): Memory Leak. I use FreeRAM but still have to "clear the decks" quite often.

Yeah, I understand that, but I'm not sure it's as much of a problem as it used to be. IIRC when an app is closed, it can no longer keep any memory around. I certainly don't see any kind of cumulative effect of using Standby many times per day.

Firmware? You mean like "Windows Update"?

I'm thinking of a BIOS update. I had some problems with Standby with my Inspiron when I first got it, but a BIOS update solved them.

 

[Billy]

Wanda Sloan reviewed Soluto here
Wanda Sloan

Billy

 

[Dawg52]

...who wonder why it takes so long for your computer to boot up, here is a new, nifty and free utility that calls itself "Anti-frustration software".

Soluto Is an Awesome Tool to Speed Up Your System Boot, Fix System Slowdowns

I installed it last night and have cut my boot-up time in half.

Thanks for the link. Not to hijack the thread, but I have a question. My Dell notebook locked up the other day when trying to boot up. Would not let me go into safe mode or do anything. Corrupt files I suppose as I have had to turn the pc off when locking up on other occasions. I will admit, I'm not very computer savvy. I ended up formatting the disk, reloading the OS and drivers. And then updated all my drivers from Dell's website. Amazingly, the laptop is running better than ever and boots up quickly.

My question is......what clean up utilities should I be doing on a regular basis to help prevent corrupt files? I have always had anti-virus software stay up to date and run scans regularly. But have not done a good job of basic pc maintenance.

 

[REWahoo]

Dawg. my computer savvy is very limited but I've had good experience using this free program: CCleaner - Optimization and Cleaning - Free Download

 

[winger]

I finally got tired of fighting with Vista. And I'm not going to spend $100+ for Win7, given my Vista issues.

I'm using Ubuntu 9.10 and Vista in a dual-boot system. I had to keep Vista for Quicken, and I have a few months left on a one year contract with an online backup service that only supports windows.
The Linux world doesn't yet have anything that compares to Quicken (or Microsoft Money). I'm also using Mint right now, and it is getting close. I need to have accounts within other accounts......

I had some issues with Ubuntu early on, but they were caused by me just rushing in and not doing any homework. That happens often.......................

 

[bruce1]

I am using an Ubuntu / WinXP dual boot system going more and more to Ubuntu. Next I will be buying a Linux friendly printer and moving my music then the only thing I will need Windows for will be my Family tree software and the odd game. Have used Windows 7 and like it better than XP

 

[fritz]

Thanks for the link. Not to hijack the thread, but I have a question. My Dell notebook locked up the other day when trying to boot up. Would not let me go into safe mode or do anything. Corrupt files I suppose as I have had to turn the pc off when locking up on other occasions. I will admit, I'm not very computer savvy. I ended up formatting the disk, reloading the OS and drivers. And then updated all my drivers from Dell's website. Amazingly, the laptop is running better than ever and boots up quickly.

My question is......what clean up utilities should I be doing on a regular basis to help prevent corrupt files? I have always had anti-virus software stay up to date and run scans regularly. But have not done a good job of basic pc maintenance.

I use Glary Utilities, and Advanced System Care for one click clean up. They both offer other features you might find helpful (and are freeware). Glary works great and doesn't have the annoying upgrade pest (buy me) found on ASC's free version. IObit Security can be run with AVG - I have Windows Vista. Also might want to look at pc-decrapifier (also freeware). Removes programs similar to the control panel function.

 

[Tesaje]

I finally got tired of fighting with Vista. And I'm not going to spend $100+ for Win7, given my Vista issues.

I'm using Ubuntu 9.10 and Vista in a dual-boot system. I had to keep Vista for Quicken, and I have a few months left on a one year contract with an online backup service that only supports windows.
The Linux world doesn't yet have anything that compares to Quicken (or Microsoft Money). I'm also using Mint right now, and it is getting close. I need to have accounts within other accounts......

I had some issues with Ubuntu early on, but they were caused by me just rushing in and not doing any homework. That happens often.......................

I started to check out moving to ubuntu but didn't get very far due to not wanting to spend the time building a new system. Check out Moneydance linux. It can do subaccounts & the files can interchanged with windoze versions. But then I had been unhappy with quicken for awhile...

 

[winger]

I started to check out moving to ubuntu but didn't get very far due to not wanting to spend the time building a new system. Check out Moneydance linux. It can do subaccounts & the files can interchanged with windoze versions. But then I had been unhappy with quicken for awhile...

I had to reformat my laptop HD and reinstall Vista three times this year before I finally decided to try Ubuntu. I'm getting good at it.

This morning, I tried to print a Quicken report out of the Vista partition. Quicken aborted with a Windows error.

I'm not trying to do this with some exotic homemade PC. It's an off-the-shelf Dell Inspiron 1525. No hardware changes.

I've read good reviews of Moneydance. I'm ready to spend the $29.95 for it.

 

[winger]

Sorry for hijacking the thread.

 

[REWahoo]

Sorry for hijacking the thread.

Staying on topic is so 20th Century...