Every day, millions of Windows computers are started and millions of people are waiting to watch the succession of screens that Windows shows before loading the desktop. This boot process can take up to a minute or longer depending on the computer used and the degree of system optimization.
For those who suffer from this wait and feel that their PC takes too long to start up and finally become usable, we see here all the ways to speed up Windows startup, be it Windows 7, Windows 8 or Windows 10 .
In some cases it may be enough to change some settings, in others to make changes at the system level or at the bios level in others still changing some part of the PC.
The only option excluded is to buy a new computer, too obvious and expensive.
1) Disable programs in automatic start
Very often some programs start automatically in order to remain active in the background and slow down both the startup of Windows and its regular operation. To see the programs starting on their own, just look at the notification area next to the clock in the lower right and expand it by clicking on the arrow. If there are more than 5, there is something too much.
In another article some programs are reported to manage the automatic start in Windows and the computer or you can also use the internal tool of MSConfig or, in Windows 10 and 8.1, the Startup tab of the task manager (press the CTRL-Shift keys -Esc together).
Also try the Autoruns program to speed up Windows loading.
2) Enable Quick Start in Windows 10 or Windows 8
One of the best features of the latest versions of Windows is fast startup.
In another article we talked about the fast startup of Windows 10 and 8.1 .
Windows 10 bypasses the home screen by directly loading the desktop using a boot that is, in reality, a hibernation recovery.
3) Free up disk space
If the computer's hard drive is almost full, Windows becomes slower and that's an incontrovertible fact.
So you have to scroll through all the ways to free up disk space on your PC, using programs like TreeSize to find the biggest files and duplicate files.
You can also empty system folders from backup files, service packs and other useless files as seen in the guide on how to save space on the C: drive in an extreme way.
4) Reclaim the free space
When you move a file to the recycle bin and delete it, it is not deleted from the disk, but only made overwritable by other files. Windows therefore sees it as free space, although in reality it is not really empty, but still contains data relating to files deleted using the recycle bin and, therefore, still recoverable.
By reclaiming the free disk of the disk you will get a new space saving. Note that this can only be done on hard drives and not on SSD drives.
5) Disable visual effects
This Windows setting change only makes a difference on older computers or with a poor graphics card.
Disabling Windows visual effects is one of the basic operations in the guide to speed up Windows 7 and to optimize Windows 8.
6) Optimize paging files
The paging file always plays an important role in Windows so its correct setting can be used to improve Windows performance and reduce boot times. The paging file is especially important on computers with 4GB of RAM or less.
We have seen, in another article, how to optimize the paging file in Windows
7) Install more RAM
Unfortunately, in many computers, even new, modern and with Windows 8, there can only be 2 GB of RAM which are absolutely insufficient. With a very low cost of a few tens of Euros, you can buy another bank of RAM to be inserted in the PC. Keep in mind that 4GB of Ram is the minimum for a 32bit Windows computer while 8 GB is the minimum for a 64 bit PC.
In other articles the guides to increase RAM on the computer and add RAM on the laptop.
8) Defragment the hard disk
This is automatic on Windows 7 and Windows 10 so there isn't much to worry about.
However, you can install a disk defragmentation program to get more optimization options.
Also in this case, as in point 2, if you use an SSD (solid state drive) instead of a traditional hard disk, you must never do the defragmentation which must be deactivated.
There are other programs to optimize the SSD instead.
9) Uninstall unused and unnecessary programs, which add registry entries and can, in some cases, slow down the boot process.
To do it first you can use an uninstaller program like Revo Uninstaller
10) Clean up Windows of junk files
During the use of the computer, files or fragments of data accumulate which are comparable to the limestone that forms in dishwashers.
These must be removed every now and then (not too often) using a program such as Ccleaner, which is fast, reliable and safe.
11) Change disk and install an SSD drive
Of all the ways to speed up Windows startup, using an SSD is the most effective. If you want to start the computer as if it were a tablete or a smartphone, then you have to switch to an SSD, whose price can vary from 60 to 20o Euros depending on the capacity.
We talked about how to do this replacement in several articles including:
- Move Windows to SSD without reinstalling everything
- How to replace the hard disk to upgrade your PC in one hour
- Best SSD drives to buy to make your PC go as fast as a tablet
- SSD or HDD hard drive "> how to reduce BIOS time and PC boot time.
13) Disable or limit the boot timeout
Go to All Control Panel items, then to System, Advanced Settings, Advanced tab and click Settings under Startup and Recovery . If the " view operating system list " option is turned on, there are probably several systems on your computer besides Windows 7 or Windows 10 or there is a recovery partition. If you do not want to save time, you can disable this initial choice or limit the choice to 2 or 5 seconds.
14) Keep your PC up to date, drivers and programs
Each Windows update is a fix made by Microsoft for the system, most often related to security, but sometimes also to fixing some bugs. It is therefore important to keep Windows Update active and update the system every week. The same goes for installed programs and drivers.
15) Disable unnecessary hardware
When you start a computer, all the drivers are loaded to make the internal and external components connected to the PC work. If a hardware component is never used, it can be disabled to speed up Windows startup. To do this, go to Device Manager (from the Control Panel), expand the various categories, right click on a driver and disable it. Deactivation makes that device unusable, but if necessary you can always reactivate it with the same procedure. For example you can disable the drivers of the webcam, the floppy disk, the virtual wifi card, the bluetooth. If you are not sure what a driver is and what it does, it is better not to touch it.
16) Use a static IP address
Windows, when it turns on and is connected to a network, looks for a free IP address and assigns it to the router via the DHCP service.
To save even this operation, you can then set a static network address in the settings of the network card (go to Control Panel \ Network and Internet \ Network connections ), right click on the card used wifi or Ethernet, Properties, Select TCP IP v4, go to Properties and set the IP addresses). However, if there are network problems after this change, report everything as it was.
