how to start up windows xp fast?

[fartonmyear]

as with laptops, it takes forever to start up. i'm wondering if people know of good ways to start up fast while keeping the essential thinkpad programs there are the startup programs i have. about 46 processes when xp starts up as opposed to my desktop which has around 32

[Nolonemo]

Hibernate

[Kyocera]

Definately hibernate, reboot every now and then.

[davidspalding]

You can remove some of thse extra thinkpad utilities, but don't cry into your beer when you realize what those "extras" do.

My routine: log out, and hibernate. This is more reliable (something makes 1 out of 4 hibernations while logged in fail and I have to power off), and also clears out memory.

I also use the power-on password/fingerprint to log in, so I just swipe when I power on and then go get coffee. In about 50-90 seconds everything is loaded and ready.

[fuligin]

You can uninstall some of the usless programs that come with your think pad, such as help message etc.
and use a freeware util called startup cpl, which allows u to choose which cores run at startup,
finally you can disable all the services that you dont really need,
that should shave off a few seconds.

[davidspalding]

If you haven't explored ... some of the apps, like Access Connections, will put icons on teh Taskbar. Finding the option settings for those and turning them off helps a bit ... AC, particularly, puts AC and Wireless status icons there, turn them off from the Global settings, second tab.

If you don't use the Keyboard customizer, you could disable that. Same with the Access IBM message center, it's handy once a month, if that. If you don't have a fingerprint reader, or use Client Security Solution for passwords, encryption, Safe Vault WhateverIt'sCalled, you could uninstall that. If in doubt ... try not to uninstall, as some of the utilities are providing the "behind the scenes" functionality that TPs have, like the FN + F5, FN + F9 (EasyEject) functions.

But really, XP has some boot-up optimization over previous Windows versions, so [edit] removing this dll or that dll or this TSR or that, won't save you 1/2 a minute. Seconds maybe. My main slowdown is utilities that load on login, and those are often things like Norton Ghost, Office, Winzip tray icon, Adobe tray icons, blah blah blah. I turn those off as soon as a program is installed. Everybody thinks they're entitled to a spot on my system tray ... wrong.

[GomJabbar]

Most of this has been covered before.

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=14185

[vital-analitix]

I "tweaked" my machine according to suggestions (not all) on www.tweakhound.com . Found bootvis (MSN) and I boot in < 47 second until logged in....

Marinus

[Legionnaire]

The problem starts with the slow (mine 4500 rpm) hard disks. During boot, Windows (and any other OS) copies data from the hd to the (empty) RAM. So the less you copy, the faster you're gonna see the Login Screen.

The problem is that Windows has some "technologies" such as prefetch (Start->Run->"prefetch") that as the days go by will make your boot slower and slower (possible solution: clean up prefetch once a month or so).

Also I have noticed that Windows may delay too much trying to enable network controllers (wireless/ethernet). Unfortunately I don't have any ideas about that since having the controllers disabled doesn't seem to make much of a difference.


Overall, Hybernate seems like a pretty good idea although it takes quite a while to complete if you have like 1GB or so of RAM.

[jsteele]

The problem I have found with the Hibernate approach is that when hibernated and I attach my T40 to the Port Replicator is doesn't find the Port Replicator's USD ports.

I have office devices such as my PDA cradle, scanner, camera, etc., attached to USB ports on the replicator; when I get to the office in the morning and attach my hibernated T40 some or all of these are not found and I end up rebooting anyway.

[dsigma6]

i have 33 processes running on my r40, and 23 on my 600e. search each process in google, see what it relates to- keep the obvious ones, especially TPHKMGR, as I learned it removes the onscreen volume controls (how could one survive without that?)

[davidspalding]

... The problem is that Windows has some "technologies" such as prefetch (Start->Run->"prefetch") that as the days go by will make your boot slower and slower (possible solution: clean up prefetch once a month or so).

Myth. Previously discussed into the dirt here in a BOOTVIS thread, with references.

But you go 'head and clear out the prefetch folder if it works for you.

[Legionnaire]

... The problem is that Windows has some "technologies" such as prefetch (Start->Run->"prefetch") that as the days go by will make your boot slower and slower (possible solution: clean up prefetch once a month or so).

Myth. Previously discussed into the dirt here in a BOOTVIS thread, with references.

But you go 'head and clear out the prefetch folder if it works for you.

I haven't come across that thread you talk about but think this:
* (fact) windows loads to memory data from the prefetch folder

So the more data, the more work and the more time required during boot.

Maybe cleaning up prefetch does not dignificantly improve boot time but you can't deny the concept.

[davidspalding]

Yes. I can.

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=18355

http://msdn.microsoft.com/msdnmag/issue ... /XPKernel/

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodte ... pperf.mspx

http://www.edbott.com/weblog/?p=743
http://www.edbott.com/weblog/archives/000024.html

http://bink.nu/Article1460.bink

http://download.microsoft.com/download/ ... indows.doc


If you really wanna save RAM, run Linux instead. Signing off.

[edit] P.S. I've never found more than 3.8 MB of files in \prefetch, and the NTOS file is only 1.9 MB ... RAM isn't at that much of a premium in my use. YMMV.

[mikek]

Hi - taking a different slant on this, I've found that my T42 boots/logs in much faster if the wifi is off. It's a corporate machine and is trying to log into its domain. If wifi available it goes slowly through the log in sequence. If not it logs in using cached profile, but takes a while to start doign this, which is presumably when it's trying to find its domain.

Turning wifi off before boot up (ie on previous shutdown!) seems to make for much faster boot.

I see the same symptoms if I plug it into a third party (ie not my corporate) LAN - log in is slow.

Are there any tips for getting a better control of what the machine is doing at these times?
Thanks

[vital-analitix]

Make sure that youtr order of booting is right too: if it first starts to look at the network, then for a floppy, then for a CD and then for the HD, yes then it will be slow too.

After defragmentation I run bootvis which examines the bootup processes and then sticks them in the center of the partition in a prefetch area. At the moment I have got it down to 44 seconds from pressing a button to the moment I am logged in.

Marinus

[dsigma6]

I've found that my T42 boots/logs in much faster if the wifi is off. Turning wifi off before boot up (ie on previous shutdown!) seems to make for much faster boot.

I had this problem and was getting no answers- I tried turning it off, lo and behold that was the problem. It's pathetic that I have to disable it on every shutdown, but at least it works now.

[christopher_wolf]

There isn't anything that easily quantifies how fast a given technique can make your Thinkpad boot; I have a boot timeof a little under 35 seconds. Just remove as many startup processes as you can, keeo you HDD clean (squeeky clean if possible), defragment the HDD, the pagefie, and also use Bootvis or some other program to move the oft used boot-up files by Windows. In other words, keep you machine lean and mean.

WiFi can slow down boot-up if it tries to log into a domain, as many corporate systems try to do. I don't know of an efficient way to get around this other than to try and stop all connection attempts during boot-up which isn't all that easy.

[Legionnaire]

Maybe we should keep a list with all the absolutely necessary IBM services that start when Windows starts. Windows Services is an entirely different issue though.

Personaly I couldn't work without Battery Maximizer, Fn Keys, Wireless Connection Utility (not the Access Connections).

[GomJabbar]

I've found that my T42 boots/logs in much faster if the wifi is off. Turning wifi off before boot up (ie on previous shutdown!) seems to make for much faster boot.

I had this problem and was getting no answers- I tried turning it off, lo and behold that was the problem. It's pathetic that I have to disable it on every shutdown, but at least it works now.

I haven't figured out when it's necessary, but I have seen in some cases that having Wireless Zero Configuration service turned off can result in long boot up times. Check in: Start > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services, and scroll down to Wireless Zero Configuration service. Try setting it to Automatic and Started if it is not already. Reboot and see if this helps. If it does, then leave it. If it does not, then return the service to it's previous state.

[davidspalding]

I've found that if I use Access Connections entirely for LAN connections, the WZC service can be left to manual.

Alas, on my work TP41, I need it on as AC won't handle the proper WiFi encryption - Cisco's software adds it to the Windows Wireless configuration stack instead.

[pkiff]

Maybe we should keep a list with all the absolutely necessary IBM services that start when Windows starts. Windows Services is an entirely different issue though.

I don't know about the IBM services, though I know that most of the ones referred to in this thread are not running at all on my 600X under XP SP2, so the list of IBM services will vary depending on which family of ThinkPad one is talking about.

For Microsoft's standard Windows services, however, I think that some character named "Black Viper" created a fairly comprehensive list of them a few years ago and provided recommendations on whether they should be set for auto/manual/or disabled.

Copies of this list are available here:
Black Viper's Services Configuration on MajorGeeks.com
and here:
Augmented Black Viper's Services Configuration on Dead-Eye.net

Having pointed to those resources, however, I would say that in my experience, with the exception of some network-related startup services, davidspalding is mostly right when he says:

But really, XP has some boot-up optimization over previous Windows versions, so this dll or that dll or this TSR or that, won't save you 1/2 a minute. Seconds maybe.

Phil.