When you first set up your computer, your BIOS is set up to make things a bit more convenient for you, but once you’re all set up, those things can be disabled. If you hold the DEL key when you start up your computer (or whatever key your BIOS tells you to enter setup), you can turn on the “Quick Boot” option and move your hard disk to the top of the boot priority list. The Quick Boot setting will turn off the tests your computer runs when it first turns on, and the boot priority tweak will tell your computer not to look for CDs, thumb drives, or other media when it first starts, which will get you booted into your OS quicker. You can always boot up from a CD later, if you need to.
7. Clean Out Programs that Launch at Startup
One of the most tried and true ways to speed up your boot process is to keep unnecessary programs from starting up with your computer. You can do this in Windows 10 by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Esc to open the Task Manager, and going to the Startup tab. If you’re still running Windows 7, open the Start menu, type msconfig, and press enter. You’ll see all the programs that launch when you boot up your computer.
6. Delay Windows Services That Run at Startup
Many people argue that disabling Services from msconfig will also speed up your boot time, but we’ve found that this is more problematic than anything. However, you can delay certain startup services so that your computer boots quickly and then worries about them later—after all, you don’t need all those services the minute you start up your machine. Just open the Start menu, type services, and press enter—then right-click on any service to change its Properties.
5. Change Your Boot Menu’s Timeout Values
If you’re dual-booting your machine, then your boot menu probably has a “timeout value”, meaning the amount of time it waits for you to make a selection before it just boots into the default OS. On Windows, this timeout value is often 30 seconds, which is a long time to wait if you aren’t looking directly at your screen. To change this timeout value, head to msconfig, click on the Boot tab, and change the number in the timeout box to something lower. If you’re dual-booting with Linux, you’re probably running the GRUB boot menu, and you can change the timeout on that too.
4. Disable Unused Hardware
Your computer loads a lot of drivers when it first starts up, some of which you might not even use. Head into the Device Manager from the Start Menu’s search box, and look for anything you aren’t using—Bluetooth controllers, modems, and virtual Wi-Fi adapters are common culprits. Right-click on the entry you want to disable and hit “Disable”. Remember to only do this with things you don’t actually use—if you use Wireless Hosted Networks, you’ll need to keep those virtual Wi-Fi adapters enabled.
3. Install Good Antivirus and Keep It Up to Date
This should go without saying, but we’ll say it anyway: install some good antivirus software, keep it up to date, and run a regular scan. This is more of a preventative measure than an actual boot-speeding tip, but if you ever do get malware, it’s sure to slow your computer’s boot time. Plus, any antivirus program worth its salt will be lightweight and fast to start—so it won’t slow down your boot time like other bloated programs will.
Since the dawn of time, Windows has loaded fonts at startup and slowed down the boot time. This is less of a problem than it used to be, but it can still slow you down a bit. Windows 7 loads over 200 fonts at startup; even more if you’ve installed Microsoft Office. Chances are, you use very few of those fonts, so you can hide them to speed up that process. In Windows 7, open up the Fonts folder from the Start Menu’s search box, and check off all the fonts you don’t need. Then click the “Hide” button in the toolbar. This way, if you ever want them, you can bring them back, but Windows won’t load them at startup. Note that just removing a few fonts probably isn’t going to make a noticeable difference—you’ll probably need to get rid of a few hundred. That said, you might have hundreds more fonts installed than you realized, so that isn’t as ridiculous as it sounds.
1. Upgrade Your RAM
Installing more RAM has always been an effective way of speeding up your computer, and that includes boot times. If you have a relatively new computer, you probably don’t need a RAM upgrade, but if you’re working on an older machine—especially if you’re using lots of newer programs that run at startup—a RAM upgrade may help. We’ve gone over how to replace it in both a desktop and a laptop, and even for the inexperienced, it’s a pretty simple procedure.
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