Slow PC Boot

A slow PC boot can be annoying. We like our computers to turn on at the press of a button, not the press of a button and then many minutes of processing time. After all, with the processors getting faster, shouldn't the computer be starting up faster as well? You wouldn't have upgraded if you had known that the newer computers booted up just as slowly as the older computers.

One of the biggest reasons for a slow PC boot is an overloaded start up system. When you install programs on your computer most of them come with an option that makes the program run as soon as you turn on your computer. This box is usually checked for you and if you aren't paying attention you can install far more programs to run at start up than need to. Here is how you fix your start up menu and cure your slow pc boot.

1. Go to your start menu and select the "all programs" function. On this list, select the "start up" option and click on it. This will tell give you a list of all of the programs that are starting up automatically when you turn on your computer.

2. Now you will want to back up your system or decide on a point from where the computer will restore itself. This is done by selecting the "system tools" menu from the computer's start menu (you can find the system tools in the accessories area of the "all programs" menu)and then clicking on the option to "System Restore" and then deciding which of the criteria you want.

3. Run the Msconfig program. You run this program by typing "msconfig" into the "run" option on the start menu.

4. When Msconfig opens up, find the Start Up menu. You are going to see a lot of things listed here that you will not have seen listed anywhere else on your computer-especially in the event that you haven't ever run msconfig before. When you look at this list, select the programs that you want to start manually. A good rule of thumb is to ignore the programs that you haven't seen before until you can check them out to see what they do. To "select" the programs that you want to start manually, simply uncheck them.

It is important to prune your Start Up menu every once in a while because every program that starts up automatically when you turn on the computer is a program that is going to eat up the speed of the computer's start up process and having too many programs starting automatically will ensure a slow pc boot.

Fixing a slow pc boot does not have to be hard. Try the steps listed above and you should see a marked improvement the next time you start your computer. The faster your computer boots up, the faster you will be able to get to your work and some of your hobbies and the happier you will be.

Slow Computer Problems Tip #1

Check your internet cache. Not only does every single page you look at on the internet get stored into a history folder in the depths of your computer, but every single part of those pages gets saved as a separate file in what is known as the cache folder. Yes, every single tiny graphic gets stored in its own file. That green dot that repeats twelve times as an illustration of bullet points? Twelve separate gif files in your cache. Make sure you clean out the cache often.

Slow Computer Problems Tip #2

Ad ware is the devil. Ad ware can be attached to your computer by any number of sites (though it is most famously used by sites of an "adult" nature). This ad ware keeps track of where you go online like a cookie does, but ad ware is typically a covert program that slows down the computer to make it easier to track where you go. Run a spy ware or ad aware program on a regular basis to keep these programs and files at bay.

Slow Computer Problems Tip #3

Defragment your hard drive regularly. Sometimes parts of your files get corrupted. The more files that are corrupted or "fragmented," the more slowly your computer will run. A defragmentation of your hard drive should be done on a regular basis. It is a long process, so the defragmenting program is best run overnight.