How long does it take for Windows Vista to boot up?

[morosco]

Posted: 1/12/09 at 5:40pm

For me it takes 2 minutes and 45 seconds. For those that have Vista is this normal?

(HP Pavilion. 4 GB ram. 64-Bit.)

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 1/12/09 at 5:48pm

Sadly, yes. There are tweaks you can do to make it go faster, but Vista is a huge memory hog.

[morosco]

Posted: 1/12/09 at 5:51pm

Thanks for the response. At least now I know nothing is wrong with my computer. Patience.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 1/12/09 at 5:53pm

If you want to try and speed it up, just google and you should find different suggestions. You can also tone down the Vista bells and whistles to make it work faster if you're having a problem with that as well.

[morosco]

Posted: 1/12/09 at 6:01pm

Thanks but I'll learn to be more patient instead. I don't feel computer savvy enough to make any tweaks. With my luck any attempts at a tweak would result in the computer never booting up!

[LaurenB]

Posted: 1/12/09 at 6:51pm

Morosco - I've had 2 programs that really slow down the boot-up, one was the virus protector, and the other one was the wireless network card (Cingular). I've since disabled the Cingular software to not run at start-up, which helps tremendously.

[Plum]

Posted: 1/12/09 at 6:57pm

Your boot time sounds a bit long to me - most of the time Vista systems should be able to start up in about a minute. (And I say this as someone who's hoping to skip Vista altogether for Windows 7.)

One tweak you may feel confident in doing is this - look over the list of programs you have that start up when your computer starts up. Think about whether you need all of them. Some programs just have a default setting to start whenever you boot up, but they're unnecessary - you can go to those programs' settings and tell them not to start automatically, which might save you a few seconds.

[artscallion]

Posted: 1/12/09 at 7:04pm

Microsoft now recommends that you put your computer into hibernate, rather than shut it down and reboot it. This is for any of its operating systems and completely eliminates any reboot time. I've been doing it this way for years, since I first got Vista, only rebooting when an update or install recommends it. And when I do reboot it takes less than a minute.

[jasonf]

Posted: 1/12/09 at 7:32pm

I have VIsta - my computer doesn't take NEARLY that long - maybe a minute on a slow day...

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 1/12/09 at 8:13pm

Plum's right about the startup programs. Those can slow you down. I just looked at your RAM, and everyone is right, you probably should be booting faster. After I moved up to 3GB of RAM I noticed a difference (I'd had only 1 for a while).

The appearance thing is something else to look into. Unless you really need your desktop icons to be translucent and floating or whatever it is it looks like, you can probably buy yourself some strength that way.

[morosco]

Posted: 1/12/09 at 9:09pm

The appearance thing is something else to look into. Unless you really need your desktop icons to be translucent and floating or whatever it is it looks like, you can probably buy yourself some strength that way.

I'm really not sure I understand what you are describing here in regards to the desktop icons. Translucent floating icons?

Since starting this thread I've been exploring a free program called autoruns by microsoft. It's like MSConfig but offers more details. I'm checking that against blackviper.com which lists what can safely be eliminated from the boot.
Autonruns for Windows

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 1/12/09 at 9:32pm

I meant the settings for the desktop appearance. In the advance systems settings under performance, there are a bunch of things you can turn off in regard to the graphics for the desktop, etc.

[morosco]

Posted: 1/12/09 at 9:38pm

I meant the settings for the desktop appearance. In the advance systems settings under performance, there are a bunch of things you can turn off in regard to the graphics for the desktop, etc.

Ah! Thanks. Found it.

[morosco]

Posted: 1/13/09 at 6:12pm

Found out what my problem was. I had forgotten that I had a 1TB external hard drive connected via USB. I unplugged the USB and the boot is now MUCH faster. Thought I'd post my solution in case it might benefit others in the future.

Thanks everyone for your help!