How to speed up system startup windows 7

Solid state is all the rage these days, and with good reason. It's fast! More and more laptops and even desktops are moving to the technology because of the performance benefits.

Solid state disks use memory cells from which data can be read very quickly, as opposed to the relatively plodding nature of rotational storage. By moving to SSD, you can give your Windows 7 system renewed life -- and give yourself a whole new user experience. But SSDs can be expensive, so you need to be smart about how to use them in the most cost-effective way.

This one is easy! When you're plugged in, configure Windows 7's power plans to favor performance over power savings. When you choose to use Windows 7' high performance power plan, you might increase the computer's performance in some but not all circumstances. It really depends on the kind of work you're doing and how often you allow the computer to sit idle. For more about how these plans operate, see Evaluate the efficiency of Windows 7 power plan settings.

If you're using a traditional spinning disk in your Windows 7 system, you can keep your system operating at peak efficiency by periodically defragmenting the hard drive. If, however, you've opted to go with SSD-based storage, don't do this. First, you won't get any performance benefit and second, you'll significantly reduce the life of that expensive SSD. Disk defragmentation is scheduled to take place once per week, but you can change this by going to Start Accessories System Tools Disk Defragmenter Figure D.

In addition to changing the schedule, you can run an on-demand defrag from here. You can also run a defrag from the command line instead of from a GUI. Bill Detwiler's video explains how. Windows 7's search is good, but it can also affect system performance. If you really need to run a tool at full tilt, you can disable indexing altogether.

Or you can tune the indexer to meet your specific needs , possibly reducing its overall impact on system performance. Perhaps you don't want to jump into the solid-state game right away but would like some of the benefit that can be had from flash-based storage. Note that if you're already using an SSD as your system drive, ReadyBoost won't be available, since there would be no performance gain.

ReadyBoost allows the system to make use of one of these speedy storage devices as a cache, improving overall performance of the system. However, some people often find their Windows taking up too much time to load. This can be due to a number of reasons such as installed programmes, number of core processors, GUI boot, corrupted entries in registry, etc.

It does not take a lot of effort or technical know-how to speed up Windows 7, as there are just a few simple things that you need to look at and change. Limit programmes that run upon Windows startup to improve the boot time considerably. Some of the programmes installed on your computer can affect the boot time as they are loaded while the Windows is starting.

The slowdown may be due to a software conflict. One of the greatest challenges PC users face is figuring out why the machines run so slowly. You can easily spend more time trying to fix the problem than the problem causes you to lose in the first place. Windows 7's built-in diagnostic tools can help you find the source of startup and other performance woes. I've had mixed results with the operating system's troubleshooting utilities, which I described in a post from last June, " Handy Windows 7 utilities you may not know about.

Sandro Villinger of IT Expert Voice goes into even more detail on snooping through Windows 7's performance and troubleshooting utilities to hunt down the causes of startup delays. Another option is to use Microsoft's free Process Monitor utility to find slow-loading startup items and figure out whether you need the laggards to start automatically.

Martin Brinkmann steps you through the process on Ghacks. If you use the Ultimate, Professional, or Enterprise editions of Windows 7, you have access to the Group Policy Editor, which lets you track down startup slowpokes. Most likely causes of Win7 startup delays The first thing most people do to speed up Windows' boot times is to trim the list of programs that start automatically. Microsoft's free Autoruns utility simplifies the process by categorizing the programs that start with Windows.

You can set the program to hide Windows' own entries to minimize the chances of unchecking an entry that needs to autostart. Your PC's slow bootup could be due to a malware infection. Make sure your antivirus definitions are up-to-date and your real-time protection and firewall are active.

Then perform a full-system malware scan. To make doubly sure your system isn't infected, scan again with a different antivirus program, such as the free Malwarebytes Anti-Malware. Sometimes the slowdown is caused by your system creating too many restore points. The Microsoft Support site describes that problem and offers a hotfix.