How do you remember the feeling of excitement when you first turned on your new computer for the first time? Over time, this speedy welcome could have morphed into a sluggish greeting. Would you be surprised if we told you it may be easier than you think to regain that lost speed?
In this article, we’ll discuss the boot process to help you optimize your PC’s boot time. Would you be willing to turn back the clock on your computer’s age and performance? Come on, let’s get started.
How Boot Time Affects Your PC Experience – And How to Fix It!
Do you ever consider how long it takes your PC to start can affect your daily activities? Getting started faster can be the difference between diving right into your work and sitting around, sipping your coffee impatiently, waiting for the boot to complete. Fast startup saves time and enhances your user experience, putting you in a productive mood for the rest of the day.
Defrag your HDD or get a SSD
Magnetic fields read and write data on the surface of hard disk drives (HDDs) that contain moving parts. Solid-state drives (SSDs) replace moving parts with flash memory and electronic circuitry. The smaller size of SSDs is why they are faster than HDDs. Your laptop’s OS will boot much faster if you upgrade to an SSD instead of an HDD.
Check Also: How to Clone A Hard Drive in Windows 10 & 11
Regularly Defrag your Hard Drive (For HDD Users)
In the case of traditional hard drives, defragmentation is beneficial even though SSD users can skip this step. In the long run, HDDs can scatter parts of files across their platters, resulting in longer read times. Regularly defragmenting your HDD ensures that these fragments are reorganized and will be easier to access.
- Windows will search for “defragment” if you type it in there
- Activate the tool for defragmenting and optimizing drives
- Specify your primary hard drive (usually C:) and click “Optimize”
Cleaning & Decluttering for Swift Booting
A cluttered room can prevent you from finding your keys quickly, and the same applies to a cluttered computer. Maintenance and organization ensure efficient operation, more importantly and faster boot times. Your PC must be kept in good condition to maintain its performance.
Delete Old And Unnecessary Files
Files we no longer need accumulate over time, and they can hog disk space, resulting in slower boot times.
- You can use the built-in Disk Cleanup tool to do this. Click the Windows search bar, type “Disk Cleanup,” select your primary drive (generally C:), and let Windows do the rest.
- Make sure that you manually delete files you no longer need from your documents, downloads, and other folders every few months.
- Keep your recycle bin full by emptying it regularly.
Hardware Upgrades: Take into Account
In some cases, upgrades to the hardware can yield the most significant performance boosts. In the event that you’ve optimized your PC to the best of your abilities, but still feel that it could be faster, it may be time to address the physical aspects of the machine.
Increasing RAM:
System boot-up and overall performance are greatly influenced by RAM (Random Access Memory). A computer’s temporary storage space is where it keeps data so it can be accessed quickly.
- Your usage should be upgraded if it frequently exceeds 70-80%
- See your PC’s or motherboard’s manual for information about compatible RAM
- Make sure you choose reputable brands like Kingston, Corsair, or Crucial when buying modules
How to Fix Slow Startup on Your PC?
Taking these steps can help your computer speed up if it takes a long time to start. In order, try each of these steps. In case one step doesn’t work, try the next until you find the solution.
- Disable programs not needed at startup. When a computer starts up slowly, it is due to too many applications trying to load at once.
The startup programs you want to disable or change can be disabled or changed after logging in, so Windows will not automatically launch them. You will be using this step to speed up the process of your computer booting up.
- Improve boot drive space efficiency. Having little storage on your hard drive can significantly slow down your computer. You can speed up the boot process by cleaning up the hard drive on your Windows computer.
- Keep your computer malware-free. As Girl Scout cookies consume computer resources, malware does the same.
You should perform a proper virus and malware scan of your hard drive to determine if that is the problem. Using your scanner will reduce your PC’s load times if it detects and resolves malware issues.
- Modify your computer’s BIOS settings. Some BIOS options can speed up startup, including Fast Boot. Additionally, you can disable startup logos, which can adversely affect startup performance.
- Restore Windows or reinstall. Getting rid of the problem may require you to restore a System Restore point or to reinstall Windows if none of these steps works. Regardless of which option you choose, your startup issues will likely be resolved.
- Upgrade your hard drive and memory. You might need to upgrade your computer if your hard drive is still the only boot drive, or if you’re running a modern Windows OS with low RAM.
Upgrade your RAM and solid-state drive to make startup faster.