How do I speed up my computer's startup time?
My computer takes several minutes to fully start up and become usable. A lot of programs seem to load automatically at startup. How do I control what runs when Windows starts? Can I safely turn off some of those startup programs? Will that speed things up without breaking anything?
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Make sure you have the latest drivers from the actual manufacturer's website, not whatever Windows Update gives you. Video card drivers especially — nVidia and ATI release new ones every month and they make a real difference.
4 Answers
Make sure you have the latest drivers from the actual manufacturer's website, not whatever Windows Update gives you. Video card drivers especially — nVidia and ATI release new ones every month and they make a real difference.
I'd post this on the Tom's Hardware or AnandTech forums with your full system specs — CPU, RAM, motherboard, the works. People can't really help without knowing what you've got. The more detail you give, the better the answers.
Don't forget about heat. If your computer is shutting down or crashing randomly, open the case and check if the fans are caked with dust. Blow it out with a can of compressed air. Overheating causes a shocking number of 'mystery' problems.
The best resource for this kind of thing is Tom's Hardware forums. Someone has almost certainly had your exact problem and posted a solution. The community there is really knowledgeable and helpful.
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