27 replies to this topic

[dserban]

I'm curious how fast people's systems start up.

As a side effect, I'm stress-testing Astahost's polling system.

BTW, here's an interesting article called "Making Ubuntu boot in 19 seconds":

http://lightningcras...19-seconds.html

[wutske]

Do you include the time for loading applications after you login or do you stop counting when you get the login screen ?

[xboxrulz]

It doesn't take too long, I think it's about 20 - 30 seconds. Then again, I don't have a lot of startup programs as I usually eliminate them.

xboxrulz

[tansqrx]

I could certainly get down below the 30 second mark but I would have to remove password protection (boot straight into an account) and remove some startup programs. Some of the biggest time hogs for me is my antivirus (Avast!), PGP, and BCWipe. Actually I suppose if you count until the last program has loaded it could take me around 10 minutes.

[turbopowerdmaxsteel]

Voted: Between 30-60 seconds, WinXP

My Windows XP takes quite a bit of time while the bootscreen is shown. Even after a clean install the bar scrolls for 7-8 times. It didn't always used to be like this. I've had boot ups in less than 15 seconds with moderate amount of things installed. But, the system is pretty slow these days. I am not sure what it actually does there besides the Hardware detection, font & driver loading. Perhaps, I need to change the Hard Disk?

Logon Phase is pretty fast as there is just one account and that too password-less. Besides, the startup items are at minimal. There aren't any extra fonts installed either.

Edited by turbopowerdmaxsteel, 01 September 2007 - 07:33 AM.

[pyost]

Over 2 minutes unfortunately I have only myself to blame, though. I formatted my hard disk two years ago and installed Windows XP with Service Pack 1, and since then I've just been adding and removing all sorts of (un)useful programs. It first takes more than a minute to show the login screen, and when I login, there is a torrent of programs that start right away. Two for protection, two for communication, and probably even more which I don't know of I've become way too messy...

[turbopowerdmaxsteel]

I formatted my hard disk two years ago and installed Windows XP with Service Pack 1, and since then I've just been adding and removing all sorts of (un)useful programs.

You've got to be be the most patient person in the world. I can't recall how many times I formatted my system in that period. But, it would be surely in three figures. Sometimes, I used to re-install Windows 3-4 times in a day. Just to see if I could optimize the booting a bit more. The maximum my system has gone unformatted would be around 4-6 months which is a recent feat. I owe it to the additional memory module & DVD-RAM drive which have helped in keeping the cluttering at a minimum.

I could only imagine 2 year longevity @ XP, on machines which are used almost mechanically for the same old data entry jobs and stuff. Hats off to you, pyost.

[pyost]

Heh, you are not the only one who is shocked by the durability of my system - I am too But it was a long time ago I learned what to do and what not to do in order to keep my computer "clean". Sure, I've had problems with Windows XP, but was able to solve all of them without deleting all the garbage I've got on C:

[turbopowerdmaxsteel]

Armed with registry cleaners, disk defragmenters & Anti Viruses, aren't you? Care to disclose the secret behind the long life of your Win XP?

[pyost]

To be honest, I can't remember when was the last time I defragmented. And no, I didn't clean up my registry Just the good ol' Kaspersky AntiVirus along with ZoneAlarm. And Total Commander for deleting unnecessary files I might be extremely lucky, who knows

[sublimino]

what gets me is the total system grabbing grip of software such as hp's photosmart, norton internet suite and the like. without these i would shave about 2 minutes off the time i have to wait before i can successfully use my pc.

[sparkx]

Well I use windows XP on a good day I boot up around in less then 20 secounds but if I have a lot of fragments then it could take from 30 to 45 secounds. It is not too slow in my opinion because I usually start up my computer then go do something and when I come back it has already been booted up for a few minutes. It would be nice to have a faster boot time but the only use would be if I was in a hurry (in which I don't think the boot time would make an inpact in the overall startup). I run a defragment every 2-3 months but I have Zone Alarm which takes a long time to load. Once loaded my system is Average speed.
Thats my system,
Sparkx

[Steven9088]

Mine Is Under 15 Seconds Because I Run A Quad Core CPU! I'm Also Running Windows XP SP2 64 Bit, So I'm Currently Using My Computer To The MAX! It's Really Fast When Playing Video Games! You Guys Should See How Fast A Quad Core Processor Is! I've Just Upgraded Last Summer! Although When Playing Some Old Video Games, The Quad Core Processor Doesn't Suppport It! But Some Old Games Release Patch Fixes. I'm Currently Waiting For My Favourite Game Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory To Release A Quad Core Processor Fix!

[Propeng]

Approximately 70 sec. until log on but i have to wait another 60 sec. (until other programs boot ).

[polarysekt]

the system is pretty slow these days. I am not sure what it actually does there besides the Hardware detection, font & driver loading. Perhaps, I need to change the Hard Disk?

In case it's an issue... winXP preloads and indexes externals by default... That was bottleneckin me for a bit... I'd rather just stall out an explorer or konqueror window...


the main prollem i've had with xp is completely extracting old drivers when i upgrade hardware, various portions of my hdd becoming overused... especially reg locations... and random instabilities... plus it's not cool to swap pci or other cards without the whole remove, boot, move, boot, replace method... : ?

[xboxrulz]

It takes my MacBook under 15s to load up through the system loading and account login.

Specifications
MacBook
MacOS X 10.4.10
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.16 GHz 667MHz FSB 4MB L2 Cache
120GB 5400RPM HDD
1GB DDR2-5300 RAM
8x SuperDrive


xboxrulz

[saint-michael]

Although I put my laptop in standby mode and it usually boots in about 10 seconds, I would say it will be anywhere from 15-30 when I have to do a restart because of the stuff I have running on it. Yeah I could just change the options and blah blah run it faster, but those few seconds go by quickly and I am not missing anything while waiting for my computer to boot.

[rockershive]

when i installed windows xp sp2 on my system and added startup items such as avg, webshots, sidebar, anti-phishing it took my system to boot up for 40seconds. This a pentium 4 system with 40gb disk.

[Grafitti]

I wish the poll was multiple choice. As it is I could only vote for one of my systems.
So...
Desktop1: (P4, 512MB, 80GB HDD, XP Pro, @ 6 programs launched on startup) - 25 seconds with auto logon

Desktop2: (P DualCore, 2GB, 300+500+160+160+200 HDD, XP Pro, @ 8 programs launched on startup) - 70 seconds

Dual Boot Laptop: (P DualCore, 2GB, 120GB HDD, 2 programs launched on startup) - not counting OS select menu
XP Pro: 25 seconds
Vista: 50 seconds (but when rebooting after installing updates, logon takes 2 or 3 minutes)

[.:Brian:.]

I have vista and it usually boots within about 60 seconds or so (although it is kinda hard to tell because I have to enter a password in to boot up), also I have McAfee antivirus which takes a little bit...and some software for accessing the network (allowing for mapping of network drives from anywhere i have internet access and such) and that slows down the boot a fair amount.