XP HOME SLOW START UP

[Guest]

When I start up my system (XP Home) it takes about 1.5 min to get to the
desktop, then another 2 minutes or so before all the system tray icons are
loaded and I am able to open a program. Any ideas on how to speed this up?

 

[Plato]

When I start up my system (XP Home) it takes about 1.5 min to get to the
desktop, then another 2 minutes or so before all the system tray icons are
loaded and I am able to open a program. Any ideas on how to speed this up?

Minimize the number of third party software applications you have set to
run as windows loads up.

Make sure you have plenty of disk space available. Delete all temp and
cache files. Defrag. Uninstall all un-used software using add/remove.
Make sure you let windows manage your page file.

 

[Donny Broome]

Spyware can cause this. The page below details several fine products that
can scan your system for possible infections.
http://www.broomeman.com/spyware/

Additionally, you can use a free program called Autoruns to remove unwanted
items from startup. This program is available here:
http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/Autoruns.html
Only remove items that you're sure about.

 

[Guest]

If you have 256 MB or less RAM, then Windows XP surely will take a long time
to startup. But I don't think it would take that long to boot up. I have XP
Home as well, and work with 256 MB RAM but my computer has finished booting
in about 30 seconds.

Try 'msconfig' by typing it on the run program in the start menu and go to
the startup tab. Uncheck all the programs you don't need but keep the
important ones. This would free up your resources when you start up.

And finally, if you do have 256 MB RAM, try upgrading to 512, 768 or 1 GIG.
I am soon going to upgrade my computer to 768.

 

[xy2z]

When I start up my system (XP Home) it takes about 1.5 min to get to
the
desktop, then another 2 minutes or so before all the system tray icons
are
loaded and I am able to open a program. Any ideas on how to speed this
up?

Scan for spyware, how long since you ran adisk cleanup/ checked your
fragmentation levels? remove your temporary files, recycle bin files
and such and then chkdsk and defragment, this will help free up HD
space and improve the boot time, Also disable unwanted items from
startup. Add more RAM if needed. You could also delete your prefetch.
http://www.tweakxp.com/article36979.aspx

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

When I start up my system (XP Home) it takes about 1.5 min to get to
the desktop, then another 2 minutes or so before all the system tray
icons are loaded and I am able to open a program. Any ideas on how
to speed this up?

My personal view is that the attention many people pay to how long it takes
to boot is unwarranted. Assuming that the computer's speed is otherwise
satisfactory, it may not be worth worrying about. Most people start their
computers once a day or even less frequently. In the overall scheme of
things, even a few minutes to start up isn't very important. Personally I
power on my computer when I get up in the morning, then go get my coffee.
When I come back, it's done booting. I don't know how long it took to boot
and I don't care.

 

[Bob I]

Agreed, 2-4 minutes is nothing. On the other hand if it WAS 3 minutes
and it suddenly went to 5 or 15 minutes, it's time to fix the problem.

 

[Frank]

My personal view is that the attention many people pay to how long it
takes to boot is unwarranted. Assuming that the computer's speed is
otherwise satisfactory, it may not be worth worrying about. Most people
start their computers once a day or even less frequently. In the overall
scheme of things, even a few minutes to start up isn't very important.
Personally I power on my computer when I get up in the morning, then go
get my coffee. When I come back, it's done booting. I don't know how long
it took to boot and I don't care.

Same situation here _if_ I even turn it off. As an aside I don't have
anything
loading in my systray. The clock is it.