Win XP and Boot Speed

[henriJ]

My Win XP SP3 insists on booting in the 'Quick Boot' mode, regardless of
how I adjust the boot command in the BIOS 'SetUp' menu.

Is this normal with XP and/or XP SP3 or is there some way to get back to
the old 'slow boot' mode with XP SP3?

Thanks, in advance, for any assistance.

 

[henriJ]

So WHAT is "Quick Boot" mode? Is it something configured in your BIOS?
The OS isn't even loaded yet so it can't do anything until the BIOS gets
around to loading the OS. Windows is not altering the configuration
settings in your BIOS setup screens.

Over the past half dozen years or more, the BIOS in some PCs have
allowed for a 'Quick Boot' or 'Fast Boot' mode that appears to skip the
laborious memory-checking process and several other actions in order to
permit the PC to load the operating system more quickly.

In the case I referenced (a Dell 8100), I have set the BIOS to turn the
'Quick Boot' mode OFF. None-the-less, XP SP3 has apparently overridden
how the BIOS has been set in some way that I don't understand. I
wouldn't have thought the O/S could do this but something certainly has.
My question then remains: is this 'Fast Boot' approach something that
XP SP3 is doing and, if so, how do I tell XP SP3 to stop doing whatever
it is doing?

 

[VanguardLH]

Over the past half dozen years or more, the BIOS in some PCs have
allowed for a 'Quick Boot' or 'Fast Boot' mode that appears to skip the
laborious memory-checking process and several other actions in order to
permit the PC to load the operating system more quickly.

In the case I referenced (a Dell 8100), I have set the BIOS to turn the
'Quick Boot' mode OFF. None-the-less, XP SP3 has apparently overridden
how the BIOS has been set in some way that I don't understand. I
wouldn't have thought the O/S could do this but something certainly has.
My question then remains: is this 'Fast Boot' approach something that
XP SP3 is doing and, if so, how do I tell XP SP3 to stop doing whatever
it is doing?

The memory test is performed by the BIOS as part of the POST (power-on
self test) process, if enabled in the BIOS. The OS has not yet loaded
so it cannot affect the POST and what optional tests are performed as
configured in the BIOS.

That you have installed drivers that are erroring and slowing the OS
getting past the hardware detect phase or you installed more and more
programs that load when Windows starts up and slows the time before the
desktop becomes actually usable has nothing to do with BIOS settings or
the time for the POST to complete.

The OS has no effect on the POST time. Read:

http://www.pcguide.com/ref/mbsys/bios/bootPOST-c.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_On_Self_Test