Helpdesk Challenge – how to make your PC startup faster
If your PC feels like it’s swimming through treacle rather than first out the blocks, it could be because of a glut of unnecessary startup programs holding it back. We show you how to stop unwanted programs from opening upon startup.
Long startup times are often a surefire sign that your PC may be straining with over-enthusiastic programs all trying to open up automatically whenever you switch your PC on. Frustratingly, many programs default to ‘open on startup’ when you first install them, and if you don’t untick this option at the point of installing, you’ve just added more deadweight to your startup speeds.
The good news? It’s easy to find a list of your PC’s startup programs, and easier still to stop them from opening upon startup. Here’s how:
How to block Windows startup programs
To show which programs run at startup in Windows 7, click Start and type msconfig in the search box, then click the program msconfig in the results. For older Windows operating systems, click Start, then Run, and type msconfig and click OK.
This will open the System Configuration window. Click the Startup tab to see a list of all programs and items that start when you turn on your PC. It can be surprising just how long this list is.
Untick your Windows startup programs
Time to clear out the unnecessary programs. At this point, we’d strike a note of caution: there are plenty of programs and functions that your PC does need in order to start up smoothly. If you’re in doubt about unticking something, try searching online for what it does first. We wouldn’t recommend blocking your security software from starting up automatically.
More familiar programs like Skype, Evernote, or your printer or scanner software can all be safely blocked from starting automatically and still be opened easily when you want them.
Untick the tick-box next to any programs you don’t want to run at startup. Click Apply, then OK to close the System Configuration window. You’ll be advised to restart your PC for the changes to take effect.
What would you block?
What have your experiences been in blocking startup programs? If you’ve found any easy quick-wins that you’d recommend to others, share your tips in the comments box below.
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Ian
I use Soluto.com which analyses lots of things on your PC. It advises which programs are essential for start-up and which can safely be delayed until after the main Windows boot has finished.
LRB
I recollect that if you untick start-up programs with Windows XP, then the PC will re-start using ‘Selective Startup’. Will this cause a problem?
J.Holland
To JRB – Did anyone give you an answer to your query? I too have XP and would like to be re-assured before proceeding.
JH
David
Please cater for those of us still using Windows XP. The recent review of security software covered MS Essentials for W7&8, but not XP. Here, no mention of XP, though the same procedure you give works for XP.
Doug
To say nothing of Vista, David. On mine, Security Essentials had difficulty in updating so I use AVG Free instead.
Ed
This article is ok… But misses lots of other information!
Although like everything in PCs this won’t necessarily speed things up on it’s own. Below top level things you can do…
As with the article mentioned above I also use a tool called CCleaner found at http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/download and it’s free. This app has other things that can help. Clears out Temp files, repairs registry and clears out unused links, all of which speeds up startup.
Also you need to make sure that the system has been ‘defragged’, with Windows 7 and Windows 8 this is done automatically but other systems you can use http://www.piriform.com/defraggler. Quite good at doing this.
And to get it to be super quick have a look at getting an SSD (Solid State Drive) This will improve speed of booting up and opening apps no end! This requires an investment but you will notice the difference straight away!
If you need more info contact me :)
Rich Parris
Thanks for the good suggestion, Ed – we have a guide to using CCleaner here if anyone would like some further details on using this really handy tool
http://blogs.which.co.uk/technology/computing/helpdesk-challenge-speeding-up-your-computer-for-free/
Sandra Huntley
How can I speed up the start up on my Apple laptop? Do I follow same guide as for Windows?
Susan Austin
XP won’t allow me to make any changes. Says access denied, need to be an administrater. Which I am!