Is Your PC a Slow-Boat to Boot?

Sneaky Software Vendors

It's sneaky, but a lot of software manufacturers get user complaints about their stuff taking too long to load. So, they've created what are called “quick start” additions to their products. What these do is pre-load certain segments of their programs when the system itself is loading. So, when you go the activate their software, a lot of it is already active and thus the load takes less time or starts faster. But, of course, this slows the initial system boot, sometimes to a crawl. Don't blame Windows for the slow boot. Blame the software vendors. Also, since this software is always resident in memory and using up computing cycles, it can slow down just about any other computing activity you can think of.

Of course, you can't blame everything on software vendors either. Viruses, trojan horses, and all sorts of malware have the ability to slow down and otherwise interfere with a PC's performance.

Autoruns

A free utility is available on Microsoft's web site , it's called “Autoruns.” Starting up the program will display a list of all the programs on the computer that are set up to automatically run when the system boots or when you log into the Windows environment. Autoruns takes a look at the entire system and all system services. It also looks at browser helper objects, and it inspects toolbars. It can even help a user spot spyware as well as other malicious codes or programs that have infiltrated the system.

Of course, the list it produces can be pretty daunting. At least, a user should be able to recognize stuff that's safe: Stuff that says “Window Explorer” in the Description column, for instance. As well as stuff denoted in the Publisher column with “Microsoft Corporation”, and other things from Adobe, etc.

But other stuff, things with unfamiliar icons, or that have oddly spelled names, and maybe even stuff that looks like plain old gobbledy-gook, all need attention. These are most likely loitering in the C:Windows folder. You can right-click on the item in the Autoruns list and then choose “Search Online” when a pop-up menu appears and Autoruns will go out on the Web and try to dredge up info on those crazy or unfamiliar files.

To get the Autoruns utility, simply punch “Autoruns” into your browser and it will land on Microsoft's site for the program. You would probably do well to read some of the help files. There is also an option to run the utility remotely from the Microsoft page.

MSConfig

This utility is build into most versions of Windows. From the Start menu, go to the run command and type in “msconfig”. Go to the Startup tab and hunt down the list. Usually a user can tell where a application or program originates. Adobe products, for instance, are usually recognizable. Look up items on the Web is they are questionable. When you start to clean things up, only un-check a few things at a time, and keep a list of everything you disable just in case it turns out to be something you need. You'll probably discover some start-up items that are linked to viruses, trojans, or other malware. Proceed with caution, but a typical user should have no problems, and disabling at least some start-up programs can offer a considerable step up in performance.

Other Startup Utilities

There are other free-ware utilities available. One is “The Ultimate Troubleshooter” from answersthatwork.com. It gives you enough information on each of the processes that run at startup so you can make decisions regarding what to keep and what to toss. Another is “Saluto” that can be found at soluto.com. It allows the user to track every single boot process and even shows process time for each. It also make recommendations regarding what should and shouldn't be left on for the startup process. Other utilities a user might want to check, but that cost, are RegistryBooster and SystemTweaker.

Word to the Wise

One computer wag, when talking about slow PC startups and poor PC performance, and after talking about utilities for Windows machines, went on the say, “Or, you can just avoid all this nonsense by getting a Mac.”