Jun172012

Is it possible to step through the Windows XP Startup process to see where boot times can be improved?

Joe Videtto asks:

In Visual Basic for Applications, I recall the step debugger allows one to step through each line of code, seeing how long it takes to execute, and looking at temp files and variables, etc.

1.) Is there something similar I can do during the Windows XP startup process, to see where my bottlenecks are and specifically which portions of the startup process are slowing down the overall bootup time ?

2.) Same question for the boot process (which I’m assuming is the prequel to the Windows Startup Process) ?


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6 Answers -

0 votes

ha14

June 17, 2012

try soluto
https://www.soluto.com/

Use Soluto To Improve Your Windows Boot Up Time
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/soluto-improve-windows-boot-time/

1) Download Process Monitor. Unzip the file and open Procmon.exe with administrative privileges.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896645.aspx
2)Stop Process Monitor from logging all t events by clicking on “File/Capture Events.” then go to “Options,” choose: “Enable Boot Logging.” Enable it, click on “Generate profiling events” and click “OK.”
3)reboot your PC. launch Process Monitor again and click on “Yes” once you see the message: …;do you wish to save the collected data now?
3)Save the boot log. Process Monitor now generates a huge list of basically each and every boot event.

0 votes

Mike

June 17, 2012

You can use Soluto to meassure and optimize the startup process.
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/boottimer-objectively-measure-windows-xp-boot-time/

As for the actual boot process before there are:
- Windows Performance Analyse Tools
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/performance/default.aspx
http://techie-buzz.com/tips-and-tricks/windows-boot-performance-wpt.html

- BootVis (this one is quite old, not sure it is working and or accurate anymore)
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Tweak/System-Tweak/BootVis.shtml

For software based optimization I don’t recommend ‘stepping out of Soluto’ because you may deactivate or break some crucial part of the boot. Soluto usually warns you and gives you details for each and every item.

The Windows Performance Toolkit will allow you to detect hardware related bottlenecks.

0 votes

Bruce Epper

June 17, 2012

A better way to go about this would be to try Soluto (www.soluto.com). I used it when it was in beta just to see what it could do. It looks like it may be out of beta now, but I haven’t used it since that first run. It will give you a breakdown of your startup times and indicate what services and applications you can play with by either disabling them because they are not necessary or delaying their startup.

It is free for up to 5 machines, but if you have identically configured systems, you only need to run it on one of them to find out what changes you need to make to get better startup times.

0 votes

ecd4a4d35dce1b96560e85a8ce64f578

June 17, 2012

Also, I would look at msconfig.

as Administrator, run “msconfig” from the run prompt. you can now see all the services your PC is running, as well as what is being run at login.

0 votes

ryandigweed0

June 17, 2012

I usually use CCleaner, there have a tool which is the start up tool.

I disable everything, except for drivers like NWIZ, NVIDIA, Realtek, stuff like that.

If you see the process name, just google it, and you will find out what it’s for. If it’s something unimportant, disable it. Also Do a registry scan with CCleaner.

If you want to speed up your boot process, then try defraying your drive with Defraggler, and also clearing any junk on your desktop :)

Good Luck :)

0 votes

Dalsan

June 23, 2012

Along with using msconfig.msc there is also services.msc for starting various services for programs at startup, delayed startup, manual and disabled. I would also check out the scheduled tasks to see if anything is set to start at startup or not. I haven’t used Soluto, but it sounds like it should give you much of the information you are looking for. Another item that can delay the start of Windows a little is the startup sound or login sound if it is too long. Some programs like CCleaner and security software also can slow down the start process if set to scan on boot. Be careful of what you disable as it can mess up some functions that you may want or need. http://www.blackviper.com has a good bit of guides to help tweak your system for not only faster boot times but also speedier user experience. Hope all this info from all of us helps you in getting the results you are looking for. One more item that can slow the boot process is if the BIOS is not up to date or set for system scan.