Who hasn’t sat there impatiently tapping their fingers while waiting for your PC to reboot? Boot time can vary from computer to computer, but there are some things that you can do to speed up the length of time it takes your computer to turn on and be ready to go.

Control Startup Items

Startup items are those little items that automatically start running as soon as you turn on your PC. Some of them are necessary to the functionality of your machine, some are completely not necessary and are just bogging down your boot up time. To find out what startup items are running on your PC:

1.Go to your Start menu and click on Run.
2.In the blank type MSCONFIG and hit enter.
3.In the System Configuration window that opens, select the Startup tab.

This is a list of all of your startup items. The ones with checked boxes next to them are the ones that start during boot up. You can use search engines to determine what each item is and whether or not it’s essential to your PC’s performance. If it’s not, you can easily disable it in your System Configuration by unchecking the box.

The good thing here is that all of the items listed are non vital, so disabling any or all of them won't hurt your system.  When you're done, just click OK and you'll be prompted to reboot your computer.  When it turns back on, you'll see a message telling you that startup items have been changed.  Close it out and enjoy the boost in startup speed.

Clean out Temporary Files

Temporary files are files your PC creates for backup and time-saving purposes. These files can start to add up and clutter your PC’s disk space, eating up memory and slowing down operating speed. You can clear out your temporary folder pretty easily.

1.Go to your Start menu and click on Run.
2.In the blank type %Temp% and then hit Enter.
3.Review the list of temporary, unused files and highlight the ones you want to delete by holding down your CTRL key and clicking each file with your mouse.
4.Hit your Delete button to delete the highlighted temporary files.
5.Hit Yes to confirm deletion.

Remember that these files are called temporary for a reason.  These are log files that are made during the course of running your PC.  They can all go if you want and nothing bad will happen.

Use the Windows Disk Cleanup

Another good way to remove unused and unnecessary files on your PC is to run your Windows Disk Cleanup. This utility automatically deletes files and empties the recycle bin.
To run your Windows Disk Cleanup:

1.Click on your Start button and open All Programs.
2.Under Accessories, click System Tools.
3.Click on Disk Cleanup.

4.Under Options choose whether you want to cleanup all files, or just your own (for shared PCs).
5.Select the hard disk drive you want to clean.
6.Click the Disk Cleanup tab again and click on the checkboxes for the files you want to delete. Then click OK and Delete Files.

The Disk Cleanup does several jobs, all with one easy-to-use interface.  It's a part of Windows designed to help manage Windows.  By removing all of the caches, logs and junk that it can find, the Disk Cleanup can provide a major Spring clean for your system whenever you run it.

Reduce the Number of Fonts Installed

Believe it or not, whenever Windows boots it also has to load all of the fonts too. And if you have a lot of fonts, it adds on to your boot time. To start, create a new folder in your C drive and call it Fonts Backup (or something like that). Keep the new folder open and follow these instructions to copy fonts from the Windows folder.

1.Click on Start and then My Computer.
2.Open your C drive and then scroll over to your Windows folder.
3.Scroll down to find your Fonts folder and click to open.
4.Pull up your Fonts Backup window and drag unnecessary fonts into the Backup folder. This will remove them from the Windows folder and your PC won’t have to load them during boot up.

Hint: NECESSARY fonts including Times, Times New Roman, Arial, Verdana, Trebuchet, Tahoma, and MS Sans Serif should not be removed from the Windows folder.

Manage your RAM

If you still aren’t seeing a big enough difference in boot time, we recommend purchasing and installing more random access memory (RAM). Click some of the links below to get more information and detailed instructions on updating your RAM.  This process is more technical, so it may not be something you feel safe doing, but needless to say, updating virtual memory can make a world of difference in how you interact with your PC.  To learn more, see:

Update Your PC RAM PC World

Update Your Laptop RAM

Learn More About Virtual Memory