Speeding Windows 7/Vista Boot Time

[alluseridsrejected]

I have been using the xbootmgr command to speed up the boot time for customer machines. I have used it on several Vista systems recently. The command is part of the Windows Performance Tools kit. You have to download the Windows 7 SDK or Visual Studio to get the wpt_x86.msi and wpt_x64.msi installers. After you install the Performance Toolkit on the customer's machine you run this command:

xbootmgr -trace boot -prepSystem -verboseReadyBoot

It then goes through a process of tracing bootup, defraging startup files in an optimized sequence and setting up a special readyboot cache. It reboots the system 6 times in all to optimize the boot process.

It seems to me like it is helping the boot time a fair amount, but I do not have any hard figures on it. I do this as a last step after I have finished cleaning up the system.

Detailed procedures can be located here:
http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/140262-how-to-speed-up-boot-process-under-windows-vista-or-windows-7/

Anyone else have experience with this they can add?

 

[jccrcomputers]

How long does the whole procedure take?
I guess it works in the same way that BootVis does on Windows XP.

 

[Methical]

I did post about a boot timer; you could use it to check before/after times of boot up time. I guess a stop-watch works all the same, but when has it officially 'loaded' .. Thats the question

 

[4ycr]

I have been trying out soluto for testing the boot up speed, I am not convinced it is accurate though.

 

[Xander]

If you are a Windows 7 User:
Make sure that EnablePrefetcher and EnableSuperfetch registry settings are not disabled and that the Superfetch service (sysmain) is running and set to start automatically.

So.... it's not helpful for those of us using SSDs then.

 

[alluseridsrejected]

How long does the whole procedure take?

It does take a good while, and varies by system. Each reboot has a 2 minute timer where it is collecting trace info and the defrag step takes the longest by far. I think that is the 2nd reboot. Also, it seems to me like it is 7 reboots in all, not 6 like it says. But as long as you remove/disable any logon password 1st it is very automated.

 

[alluseridsrejected]

I have been trying out soluto for testing the boot up speed, I am not convinced it is accurate though.

I have played around with soluto as well. I think it gives some good information, but I also was not too sure about the accuracy of the time breakdown it gives. Also as I remember, it requires you to leave the software installed to keep the optimized bootup.

 

[Tekguy]

I've had good success using the xbootmgr command with Vista machines, but it didn't seem to help Win7 machines at all. I only tried it on a couple of Win7 PCs though.

 

[ZenTree]

Solutu varied way too much for me and I'd also heard you had to keep installed to keep the benefits. More of an end user tool than a technicians, imo.

I've used xbootmgr to analyse particularly slow bootups/shutdowns in vista and then looked about fixing the issue myself (for example an antivirus taking a major amount of time at the very beginning and nothing else runs - set the antivirus to start the scan a few minutes after everything else loads ). simple things really but makes a huge difference on loading times in those cases.
I wasn't actually aware that there was an auto fix option as such, i've been dubious of those things since bootvis as this is exactly the same thing really.

I think the autofix , in most cases, will not do much in most cases but for those troublesome ones it can't do any harm (though I will be doing things manually still in terms of analysing what is causing the lag in boot times, it's often useful to see what is causing the issue rather than clicking and walking away).

 

[MobileTechie]

I never really though Bootvis did much anyway.

These days I just use the sleep function so boot times don't really matter to me.

 

[Cambridge PC Support]

These days I just use the sleep function so boot times don't really matter to me.

I thought my boot up was slow, but I've never managed to fit a nap in!

 

[FoolishTech]

Since I've integrated xbootmgr optimization into D7 (Maintenance tab > xperf.exe wrapper, if you didn't know this), I've only used it once.

I did notice a, what I would consider, minor increase in startup times...

...but the entire procedure took FOREVER and rebooted the PC SEVEN times (heh it warned you it would reboot SIX times, but it did SEVEN.. shrug)

Not something I would do to just any old PC in the shop for service...

 

[hightechrex]

I'm suprised no one mentioned booting from a small SSD drive or just disabling startup programs and services..

 

[Cambridge PC Support]

I'm suprised no one mentioned booting from a small SSD drive or just disabling startup programs and services..

I think if you're on this forum and running a computer repair business then it's assumed that you'd already thought of that.