When my laptop starts, it comes to the opening screen and sits there for ages. Then up comes my desktop with no icons. It then takes about five minutes before they appear. Help?
Slow Startup Causes
A number of scenarios can lead to slow startup times including disconnected network drives, fragmented hard drives, too many startup programs, computer viruses and spyware, and even file and printer sharing. In addition to individually slowing your computer, a combination of these factors is possibly affecting your laptop’s startup time. Let’s take a look at the more common startup drains.
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Network Drives
First, do you use this laptop at home and work? If so, it’s likely that it’s set up to map to a network drive. For example, if you have your laptop set up to log onto the server at the office, when it’s disconnected from the office network, startup may take an exceptionally long time because the computer is searching for the network and waiting for a response. To avoid this, go to My Computer and click Tools > Disconnect Network Drives.
Fragmented Hard Drive
A fragmented hard drive is a slow hard drive. This is because all of its bits and pieces get split up over time and the operating system must piece everything back together as needed. As files grow larger, they outgrow their original disk space. Windows then splits the file, saving pieces in other areas of the hard drive and making a note in a master index in how to put the file back together. As you can imagine, this takes time. If it were just one file, that wouldn’t be so bad. However, if performance is extremely slow, it’s likely that thousands of files are fragmented.
Fortunately, defragging the hard drive can put your files back together. Go to Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Defragmenter and run this utility with no other programs in use.
Startup Programs
Another common cause of slow startups involves the number of programs that your computer loads each time. Not only does this take time, it also hogs memory which further adds to the slowdown. Your computer should only load the bare necessities, such as antivirus programs, at startup. Everything else should be loaded on an as-needed basis.
Launch Windows Defender and go to Tools > Software Explorer. You’ll see all programs currently set to load in the category “Startup Programs.” Highlight any unnecessary programs and click the Disable button.
Computer Viruses and Spyware
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Malware is notorious for computer startup problems as well as general PC sluggishness. In fact, these are much like startup programs in that Windows loads each one at startup. The only difference here is that you are unaware of this happening. Use a reputable antivirus/antispyware program to scan your computer for malware. Generally speaking, an infected computer usually has dozens of viruses and spyware operating, not just one. Here’s a list of antivirus products to consider.
File and Printer Sharing
If you have File and Printer Sharing enabled, yet don’t actively share your files and printer, consider disabling this option as it can contribute to slow startup times. In Windows XP, go to Control Panel > Network Connections > Local Area Connection > Properties and uncheck the option for File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks.
In Vista, go to Start > Network > Network and Sharing Center and then turn off both File Sharing and Printer Sharing.
Celeste Stewart | June 15th, 2009
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