WEEK 3: HARDWARE NUTS & BOLTS
I have been extremely frustrated with my Gateway computer that I bought about a year and a half ago because it takes about 5 minutes to run every time I start the computer. I can turn it on and walk away to start brewing a cup of coffee before it is ready for me to use! It seems like it is starting up every program on my computer and I am sick of seeing the ‘thinking hourglass’ icon when I want to get to work! A few months ago I added some memory to my computer thinking that it would help speed things up when I started my computer; it didn’t help that, but it does run faster now when I have multiple applications running at once. I have changed my computers startup menu options in Windows and have even messed around with the ‘Startup Application Manager’ options with Norton SystemWorks, but neither of theses manipulation attempts have helped in anyway.
I decided that at this point I want to look for a free or cheap fix to my problem. Since my issue isn’t detrimental to the functioning of the overall computer, just an annoyance, there is no need to purchase another computer. I started by doing some searches on-line for shareware and found a free program called Advanced WindowsCare V2 PerIsonal edition at IOBit.com. After I downloaded the program, I worked with the Startup Manager under the ‘Tools’ menu and was able to pick which programs that I didn’t want to start-up when Windows launches. I had done similar manipulations with SystemWorks and the computer menus without any improvement in start-up time. When I applied the new WindowsCare settings and restarted my computer I got a new record, a minute and a half! Besides allowing me to fix my problem, I like the additional security, optimization and cleaning support that this program provides as well.
If someone with a similar problem had come to me I would ask them the following:
- What manipulations have you already tried to decrease start-up time?
- How much do you know about managing and optimizing computers?
- How much are you willing to pay to fix this minor annoyance if needed?
My suggestions for someone who had a similar problem would be to:
- First, try making menu/start-up manipulations with the computer or other programs that are already available (SystemWorks etc.)
- Second, look for free or shareware programs that you could use next.
- Third, if these don’t work, look into having a professional diagnose and optimize your computers running time for you.
I would not suggest buying another computer unless there were other major problems or specific optimization/speed issues that were affecting all the other computer applications as well.
This is a really great point. Software installations are notorious for installing themselves as a ’startup’ or system tray program, so they get put into memory when windows boots up. After a handful of these, it can really become a problem for windows to load. You might even see your desktop but cannot use it because all of these programs are starting up. There’s a few ways to fix this, and it sounds like you find one that’ll do it for you. If you’re running XP, you can also try going to Start–> Run.. and then type msconfig. This brings up a window, and on the ’startup’ tab you can uncheck programs you don’t want to load at startup. It’s very likely the shareware program you used does the same thing. Nice find!