How to forum: How to reduce boot time ( I Don't want the usual tips )?

And what are you using for security software? I see one potential red flag with the registry cleaner. A bit more information regarding other installed software might help.

I use Avast AV and like it BUT its not the best out there but its free. Being free I keep it and i don't go into fearful places at least i try not to. I mention this because other "paid for" tend to better and may stop or correct some malware far quicker or give ntoice. I suggest you visit some of the "online scan services" from the likes Norton, Klasasky, etc.. Visit the spyware, security and virus forum and find the "sticky note" for all the web links and do various vendors online scans. Once that's done then it should be more trusty on the malware side.

Next, while I use CCleaner too, I use it at its default nothing fancy. If you play too much in the registry type cleaners they can bite you, thus I remain at default setting, unless I'm well aware of its doings. Since, you mention two different cleaners, pick one and stay with it.

I know in the past weeks, big OS updates have occured. So, you maybe feeling the effects of these though they shouldn't slow you down, but issues do arise sometimes, google for your OS what maybe said about OS updates. Also, click the "task manager" to see what being done int he backgrd., so check and verify. Alas, you may want to use HiJackthis s/w and verify what going on there.

Sorry, but you mentioned slow boot time but it may not be where the fix lies. As Already stated above look to see if any malware or added pgms(unknown to you) are in play here. Don't take anything for granted.

If all fails, you may want to use a restore point to return to a date when you know this issue wasn't present. If that corrects that and the problem returns, become aware of what has transpired.

tada -----Willy

Willy made a couple of good points, KASLASKY, he was saying Kaspersky LOL...Even though you may not have downloaded other programs the way you are set up could lead to spyware/malware building in the system, there are many variables as to why. The free AV stuff is ok and many get by with using the free downloads but there can be shortfalls using the freebies. There are tons of variables because no two computer users are exactly the same when it comes to browser(s), search engines, sites etc. If you do a lot of browsing, visiting different sites, facebook, my space and such, it would be a good idea to get something better than the freebie AV's, they can be limited in functionality. Registry cleaners often create way more issues than they resolve and I wouldn't recommend using any of them and only as a last resort if at all. Do a little research on AV software packages that incorporate such things as anti spyware/malware, anti phishing and keylogger function. No they are not free but it can be a lot cheaper to pay for an annual subscription than to go through some of the nightmares that can be created by having insufficient security software onboard.

Here's a link showing how to investigate Windows. You may learn a thing or two (fair warning!)

http://blogs.technet.com/b/markrussinovich/archive/2010/01/13/3305263.aspx

Russ has others about slow boots too.
Bob

You do not mention if boot time just got a lot longer for Windows 7 or for Ubuntu, or both. Assuming for a moment that it's Windows, consider rolling back your system with System Restore to a date before the slowdown occurred. Twice in the last year one or more of our PCs slowed way down after automatic monthly Windows Updates. Once we were fortunate - System Restore fixed the problem on two computers and full speed was restored. The other time caused a system crash/freeze after which the extra hard drives in the case (for data storage) were no longer recognised! System Restore did not resolve this so we reinstalled Windows 7 with Service Pack 1 (from a backup system image) and then we turned off Windows Update. This may be risky from a security point of view but we don't like our system being hosed by Updates we didn't select!

Next, consider installing an SSD. We began using three Kingston SSDs and one Sandisk SSD over the past year, and all of them have proved very reliable. They make boot up/shutdown and program launch times noticeably quicker, and even our basic Pentium dual-core laptop now does everything faster than our friend's more recent quad-core laptop (for which he paid considerably more!). Just observe the basic to-do's for an SSD. Enable SATA mode = AHCI (or SATA = Enhanced for older systems) in the system BIOS screen just before installing Windows or booting up the SSD for the first time. (To avoid any possible confusion, we also disconnected the two regular hard drives in each system then reconnected them later after installing Windows 7.) After installing Windows, run the Windows Experience Index assessment thing right away. Windows will recognise that it's an SSD and make all necessary adjustments to ensure the drive is handled properly and performs well.

Many early SSDs were rushed to market and had reliability problems, mostly from glitchy control software. Firmware updates from the maker's websites fixed the problems, and even now an update may enhance performance further. Kingston's controllers have proved very reliable and so has Sandisk. Also should mention Intel brand for high reliability. Many factors can affect computer performance and a good SSD will remove the bottleneck where your processor and memory are waiting-waiting-waiting for the hard drive to locate and load stuff for you. Look for a special price on a good model and take the plunge. This morning as I write, you can get a top-rated Sandisk Extreme 240GB SSD for $179.99 with free shipping and no tax. Not too shabby !

Get a solid-state drive. This will MASSIVELY decrease your boot time. Boot time will be reduced to about 10-20 seconds. Including login time = under a minute, usually about 30-40 seconds.

Check out:

crucial.com

Just look up the model of your PC and have the SSD tab checked, they are pretty much fool-proof. And the best thing is you can choose which SSD you want and it also does data transfer kits so you don't have to reinstall everything.

In place of using so many programs(which occupy a lot of disk space) for almost the same purpose,i would like to suggest an all in one software called "tune up utilities".It has everything from fixing your laptop's registry to defrag hard disks in just a single click.There are many programs embedded in it like disk doctor,repair wizard,startup programs,etc.A very useful thing about it is its that u can select which program you want for startup and which not.Also,it optimizes your computer after a fixed interval of time and pinpoints which program is occupying a lot of space.And there are loads of other options for this purpose only.So try it and let me know.

arminale Hi,

You might try uninstalling some of your fonts.
Especially if you've got a bunch of em hanging around on your laptop. I've got about 500 and should drop most of them but I like cartoon style fonts just too much.
The system reloads all of your installed fonts every time you boot up. Be sure to save copies of the fonts you decide to uninstall to a folder so you can always re-install them whenever you want.

Excuse the belatedness. Plus, Cnet has several font manager utilities such as The Font Thing or Font Xplorer that let you view all of your fonts whether they're installed or not.