I cut my PC’s boot time by more than a few seconds — and it had almost nothing to do with disabling startup apps. The real gains came from enabling Windows’ Fast Startup, pruning unnecessary services, and trimming the firmware handshakes that happen before Windows ever gets control. These changes are quick, reversible, and together they produce a far more noticeable improvement than startup toggles alone.
Windows startup time is the product of several layers: firmware (BIOS/UEFI) POST and device enumeration, storage and driver initialization, the kernel and system session loading, and finally user‑level sign‑in items, services, and startup programs. Many guides treat startup apps as the first — and often only — target for optimization. That’s a good, safe first step, but it’s only one piece of the puzzle. A holistic approach that addresses Fast Startup, firmware boot options, and background services will deliver the largest day‑to‑day benefit for most users. This is the exact sequence described in the MakeUseOf feature that sparked this piece: the author enabled Fast Startup, trimmed firmware boot checks, disabled a handful of superfluous services, and measured the results with BootRacer.
This article explains the mechanics behind each tweak, verifies the technical claims against vendor documentation and independent reviews, and lays out a safe, step‑by‑step plan to reduce your Windows boot time without risky or irreversible changes.
How to safely disable a service
Pros:
Use both:
Windows boots in layered stages. Treating startup apps as the whole problem is common, but incomplete. Enabling Fast Startup, pruning unnecessary services, and tightening firmware boot behavior target the slowest, lowest‑level bottlenecks and — when done carefully and measured with the right tools — will deliver the fastest, most repeatable wins for everyday productivity.
Source: MakeUseOf I significantly cut my PC’s boot time and it wasn’t from disabling startup apps
Background / Overview
Windows startup time is the product of several layers: firmware (BIOS/UEFI) POST and device enumeration, storage and driver initialization, the kernel and system session loading, and finally user‑level sign‑in items, services, and startup programs. Many guides treat startup apps as the first — and often only — target for optimization. That’s a good, safe first step, but it’s only one piece of the puzzle. A holistic approach that addresses Fast Startup, firmware boot options, and background services will deliver the largest day‑to‑day benefit for most users. This is the exact sequence described in the MakeUseOf feature that sparked this piece: the author enabled Fast Startup, trimmed firmware boot checks, disabled a handful of superfluous services, and measured the results with BootRacer.This article explains the mechanics behind each tweak, verifies the technical claims against vendor documentation and independent reviews, and lays out a safe, step‑by‑step plan to reduce your Windows boot time without risky or irreversible changes.
Fast Startup: what it is, why it helps, and the caveats
What Fast Startup does
Fast Startup (hybrid shutdown) writes the current kernel and device-driver state to the hibernation file instead of tearing the kernel down on shutdown, then restores that kernel image on the next power‑on. That shortcut avoids reconstructing the kernel and reinitializing drivers from scratch, which often trims many seconds from cold boot time. Microsoft documents this behavior: Fast Startup saves the kernel session to the hiberfil.sys file and uses that stored state to speed the next boot.Real‑world benefit
On modern NVMe/SSD systems, the absolute gains are generally measured in a few seconds, but those seconds are noticeable every day. On older HDD systems the improvement can be much larger because disk latency amplifies the time cost of a full kernel rebuild. The MakeUseOf author reported meaningful improvements after enabling Fast Startup and pairing it with firmware and service tweaks.Important caveats and compatibility issues
- Fast Startup affects only shutdown→power‑on; a Restart performs a full cold boot. Microsoft explicitly notes this difference.
- Fast Startup can interfere with dual‑boot setups (Linux may not see NTFS volumes cleanly) and some firmware or device‑replacement workflows where a true cold initialization is required. It also interacts with BitLocker and other disk encryption or device‑initialization scenarios, so test before adopting it on multi‑boot or security‑sensitive machines.
- Because Fast Startup writes to the hiberfile, it consumes some disk space and depends on the hibernation subsystem.
- Open Control Panel → Hardware and Sound → Power Options → Choose what the power buttons do.
- Click Change settings that are currently unavailable.
- Under Shutdown settings, check Turn on fast startup (recommended) and Save changes.
Firmware (BIOS/UEFI) tweaks that matter
Why firmware matters
The firmware stage (POST/UEFI initialization) runs before Windows gets control. Poorly ordered boot priorities, extra device checks, or conservative POST behavior can add many seconds before Windows even starts loading. Fixing a suboptimal boot order or enabling UEFI-level Fast Boot can be one of the largest single wins because it removes time wasted polling unused devices.Key firmware options to check
- Boot order / Boot priority: Place your Windows system drive first. If the firmware checks optical, USB, or network boot devices before your OS disk, it can add several seconds.
- Fast Boot / Ultra Fast Boot (UEFI): Many manufacturers expose a Fast Boot option that skips or reduces some POST checks — for example, disabling checks for removable devices or deferring USB initialization until after OS load. Vendors such as Intel and ASUS document that enabling Fast Boot will disable or delay some device availability (USB/optical/network), and they list recovery methods in case Fast Boot prevents expected actions like entering BIOS setup. These options can speed firmware time significantly, but they also make BIOS/UEFI access and certain boot paths harder unless you temporarily disable Fast Boot.
Practical firmware checklist
- Enter UEFI/BIOS and set the system/OS drive as the first boot option.
- If present and you’re comfortable with tradeoffs, enable the firmware’s Fast Boot or Boot Optimization option. If you need to boot from USB or get into BIOS, temporarily disable it or use the vendor‑documented recovery method (power‑button trick, maintenance jumper, or Windows UEFI restart option).
Windows background services: what to prune and how to be safe
Services vs. startup apps
Startup apps are user‑level programs that run at sign‑in and are easily visible in Task Manager. Services are lower‑level background processes that Windows assigns a startup type (Automatic, Manual, Disabled) and that can run earlier in the boot pipeline. Services often cause larger boot slowdowns because they start before the user session and can block or delay other initialization tasks.Which services are commonly safe to disable (with caution)
- Third‑party updaters and vendor telemetry services (if you don’t rely on them).
- Printer spooler on systems without printers.
- Mobile hotspot services or rarely used vendor helper services.
- Legacy or redundant services you recognize and don’t need.
SysMain (Superfetch) — to disable or not?
SysMain (formerly Superfetch) is a memory and prefetching service designed to make frequently used apps load faster by preloading them into RAM. It can sometimes cause high disk or CPU activity during boot, and Microsoft documents cases and workarounds where SysMain causes resource spikes. If you see repeated SysMain-related spikes or abnormal behavior, turning it off is a common, reversible troubleshooting step.How to safely disable a service
- Press Windows + R → services.msc.
- Find the service (e.g., SysMain), right‑click → Stop.
- Right‑click → Properties → set Startup type to Manual or Disabled (change is reversible).
- Reboot and validate system behavior; reenable if you find degraded functionality.
Measuring boot time: event logs vs. BootRacer
Event Viewer & Event ID 100
Windows writes boot performance events to the Diagnostics‑Performance operational log (Applications and Services Logs → Microsoft → Windows → Diagnostics‑Performance → Operational). Event ID 100 reports Boot Duration (in milliseconds). This is an OS‑level, vendor‑recorded metric that provides a repeatable baseline for testing changes. Microsoft and community documentation show how to interpret this event and use it for comparisons.Pros:
- Official, repeatable, and unaffected by user input timing.
Cons: - Some builds and updates have made EventViewer entries appear differently; verify the log exists on your machine.
BootRacer: a lightweight, practical tool
BootRacer is a popular, lightweight utility that measures the time until Windows becomes usable and isolates the time spent by startup programs. The developer pages and independent reviews show BootRacer subtracts password/PIN entry time and provides history, comparisons, and a breakdown of what portion of boot time startup programs consume. It’s free for non‑commercial use and useful for before/after comparison runs.Use both:
- Use Event ID 100 for an official OS measurement and BootRacer for a user‑centric, practical before/after measurement that excludes password delays.
A safe, practical 10–20 minute plan to cut boot time (step‑by‑step)
- Create a restore point (optional but recommended).
- Measure baseline: record three cold boot runs with Event ID 100 and BootRacer (or use a stopwatch if you prefer). Note averages.
- Disable obvious startup apps in Task Manager → Startup (only nonessential items). Reboot and remeasure. If you accidentally disabled something you need, reenable it.
- Enable Fast Startup in Power Options if your setup is single‑boot and you don’t need cold‑boot behavior for device work. Reboot and remeasure. (Remember Restart still does a full cold boot.)
- Enter UEFI/BIOS: set your Windows drive as first in the boot order; enable firmware Fast Boot/Boot Optimization if available and you accept the tradeoffs. Reboot and remeasure.
- Audit services: open services.msc and identify non‑critical third‑party services (printer spooler if no printer, vendor helper apps, legacy features). Stop one or two at a time and set to Manual, reboot, and observe. Keep security and OS‑critical services alone.
- If you need deeper analysis: run Autoruns (Sysinternals) to inspect scheduled tasks, Run keys, and other hidden autostarts. Make incremental, reversible changes.
- Re‑measure with Event Viewer and BootRacer. Compare the results and save logs. BootRacer’s comparison function makes individual-change impact clear.
Advanced diagnostics and hardware considerations
- Storage: An SSD (SATA or NVMe) has the single biggest hardware impact on boot and application load times. If you’re still on an HDD, migrating Windows to an SSD will yield the largest single improvement.
- Drivers and firmware: Outdated storage or NVMe drivers and old motherboard firmware (BIOS/UEFI) can slow device initialization. Update chipset and NVMe drivers and flash UEFI firmware from your vendor if recommended.
- TRIM: Confirm TRIM is enabled for SSDs (fsutil behavior query DisableDeleteNotify should return 0). This keeps performance consistent over time.
- POST delays: Multiple attached drives or peripherals can add POST time. If your firmware enumerates many devices at boot, removing unused USB hubs or changing boot device checks helps.
Critical analysis: strengths, tradeoffs, and risks
Strengths of this approach
- Low risk, high ROI: Enabling Fast Startup, pruning a few services, and optimizing firmware boot order are reversible and yield daily, tangible time savings. The MakeUseOf account documents significant subjective gains from combining these steps.
- Measurable: Use Event ID 100 and BootRacer to prove improvements. BootRacer is especially useful for isolating startup‑program time because it excludes password delays.
- Layered: The plan prioritizes safer, simpler changes first (Task Manager, Fast Startup) and pushes riskier, more technical items later (services, BIOS changes).
Tradeoffs and risks (what to watch for)
- Dual‑boot and Linux users: Fast Startup can leave NTFS volumes in a hibernated state and cause data coherence issues for other OSes; avoid it on dual‑boot machines unless you understand the implications.
- Firmware Fast Boot: Enabling firmware Fast Boot can hide options and prevent booting from USB/optical without an alternate entry method — vendors document recovery methods but be prepared to temporarily disable Fast Boot to access BIOS/UEFI or alternate boot devices.
- Service disablement hazards: Disabling the wrong service can break features or networking. Always stop one service at a time and test. Create a restore point and note changes so you can revert.
- Security considerations: Do not disable antivirus, firewall, or update services unless you provide equivalent protections; doing so increases risk.
Unverifiable or variable claims
- A blanket claim that all Windows PCs should boot in 10–20 seconds is not verifiable — boot time depends heavily on hardware (SSD vs. HDD), firmware, drivers, and installed software. Reports that “a typical user sees 10–20 seconds” are anecdotal; measurable baselines will vary by system and configuration. Treat any specific second‑range as approximate and verify with Event Viewer or BootRacer on your machine.
Tools and utilities you should know
- Task Manager → Startup — quick, safe first pass to disable user‑level autostarts.
- services.msc — manage Windows services (stop, set startup type). Use cautiously.
- Autoruns (Sysinternals) — deep inspection of autostarts, scheduled tasks, and Run/RunOnce entries. Advanced use only.
- Event Viewer → Microsoft → Windows → Diagnostics‑Performance → Operational (Event ID 100) — official OS measurement of BootDuration.
- BootRacer — easy before/after benchmarking, excludes password entry, and shows startup program impact. Great for iterative testing.
Case study summary (what was reported and what the data shows)
The MakeUseOf write‑up shows a pragmatic, layered approach: disable nonessential services and startup items, enable Fast Startup, and change simple firmware settings like boot order and Fast Boot. The author’s experience matches the expected technical behavior documented by Microsoft and by motherboard vendors: kernel hibernation (Fast Startup) reduces kernel initialization time; firmware Fast Boot reduces POST time; stopping unneeded services reduces pre‑login work. The piece’s practical before/after runs and recommendation to measure with BootRacer align with independent tooling and vendor guidance.Final recommendations — safe, immediate actions to reduce boot time
- Start with Task Manager → Startup: disable nonessential apps. This is safe, reversible, and delivers immediate value.
- Enable Fast Startup if you don’t dual‑boot and you accept the interaction caveats with certain toolchains or disk encryption. Verify results with Event Viewer and BootRacer.
- Tweak firmware: set the OS drive first in the boot order and consider enabling UEFI Fast Boot if you rarely boot from USB/optical. Know the vendor recovery steps for accessing BIOS if Fast Boot blocks the normal key combinations.
- Audit and selectively disable non‑critical services, stopping one at a time and testing each change. Keep security services enabled.
- Measure every change with Event ID 100 and BootRacer so you can attribute gains to specific actions and roll back any step that causes problems.
Windows boots in layered stages. Treating startup apps as the whole problem is common, but incomplete. Enabling Fast Startup, pruning unnecessary services, and tightening firmware boot behavior target the slowest, lowest‑level bottlenecks and — when done carefully and measured with the right tools — will deliver the fastest, most repeatable wins for everyday productivity.
Source: MakeUseOf I significantly cut my PC’s boot time and it wasn’t from disabling startup apps
