Faster Computer Startup

How To Repair A Computer

We continue on with our series on “Fix My PC” by looking at faster computer startup issues. The first 4 steps are on the previous pages. If you have not gone through those steps yet, please start at the Home page and then page 2, “How To Fix My Computer”, and come forward with the steps 1 through 4.

The slow pc performance issue is not from hardware or lack of available memory (step 4) so we move on to software:

Step # (5) Faster Computer Startup / Identifying and Eliminating Software Programs On Our PC That Can Cause Our Slow Issues

Are your slow computer problems being caused by one particular software program? This sounds a little too simple to start with… but maybe not. What if the culprit program comes on at start-up and is always on? Something like an anti-virus program. We’ve seen anti-virus programs that are set to scan way too much and can cause the pc to really drag in operating speed.

The example of an anti-virus is something like this: (it can apply to a lot of different programs) It may or may not be your “real” anti-virus and can be set up by mistake or maliciously in two ways – first, to come on when Windows starts up and scan your entire computer – or second to trigger a scan of different parts of your pc when they are accessed, opened or downloaded. Either way, the scanning will use up a good bit of your processors capacity needlessly resulting in slow computer problems. In some of these cases you may receive computer error messages but certainly not always.

Think about this. Did your slow pc problems begin right after you added a program to your pc? Or after downloading anything online? A lot of software is designed to start running at computer start-up and continue running (or at least some of its functions) in the background. And more than likely you don’t even know it. It also does not have to be a malicious type of program. If a software application has a compatibility issue with your operating system or other programs, it can give you a lot of problems.

Most pc problems can be uncovered by a SAFE, simple scan of the computer’s Registry. At least by going on now and doing the scan you know this part of your computer is OK.. or not. Just click Repair My PC and follow the simple instructions.

PC Repair Programs

For Windows From Microsoft

In doing this pc troubleshooting, how can you know what programs are starting when your operating systems starts and can you do anything about them? While not really meant for computer repair help, Microsoft has a program that makes this somewhat easy. They have a program called AutoRuns that is available and can be run by anyone. Go to AutoRuns.

Follow the pictures and quickly go through this system test. As you can see (picture at left) click on “Download Autoruns and Autorunsc” to download the program to your computer. This is an actual program you are going to save and open that will remain on your pc for you to use anytime. You can even save your current setting and compare them later to see if anything has changed such as new programs have been added that you did not know about.

The program is compacted for faster downloading and you will have to “un-zip” it with WinZip or other another opening application (your pc will tell you just like the picture).

Next the Autoruns program will have to be opened by double clicking the application (see highlighted) and agreeing to the terms of the license.

Now you see the actual program. The highlighted “Logon” give a list of applications that open as you log onto your computer. Also there is “Boot Execute” that shows the programs that are configured to start running as soon as your pc fires off.. usually these should only be anti-virus programs. “Everything” show applications that are auto-started by any action such as by another program. At log-on is where you would need to look for faster computer startup help.

There is a lot to this MS program such as telling what entries might be causing our slow computer issues. And you don’t want to delete something vital to your its operation. We are not going to go into the details of how to use it here. Notice on the picture above the highlighted “Help”. By clicking the help you bring up the last picture and a great explanation of how to use this AutoRun program.

Be careful use the “Getting More Information About An Entry” before removing any programs. It will show you how to search for the information you need to have in making a decision about any of these programs that are starting automatically. I promise you that you will find several you can stop.

Next we will go into other programs that can help us analyze and fix pc errors.

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