How To Speedup Windows XP & Vista Boot

This is a must-read guide for all Windows XP and Vista users. Though there are thousands of articles available on speeding up Vista and XP boot time, what sets this guide apart is that this is written by the team IntoWindows! This guide will show you how to lower the Windows boot time. Let's start with the basics first.

Step 1: Go to the fonts folder. To open fonts folder, just type “fonts” in the Vista Start Menu or in the Run dialog box.

Step 2: Delete useless fonts that you won't use. For those who don't know, Windows takes enough amount of time to load all installed fonts during the boot process. Installing more than 100 fonts will significantly reduce your system boot speed. Step 3: Next major time killers are startup programs. These startup programs not only increase the boot time but also frustrate us with pop-ups. Open the System Configuration utility by typing msconfig in the Vista Start Menu Search box or in the Run dialog box. Under the Startup tab, remove the programs which are not necessary to load at the startup (Ex: Pc Suite, Pc Sync, Realtek voice manager). Step 4: Next switch to Boot tab and select the No GUI boot option and click Apply to save the changes. If Windows prompts for restart, select the Exit without restart option.
Step 5: This tweak is only for Vista with multi-core processors (Dual, quad and octa-core processors). Under the Boot tab of System Configuration, open the option named Advanced options, check the box named Number of processors and select the number of processors you have. Click the Apply button. Step 6: Navigate to the Services tab, remove unnecessary services (only if you are not using) like Parental Controls, Telephony, Remote registry, Fax, Ready boost to increase the boot speed. Remove unnecessary services only. Step 7: Download a free utility called Bootvis from here (works only for XP). Extract and unzip the file to Desktop and run the Bootvis. Go to Trace > Boottime+driver delays and reboot the system. Wait for a while to get further message and instruction from bootvis to proceed. The worst part is it doesn't work with Vista. Step 8: Use the boot defragmentation feature in Windows. To enable go to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\Dfrg\BootOptimizeFunction In the right side pane, right click on the option “Enable” and select “Modify”. Type in “Y' to enable boot defrgmentation. Step 9: Defrag your C drive using Vista's in-built tool. If you think the Vista's in-built defragger is slow, you can use the free Defraggler software from here.

Step 10: Fix all your registry errors with a freeware tool called CCleaner. Keeping the registry clean will boost your system performance dramatically. Step 11: If you dual boot, select the default operating system to boot and also, lower the amount of time to wait for you make a selection.
Step 12: If you are not using Floppy drive, disable it in the BIOS. If your BIOS supports Quick Post and Disabling Boot Delay, just enable those features.
Step 13: One more boot time killer is the Startup sound. You can disable this as follows: type “mmsys.cpl” in the run dialog box and hit enter. Navigate to Sounds tab and disable the option called Play Windows Startup Sound (only in Vista). In XP, use the option named No Sounds from the drop-down menu in the Sounds tab. Step 14: Never use third-party boot and logon screens as they slow down your boot process significantly. Step 15: Install latest updates for your operating systems from Microsoft website.