Slow Boot - Optimize Windows 7 for Faster Start-up

No matter how fast or shiny computers might be when they're new, they all seem to get slower over time. My Samsung NC10 netbook running Windows 7 was taking forever to start up so time for a sort out. As a yardstick they reckon if your computer is taking more than 45 secs to boot up there is something seriously wrong, mine was taking nearly 2 minutes. 

A quick Google throws up a bunch of useless information most of which is a disguise for selling you some 3rd party software solution. So I started with the Microsoft suggestions "Optimise Windows 7 for Better Performance".

First suggestion is to try the Performance Troubleshooter, which can automatically find and fix problems.

•  Open the Performance troubleshooter by clicking the Start button , and then clicking Control Panel. In the search box, type troubleshooter, and then click Troubleshooting. Under System and Security, click Check for performance issues.

I discovered that about 10 programmes were opening at start-up. None was essential, Microsoft hides the essential programmes from view, so I chose the global option to close all. I rebooted as requested and amazingly the NC10 booted in 30 seconds which I call a result.

There are other things you can do, if you are not certain about the security status of your computer you may wish to double check you have no nasties lurking about on you HD. Make sure your ant-virus software is up-to-date and run a full scan. If you don't already have it, upload anti-malware software such as Malwarebytes, get the free version here. If you not up to speed with security software I suggest you have a look at this video by Britec09 on YouTube, this guy knows what he is talking about and there are no catches.