How to speed up Windows boot.

[LeetPirate]

This guide will not include any unnecessary information, I will just cut to the chase and tell you which services to disable. If you want to know more details about the services you will have to look them up elsewhere. This guide will give at least 10s reduction in boot time.

I also suggest you check out these websites for further information:

thepcspy.com - what_really_slows_windows_down.

blackviper.com - Vista SP2 service configurations.

speedyvista.com - Vista services explained.

Before you begin tweaking you need to know exactly how long it takes your PC to boot in the first place. Use this leet VBS script I found online and it will record and calculate your boot time in seconds.

http://www.mediafire.com/?iktnjzct2jz

Go to Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Services. Or Start, Run, type in "services.msc" and press enter.

01.) Alerter = disabled.

02.) Application Layer Gateway Service = manual or disabled (disable only if you also disabled Windows Firewall/ICS service).

03.) Automatic Updates = manual or disabled.

04.) Background Intelligent Transfer Service = manual.

05.) Clipbook = disabled.

06.) Computer Browser = disabled.

07.) Cryptographic Services = manual (it will start on its own when needed, if disabled you'll be flooded with uncertified driver notifications).

08.) Distributed Link Tracking Client = manual or disabled.

09.) Distributed Transaction Coordinator = manual or disabled.

10.) DNS Client = disabled (if using broadband, enabled for dial up).

11.) Error Reporting Service = disabled.

12.) Help and Support = disabled.

13.) Human Interface Device Access = disabled (do not change if your keyboard does not have it's own drivers for its hotkeys).

14.) IMAPI CD-Burning COM Service = manual.

15.) Indexing Service = manual or disabled.

16.) Messenger = disabled (no this is not msn messenger).

17.) Net. Tcp Port Sharing Service = disabled.

18.) Network DDE = manual or disabled.

19.) Network DDE DSDM = manual or disabled.

20.) Network Location Awareness (NLA) = disabled (unless your PC uses multiple connections via different NICs, ICS, or Windows Firewall.

21.) QoS RSVP = manual or disabled (most likely you do not need this unless you use it for IPTV or VoIP).

22.) Remote Registry = disabled.

23.) Routing and Remote Access = disabled.

24.) Security Center = disabled.

25.) SSDP Discovery Service = disabled.

26.) System Restore Service = disabled ("turn off system restore" feature sets this to manual so the effect is the same).

27.) Telnet = disabled (this is the telnet server not the client).

28.) Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) Device Host = disabled.

29.) WebClient = disabled.

30.) Windows Firewall/ Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) = disabled (this will disable the windows firewall).

31.) Wireless Zero Configuration = disabled (you don't need this unless you use it for a wireless connection).

Most of these are for Vista only but some may also apply to XP SP3.

32.) DHCP Client = disabled if you use a static IP for your network connection, else Automatic.

33.) Function Discovery Provider Host = disabled.

34.) Function Discovery Resource Publication = disabled.

35.) Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) = disabled unless you use it.

36.) Offline Files = disabled.

37.) PnP-X IP Bus Enumerator = disabled.

38.) Portable Device Enumerator Service = disabled.

39.) ReadyBoost = disabled.

40.) Tablet PC Input Service = disabled.

41.) Windows Error Reporting Service = disabled.

42.) Windows Media Center Extender Service = disabled.

43.) Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service = disabled.

44.) Windows Search = disabled.

Most of the other services are already manual by default and do not need to be disabled.

If I think of any more I will be sure to update the list. If you would like to inquire about a service you have running that isn't listed above then please feel free to ask and I will investigate whether it is safe to disable it.

[SacredCultivator]

Nice, already had some of those disabled but foudna few more that I didn't need. Thanks.

[LoKz]

Do we have an option on what to disable?..

[Bizarre™]

@LeetPirate:

Or you can use BootVis :)

[shought]

I already had most of them enabled, but some(like DNS Client and SSDP Discovery Service) were still running. Thanks for the guide ;)

[Nessjirval]

thanks for the guide, had some of them disabled but not all of it, so i'm going to aplly this to my services.

[Sonar]

All these can be found on Blackviper's web site (XP & Vista). But thanks for bringing it to the forum ;p

There's a lot more you can disable/manual in the registry.

Edit:

If you want a faster bootup you can also disable the status scans that show drives/memory & all that in bios.

Another good one is NOGUIBOOT.

Start -> Msconfig "ok" -> Locate BOOT.INI (Tab) -> Tick the box NOGUIBOOT.

[SacredCultivator]

Yeah most of mine I looked on Blackviper's site.

Hmm never heard of the NOGUIBOOT one... what exactly does that one do?

[Sonar]

Yeah most of mine I looked on Blackviper's site.

Hmm never heard of the NOGUIBOOT one... what exactly does that one do?

It has no harm.

/NOGUIBOOT - Microsoft Windows 2000 and above switch that if enabled will

not load the graphics driver to display the graphic as Windows is starting

==========

No GUI Boot

If you don't need to see the XP boot logo,

Run MSCONFIG

Click on the BOOT.INI tab

Check the box for /NOGUIBOOT

===========

Disables the Splash Screen

/noguiboot switch; disabling the Windows XP Professional progress bar that

appears before the CTRL+ALT+DEL logon prompt.

===========

Using BOOT.INI Startup Switches

http://www.winguides.com/registry/display.php/1268

[demonon]

Thanks for the list.

I was experimenting with a XP machine where I had running 16 processes and 25 services. I think this list can help me further!

[Bizarre™]

I'm running 14 processes (not including files at startup)

[SacredCultivator]

Hmmm I got a bunch =P

TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper Service

I'm not too sure if I need that or not.. Cause i read from BV's site but not sureif my Network (Router) uses it...

Same applies for this:

QoS RSVP

[Bizarre™]

You don't need TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper Service.

I have it disabled, and so far so good.

[SacredCultivator]

Thanks.. As I'm jsut cleaning up things and for the most part are the services you're going by for "Safe" or "Tweaked"? As I'm looking at some and I have more questions.. I'll list them as I go through.

---

EDIT:

Thanks for that list =)

[LeetPirate]

Hmmm I got a bunch =P

TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper Service

I'm not too sure if I need that or not.. Cause i read from BV's site but not sureif my Network (Router) uses it...

Same applies for this:

QoS RSVP

NetBIOS depends on your home network. If you just use 1 PC then chances are you don't need it. I on the other hand use it because I use the NetBIOS names to access other computers on my home network instead of using their IP addresses. It's your call to make.

QoS I highly doubt you use that, unless you use IPTV or IP Phone services then you may never need to use QoS in your life. In any case most of the QoS is done at the router level, not so much on the PC. So go ahead and disable that if you want.

I will update the list.

[Bizarre™]

@LeetPirate:

If you have a router, then connecting 2 or more computers isn't a problem :hi:

[LeetPirate]

@LeetPirate:

If you have a router, then connecting 2 or more computers isn't a problem :hi:

I don't think you understood what I meant, it's not for connecting multiple computers, I use NetBIOS to access them. To access another computer's file system I use the "\\computername" command. If I disable NetBIOS then I will have to use "\\ipaddress" which is less friendly. I also raised the level of NT Lan Manager security on each PC individually so interfering with NetBIOS at this point is me asking for trouble.

A typical home user could disable the NetBIOS service without any problems but in my case I prefer to use it.

PS I do have a router, ironically I configured it with its very own local DNS cache even though I still use NetBIOS name resolution. :think:

[Bizarre™]

Even without NetBIOS you can use \\computername command.

My Network Places > View workgroup computers (if you have a workgroup)

However, this is much more useful than My Network Places.

[SacredCultivator]

Just wanted to question a few:

06.) DNS Client = disabled (if using broadband, enabled for dial up).

^So if I'm on Cable, safe to disable?

18.) SSDP Discovery Service = disabled.

21.) Universal Plug and Play Device Host = disabled.

^I guess I'm just unsure on the UPnP

[LeetPirate]

Just wanted to question a few:

06.) DNS Client = disabled (if using broadband, enabled for dial up).

^So if I'm on Cable, safe to disable?

18.) SSDP Discovery Service = disabled.

21.) Universal Plug and Play Device Host = disabled.

^I guess I'm just unsure on the UPnP

Yup you are safe to disable the DNS Client, as long as you have any high speed connection, dsl, cable, etc.

Those UPnP services are a security risk and the majority of PC users do not use it. In fact I believe they are set to manual by default on Vista. Disabling those 2 services does not mean you would not be able to use UPnP in other programs like uTorrent or eMule or Skype etc. Those will still work.

Even without NetBIOS you can use \\computername command.

My Network Places > View workgroup computers (if you have a workgroup)

However, this is much more useful than My Network Places.

Thanks for the program but I don't use My Network Places. I can't agree with your other statement though, I do not think it will work that way and if it does then it is probably cached data which has tricked me once before until I reboot and I realised it wasn't working again. Disabling NetBIOS has other implications like some multiplayer games cannot properly communicate without it. Also file sharing problems occur at times especially when dealing with a win2k machine. People who don't use it will not miss it but I see it as an essential service.

[SacredCultivator]

Hmm can't seem ti Stop the following services:

Telephony / Remote Access Connection Manager

Not even sure if I'll be affected by it...

[Bizarre™]

@Cultivator:

You just have to set it to Disabled.

Once you restart your computer, it will be disabled.

@LeetPirate:

Then you can set it to Manual. It's my configuration for services I don't want running unnecessarily :hi:

Once you need its function you can auto (depends upon the application needing it) or manually start it.

[demonon]

This is what I managed.

My security is SRP and Drop My Rights to run my web faced applications in a LUA, they don't run any processes.

[LeetPirate]

Hmm can't seem ti Stop the following services:

Telephony / Remote Access Connection Manager

Not even sure if I'll be affected by it...

The reason you cannot stop it is because another service that is dependent on it is running. Most likely Remote Access Connection Manager is running and preventing Telephony from being stopping. Word of advice, you may not need Telephony because it controls only some activity of broadband connections but all activity of dial up. Telephony may also be controlling other network connectivity devices such as 3G internet access, EVDO, and other similar technologies. If you stop Remote Access Connection Manager, you will break the Network Connections Folder so beware.Thread lightly on those 2 services. Almost forgot to mention, depending on the nature of your connection to a cable modem, disabling Telephony could break your internet too.

[jofre]

You don't need TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper Service.

I have it disabled, and so far so good.

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I have 44 services disabled ! My computer Nr 1 takes 33 seconds to boot. <_<