We end this week's series on desktop hacks with a discussion about a tool that will get you to your Windows desktop faster. This tool is a program called Startup Delayer. Startup Delayer is a cool freeware utility that allows you to pace the start time of the applications that run when your PC boots-up.
Normally, when your PC starts, Windows fires up a boat-load of applications all at the same time. Each application fights for time on your processor, each application fights with your disk controller to access supporting files on your hard drive. While all this happens, your PC is unusable. Usually a slow stroll to the coffee machine and back will be enough time for your PC to load all these programs and allow you to access the applications that you wanted when you turned your PC on in the first place.
The truth is, Windows does not necessarily need to have all of these "startup" programs loaded and running before your PC is usable. In fact, many of the programs that load when your PC boots-up are "nice to have" applications. Applications that you can live without, or at a minimum, live without for a period of time.
Which brings us to Startup Delayer. Startup Delayer looks at all the applications that load at boot-up and allows you to set how fast or slow these programs start up. For example, I have a logitech mouse. My mouse comes with a program that allows me to set the function of the mouse buttons. This program is called SetPoint. Do I need it immediately after my PC starts up? No. Do I need it periodically when using my PC? Maybe. With Startup Delayer I can get to my Windows Desktop faster by telling Windows to load SetPoint 3 minutes after my PC starts up.
With this set, I can get to my Windows Desktop quicker. Start surfing the net, editing a document, updating a spreadsheet... Then 3 minutes later, Startup Delayer will fire up SetPoint for me. This works with just about any application that Startup Delayer identifies as a Windows Startup Program.
In addition to delaying the startup of certain applications, Startup Delayer allows you to not start certain applications at all. This is as simple as unchecking a box next to the name of the application. Quick, easy, effective!
I have been using Startup Delayer for 6 month's now without any problems. The trick to using Startup Delayer is knowing which applications are needed and which applications can be delayed. Trial and error is one method, but it takes time and patience. There are a number of good web site directories with descriptions of Windows startup programs. My favorite is ProcessLibrary.com. At ProcessLibrary.com you can enter the name of a startup program and you can find out what it is, what it does and if you really need it. Quite handy.
If you are tired of waiting for your Windows PC to boot up, Startup Delayer is definitely for you!
5 comments:
I love this application! So often, when I'm booting my computer, there's one thing I need to do immediately. I hate waiting for everything to load just so I can do one simple thing- thanks for this!
I really liked Startup Delayer, until I decided to uninstall it and it tried to remove all the startup registry entries entirely. Since I run SpyBot, I was aware of it and was able to stop it before it happened. I *highly* suggest that anyone using this program make a registry backup before installing. That being said, it's otherwise all right. I'm currently using WinPatrol for the same thing, but from what I've read, there are no registry problems upon uninstall like there are with StartupDelayer. We'll find out when I actually uninstall it.
Thanks Julie. The registry backup tip is a great idea when using any application that messes with your startup entries.
I have installed and removed Startup Delayer without error. As with any Windows application, your success or disappointment depends greatly on your system configuration, age, operating system version and of course, luck!
Hi, I found interesting site with system processes like processlibrary at Process-info.org.
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