Windows only: Free application Startup Delayer staggers the applications that launch when you login to Windows by user-defined increments. The reason: To mitigate the common startup bottleneck caused by all of your startup applications fighting to run at the same time. You'd never try launching eight different applications simultaneously under normal circumstances and expect your computer to handle it well, so why should your startup apps be any different? To use it, just drag applications to the delay bar at the bottom of the window. You can visualize the time between the launch of different apps and drag-and-drop the delays until you've got the perfect spacing.

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Windows Vista tip: The Hackosis blog points out that Windows Vista uses only one CPU to boot itself by default, regardless of whatever dual- or quad-core hardware you're using. Enabling multi-core boot might save you a bit of time, and the fix is pretty simple. Run msconfig from the Start Search box (or after hitting Win+R), then head to the "Boot" tab, check "Number of processors," and change the drop-down box to fit your processor. I haven't tested this myself, but given how long it takes Vista to gear up to running speed on my dual-core box, it probably couldn't hurt, either. Let us know if you see any gains in the comments.

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Windows XP/NT only: We've shown you how to trim Windows down to the bare essentials and setting up pre-fetching for faster booting, but how do you know if your painstaking changes are having any real effect? BootTimer, a free measurement utility, asks you to restart your computer, then uses system logs to measure the distance between your boot-up screen to Windows log-in. You'll need to enable the program to run without prompting (un-check the "Ask before running this file" option on double-clicking in XP), and there's a small bit of promotion/donation prompting after it's done, but it's much easier than digging through verbose logs with a calculator. BootTimer is a free download for Windows NT and XP systems only.

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"I'm looking for an application that runs on startup, detects any applications that have been added to the startup menu, then shuts itself down (to preserve memory). Is such an app possible?

 

Or, is there a way to run such a startup restorer just before shutting down to achieve the same results?

 

I know there are programs that stay resident and monitor changes, but this takes up memory and processor time."

I threw the question to the readers, who've helpfully come up with a few suggestions. AussieRodney suggested r2 Studio's Startup Delayer, saying while it wasn't exactly what Edward had requested, " it will certainly give you a very good heads up on what is starting in the background."

Three readers also voted for Startup Monitor. Citizen D said, "The small memory footprint is more than worth it for the job it's done for me for the past few years."

Djurbino also suggested Startup Monitor and also commented "Spybot S&D also has a similar real-time startup protection feature (though I don't think it's enabled by default)."

Thanks for the suggestions, guys!

Windows only: Free utility Capster is an amazingly small (5K!) program that turns your Caps Lock key into a kind of startup mode switch. Choose a few programs that you sometimes would like to have started at Windows login, and Capster will place them in your Startup folder but launch them only if you hit Caps Lock before you arrive at your desktop. The obvious benefit is to folks who use their systems in two different modes—like wanting to have your email, calendar, and productivity apps opened when you're working, but not when you're doing some weekend Wikipedia wandering. Capster is a free download for Windows systems only.

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I just had a question emailed in by Edward, who asks:

"I'm looking for an application that runs on startup, detects any applications that have been added to the startup menu, then shuts itself down (to preserve memory). Is such an app possible?

 

Or, is there a way to run such a startup restorer just before shutting down to achieve the same results?

 

I know there are programs that stay resident and monitor changes, but this takes up memory and processor time."

Windows only: MSConfig Cleanup does one thing that you might only need once, but it does it well. When you run "msconfig," also known as Windows' System Configuration tool, or a number of other optimising programs, you have the option of disabling startup items to free up memory at boot time. Those items remain, unchecked, in the menu, however—unless MSConfig Cleanup deletes their entries, giving you a clear view of what is and isn't running on your system, and making it easier to pare down your system load without having to double-back on yourself. MSConfig Cleanup is a free download for Windows systems only.

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Linux only: The GRUB boot-selector tool has made dual-booting Linux and other systems easy, but changing how your boot menu looks requires digging through text files and praying you don't make a single typo. QGRUBEditor, a free visual GRUB editor, takes the guesswork and some of the hassle out of tweaking your boot settings. You can change menu orders, colors, splash images, and defaults, and preview the effects your changes have without having to reboot. The program has a few non-dire quirks, but it's still easier than guessing and paging through the menu file by hand. QGRUBEditor is a free download for Linux systems only, and requires three QT (KDE) libraries to run.

Windows only: Freeware application BootVis analyses your Windows startup, tracking the programs that automatically run and the drivers Windows loads, to show you what processes are slowing down your startup. To use it, just run the app and select one of the options from the Trace menu. BootVis will restart you computer, track your startup, and analyse the results. You can even ask BootVis to optimise your boot time, but I'd suggest hunting down your worst-offending startup apps and disabling them with msconfig if you don't absolutely need them. Originally a Microsoft software, this abandoned freeware, Windows XP only tool is the perfect tool for troubleshooting a slow-to-boot system.

While Linux is pretty efficient with a computer's resources out of the box, there are still ways you can make it run leaner and meaner on your desktop. Using a little bit of know-how, a willingness to run a few terminal commands and a mind for efficiency, you can get every last bit of power from your Linux box, or get more life from an older system. Read on for a roundup of ways to slim down and speed up Linux that any level of user can implement.

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