How To Make Windows Start Up Faster…The Easy Way

Posted on May 8, 2009 by LJ

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Photo by Matt loves kicksI usually don’t have a problem with needing my machine to start up quickly. I generally turn the thing on, walk away, and when I come back, everything has started. Occasionally, though, I may need to get something off the computer quickly, and I don’t want to wait for all the programs to run on startup.

The Magic Key

Here’s a little known trick: holding the shift key down as the machine starts Windows (on a machine that doesn’t need a login) or while you hit enter (on a machine that does need a login) will bypass all the programs in the Windows startup folders.

The Results

When you hold the shift key down, you get a much faster startup.

Note: removing unneeded entries from both your and the “all user” startup entries can make the changes permanent.

Photo by Matt loves kicks

Related posts:

  1. Using Batch Files to Start and Stop Services
  2. More Windows Shortcuts
  3. Faster Text Entry
  4. How To Back Up Your Windows Registry
  5. How To Use Windows Scheduler

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Comments (2)

 

  1. Dean says:
    June 3, 2009 at 10:31 am

    This does not work in Vista. Any ideas if they have changed this feature to another key?

    • LJ says:
      June 3, 2009 at 9:11 pm

      I will poke around and see if I can find something similar. I haven’t transitioned to Vista – I’m waiting for Windows 7. But I know plenty of people who have switched.