How can I maximize my time waiting for my computer to start up?

You could put the programs you need in the startup folder in your start menu. Should look like this:

Start -> All programs -> startup (or autostart, not sure)
Place a shortcut in that folder for every program you want starting up automatically each time you log in.
This way all the programs will be ready when you return from getting coffee (get your coffee after logging on).

Of course, I might have interpreted your question wrong. If you want to maximize your waiting time you could run your virus scanner automatically each logon.

It most likely does not load your account at the login screen, likely because if you have more than one user your startup programs, desktop etc. will be different. If you have many login items, you should grab the coffee after logging on. If your login is fast, push power, then get coffee. If you’re not concerned about security, you can simply set your computer to log you in automatically. Then all you have to do is power on.

@Flarlarlar LOL. Grammatical ambiguousness FTW!

@haegenschlatt I only have one user on the machine, and I don’t want it to login automatically because it’s a laptop and I use it in more and less secure environments.

Turn it on, go have breakfast, take a walk and a short nap…by then, you and your computer should be up and running, energized and well rested and refreshed.
See ya…..Gary/wtf

You could make the best use of your time browsing through a mac catalog!

Does Windows XP (or 7 for future reference) continue loading in the background before I login?

Some items load before you login. Networking, for example – your computer is on the network before you log in. Some items load after login, like your desktop and its icons.

As to which portion takes longer, it varies depending on what is installed on that PC. You would have to time it.

If you regularly open the same programs, I would go with Flarlarlar’s suggestion, adding those programs to the startup folder, and using the time after login to fetch coffee.

You want to maximize the amount of time you spend waiting for your computer to turn on? Slacking at work? :)

Are you that in a hurry?

Go to ‘Start’ menu, then click ‘Run’. Type msconfig and hit enter. Once that menu pops up, you should go to the ‘Startup’ tab. Deselect any programs that you do not want to start with your computer. After that, go to the ‘Services’ menu. Be careful here. If you are not sure of a service, leave it alone. Most of the Microsoft services should be ok, so click the ‘Hide all Microsoft services’ option. You may have many old programs still running in the background. This description deals only with windows xp home edition.

I had a friend whose computer would boot in over 8 minutes. After doing what I described above, it went from an over 8 minute boot time to under 1 minute. If you are unsure of any program or service, simply google it. That’s what I did. You can customize your computer to run only what you use, or what is necessary. Good luck.

You might want to also cut back on the visual aspect of your desktop. I’m not sure how much that would help but it would increase the performance by a bit.
Right click on “My Computer”, then select “Properties”, click on the “Advanced” tab, under the area labeled “Performance”, click on the “Settings” button. On the first tab, which should be “Visual Effects”, click “Adjust for best performance”. This should make your computer a bit faster, if you don’t really care about the looks.

Why do you even turn it off? My Macs are never turned off and are regularly up for months at a time and all I have to do is wait for 3 seconds for them to wake from sleep.

Just stop turning them off altogether and problem solved unless you need to install an OS update or something.

@StellarAirman Did you miss the part where I said it’s a laptop? Sitting in the case all night while running will at least kill the battery, if the heat doesn’t do worse.

I never turn laptops off either. If it’s closed it should be asleep and not producing any heat and not draining the battery unless you leave it unused for weeks at a time.

@StellarAirman That’s your own personal preference, unless it states in the laptop’s manual to never, ever, ever, for any reason whatsoever, turn off your laptop. If it does say that, then… my humble apologies.

Yes it’s my opinion but it’s also an easy solution to the problem stated by the person asking the question. If you don’t turn it off, you don’t have to wait for it to boot up every day.

I also didn’t say to never turn it off, but there is really no reason to turn it off every night just to turn it on again in the morning.

It also doesn’t say in a laptop’s manual to turn it off every night, and who reads or follows the directions in manuals anyway.

For the record, I timed the machine today. Obviously I should time it every day for a couple of months and take the average to be sure I have an accurate time, but I’m not going to do that.

Power on to login screen: 52 seconds
Login to Ready: 34 seconds
Ready to 3 commonly used programs ready: 1 minute, 19 seconds.

So putting the programs in startup and getting coffee after login is probably the most efficient course, except that I hate having programs in startup, especially big ones, because then I have to wait for them even when I’m not going to use them.