How I reduced boot up time of my Windows XP Pro by 50%

[c627627]

Hi,
I have a dual boot up Windows XP Pro / Windows Millennium machine.

Although I had similar software installed on both OSs, my XP Pro took twice as long to boot as my Me.


After trying all kinds of tweaks and tricks, this was the only one that really worked:


Windows XP Pro Start Menu > Run... > regedit

go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ CurrentControlSet \ Control \ Session Manager \ Memory Management \ PrefetchParameters

Double click on EnablePrefetcher on the right side of the window
(It's most likely set to 3).

Boot up time was reduced by 50% when this value was set to 1 for me (!!)

Others say setting of 5 works best for them. Only way to tell is by timing the boot up.

Anyone else care to test this and see?


My Windows XP Pro now boots faster than my Millennium which (measuring from the dual boot screen, after HDs etc. have been detected) boots at 29 seconds to task bar and 44 seconds to full usable desktop.


EDIT:

The 50% difference turns out was only with my old Palomino CPU, SiS motherbaoard and initial Windows XP Pro release.

Now that I use Windows XP Pro SP1 with all the latest updates + heavily overclocked Barton and nForce2 motherbaord, the differernce is "only" 4-5 seconds.


Other people in this thread so far reported the following

3 people: Faster at setting 1 when compared to setting 3.
2 people: No or negligable difference.
1 person: Messed up his Windows installation (?, did you try simply booting into safe mode and changing the setting back to 3?)


Please post chipset, CPU and Windows XP and service pack version if you try this... also how many PCI cards you have...

 

[Drec]

kewl ill try it, ill let ya know the results.

 

[SewerBeing]

can you post your system specs???? I will try this the next time I reboot, thanks for posting it

 

[c627627]

Windows XP Pro SP1

AMD Athlon XP 2400+ mobile
IQYHA 0402 SPMW
3 x 256MB K-Byte PC2700 (SpecTek chip) @ 6 3 3 2.5
[185] FSB x 13 = 2405 MHz @ 1.80 Vcore with memory frequency at 100% [185 FSB] @ 2.90 Vdimm
Epox 8RDA+
Thermalright SLK-947U with variable speed 80x25mm Thermaltake Smart Fan 2
BFG GeForce4 Ti4200 8X 128MB; Antec SX-835II case ; 380W Antec TruePower TP380
Four 80x25mm Case Fans + 1 Variable speed 80x25mm Fan YS-Tech FD1281259B-2F

 

[qualhiveldorf]

I only saw a 5ms diff. between 1 and 5. What gives?

And I just tested again with 3 and 3 is the fastest !!!

3 = 9 passes
1 = 11 passes
5 = 11 passes

what could I be doing wrong?

 

[c627627]

I'd say if the reduction in your boot up time cannot be measured by at least a few seconds, then this tweak does not work for your system.



I did this back when XP came out with a Palomino and a SiS mobo.

Now that I have a heavily overclocked Barton and nForce2 + all the updates including Service Pack 1, I measured the difference to be "only" 4-5 seconds.


Booting with default value of 3 is 4-5 seconds slower than with value of 1 for my system.

 

[SewerBeing]

I must warn everyone, setting it to one just messed up my windows install, I cant even get anywhere where I can undo the damage, so I am gonna use the repair thing on the windows xp cd and hope that fixes it. And this is the only change I have made to my system

 

[DeXter78]

There is something called an offline regedit. It lets you edit reg without booting windows. Ive never used it for something like this but it could work if you can use dos well.

 

[Drec]

hmm i set it to 1 and didnt notice a thing!, it didnt mess my windows up either (yet?) so i think ill go change it back.

 

[Gautam]

Let's see, just reinstalled windows. Seems like it takes it 22 seconds to get into windows from turning on the system, and then 4 seconds more for useability.

I'll go try that now.

 

[bixit_62]

hey
just changed the value to one and here is how it changed

3= 3.5passes
1=0.5passes
really quick and before it used to take about 10seconds for it to be in a usable condition and now it takes barely 2!!!!
WOW!!!!
THanx

 

[c627627]

OK so we have 1 guy who confirmed this, I was beginning to think it can't be replicated.

Please post which version you're using +

What's a 'pass' in this context pease?


You say setting it to 1 saved you eight seconds when compared to setting it to 3?


Please post how many PCI cards you have, motherboard chipset, CPU and Windows XP and service pack version if you try this...

 

[Gautam]

He means how many times the little bar went through. It went from 1.5 to 0.5 for me, taking off something less than a second. No discernible difference, in fact, this pretty much falls within the margin of error.

A64, nForce3 150, WinXP Pro SP1, 2xSeagate 7200.7 80GB SATA drives

Hard drives are also a very important factor here, IMHO.

 

[Drec]

ok i tryed 1, and 5 and the 3 default...using AIM and someone who timed me from signing off/on...at the default 3, it takes 1 minute 1 second did it 3 times and came out exactly the same each time, changed it to one and lthe time went from 1min 1 sec to 57 seconds, did it 3 times to confirm. then changeed it to 5 and it took 1 min 2 seconds all 3 times.

edit. rig in sig using XP pro sp1

im going to go do it with win 2003 server

 

[c627627]

bixit_62 has an 8 second improvement.
Drec and I have a 4-5 second improvement.

What's different between our systems and yours because we also have 7200 RPM Hard Drives, XP Pro - SP1's, Fast CPUs and chipsets...


Wait, Gautam don't you have a limited number of PCI cards installed, maybe that's it?

 

[bixit_62]

hello
yeh thats what i meant by a pass.
this is my system
Main: AMD Barton 2500+ AXDA2500KV4D AQYHA0407TPMW @[email protected]@46degrees full load, coolermaster aero7 +AS5 (37 idle, 46 full load, 27-32 ambient),
MSI KT6V-LSR with 60mm northbridge and mosfet cooling, iceberq small s-bridge HS.
1x512mb Vdata pc3200 RAm
Gainward Ultra 750-8x Gforce 4 Ti 4800SE with vantec iceperq 4 pro
Liteon Combo SOCH5232K 52x32x52x16
1x 120GB IBM 180GXP. 1x 3gb fujitsu for DOS
2 intake at bottom, 2 blue led exhausts at back behind cpu, i blue led exhaust at top of case.
Super Flower ttgi201t3s with all blue led fans!
i dont have any extra PCI cards installed but i am using the onboard sound and LAN.
i am using Windows XP pro SP1A version 2002
thanx

 

[c627627]

Well there goes that idea. Nice video card btw

Hm... how about network connections? I have a couple of machines connected to a roter...

Or maybe perihperals, I have a few things attached, like printers, scanners...

 

[Gautam]

bixit_62 has an 8 second improvement.
Drec and I have a 4-5 second improvement.

What's different between our systems and yours because we also have 7200 RPM Hard Drives, XP Pro - SP1's, Fast CPUs and chipsets...


Wait, Gautam don't you have a limited number of PCI cards installed, maybe that's it?

I'm still using my promise controller, too lazy, and my SB Audigy 2. I've got a couple of machines connected to a router, an all-in-one printer/scanner/fax. My friend has a very similar system to yours, and either touches or tops me still in boot time. He swears by TuneXP. The real reason is that this is a brand-spanking new WinXP install, I should think. There's no way for me to have a 4-5 second improvement, because the actual booting of Windows takes only about 2 seconds as it is.