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The Boot Race

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by SubKamran, Dec 25, 2003.

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  1. SubKamran Newcomer, in training

    I haven't seen one of these threads anywhere, it's pretty fun. Now I can see how fast my comp boots up compared to others.

    Rules:
    You must measure the time between pressing the Power On button to the full load of the Login/Welcome screen. (Full load, i.e. When you can click your username).

    System
    ------------
    Windows Server 2003 Enterprise
    512MB PC133 SDRAM
    Intel Pentium 3 700Mhz (100FSB)

    Boot Time
    ------------
    1:11

    Factors
    ------------
    Subtract 3 seconds since the mobo shows my CPU temp for 3 seconds before proceeding.

    Now, let's see how I compare. To me, that's very fast for such a slow computer.
    SubKamran, Dec 25, 2003
    #1

  2. Nodsu Newcomer, in training

    Just wait until MYOB or Mic post their 15 second BeOS loading times.. :p
    Nodsu, Dec 25, 2003
    #2

  3. Mictlantecuhtli TS Special Forces

    Hehe, not quite.. It takes 42 seconds from hitting the power button, thanks to my mainboard checking that everything is in order. I could also cut a few seconds by disabling loading of 100 MB ramdisk from a file but that could be cheating as I use it all the time :giddy:

    Windows loads quite a lot of things after you click login, too ;)
    Mictlantecuhtli, Dec 27, 2003
    #3

  4. SubKamran Newcomer, in training

    It only takes about 30 seconds to fully load Windows after I click logon :p

    * MS SQL Server
    * Sygate Personal Firewall
    * AVG Anti-Virus
    * ATI Desktop
    SubKamran, Dec 27, 2003
    #4

  5. MYOB Newcomer, in training

    I'll have to get an exact timing but its 25 seconds to the boot sound being played - the last event on the startup chain. I have fast boot on in the BIOS so theres no checking, and I have very liitle loading at boot, unlike Mic
    MYOB, Dec 27, 2003
    #5

  6. SubKamran Newcomer, in training

    A person on NewEgg said this:

    Under 6 seconds? Is that even possible? ... :confused:

    If so I'm in for a treat since that's basically my [new] system :D
    SubKamran, Jan 4, 2004
    #6

  7. XtR-X Newcomer, in training

    I think "Cold boot" is actually not checking or posting, or doing diagnostics, checking the drives, etc.

    You'd have the fastest boot time right after installing Windows on a fresh or reformatted hard drive after setting some of the msconfig values to save time... like nogui boot and the time to check for drives to be reduced to 3 (min.), etc.

    The thread was a good thought, but there are way too many factors for this. Plus, I won't reformat to just get a fast boot time. Daily use....
    XtR-X, Jan 4, 2004
    #7

  8. ---agissi--- TechSpot Paladin

    Havnt timed mine yet.. maybe I'll get around to it.

    SubKamran, Im not sure what their definition of "cold boot" is, but only they are coming back from Hibernation, I dont believe it :p
    ---agissi---, Jan 4, 2004
    #8

  9. StormBringer Newcomer, in training

    If I remove some of my RAM, I might be able to POST in under 6 seconds...
    StormBringer, Jan 4, 2004
    #9

  10. LNCPapa TS Special Forces

    LOL - I have a problem believing 6 seconds - sorry. I'd have to see the machine boot up for myself - and they'd have to let me play around on the machine also. I can't see any consumer OS on consumer hardware booting that quickly :)
    LNCPapa, Jan 4, 2004
    #10

  11. young&wild TechSpot Chancellor

    It takes around 30 to 35 second for my two PCs to boot to Windows Logon Screen,
    young&wild, Jan 5, 2004
    #11

  12. MrGaribaldi TechSpot Ambassador


    He did say post no boot... Guess he means that he has so much ram that the BIOS spends ages checking it's actually there...

    Had it been booting, then I'd agree with you papa...
    MrGaribaldi, Jan 5, 2004
    #12

  13. LNCPapa TS Special Forces

    LOL - I believe Storm - and I understand about the long mem check taking sooooo long :) I meant I don't believe what the guy from newegg said.
    LNCPapa, Jan 5, 2004
    #13

  14. MrGaribaldi TechSpot Ambassador

    Ah, then I see.. :eek:

    About the newegg guy, yeah, I'm having trouble believing him too... Had it been another OS, but XP...
    MrGaribaldi, Jan 5, 2004
    #14

  15. SubKamran Newcomer, in training

    Maybe using the idea Xtr-X said it could possibly be 6 seconds. The Windows XP boot screen takes a little while though.
    SubKamran, Jan 5, 2004
    #15

  16. StormBringer Newcomer, in training

    umm, no that wouldn't work since what XTR-X said makes no sense. I'm not following what he means by it doesn't do all the checks because my systems take pretty much the same time to boot, whether cold or warm.

    BTW, yea Papa, I was refering to the RAM checking earlier when I was talking about POST time.

    As far as I am aware, No OS with a GUI can fully boot to the desktop in 6 seconds(unless it is returning from something like hibernation)
    StormBringer, Jan 5, 2004
    #16

  17. Rick TechSpot Staff

    There are some very quick BIOSes out there that practically start booting Windows in a second or two. I've seen some P4 boards that would boot so fast, they would not even show the POST or BIOS splash screen. :)

    But booting Windows XP... That's a different story.

    6 seconds is close to, if not impossible. This is mostly because of the hard disk. Now, if you have 10,000 or 15,000 RPM high capacity drives in RAID, it might be possible.. But then you run into the problem of loading the SCSI or SATA BIOS. :p That alone is 6 seconds.

    That post on Newegg was probably made by someone who was excited abou their new setup and embelished a little bit. :)
    Rick, Jan 6, 2004
    #17

  18. LNCPapa TS Special Forces

    I have a pair of U320 SCSI drives setup on a dual 2.8 GHz Xeon machine. Boot time AFTER SCSI scan is a good 15 seconds. I'll time it to make sure.
    LNCPapa, Jan 6, 2004
    #18

  19. LNCPapa TS Special Forces

    Just timed it - 19 seconds after the SCSI checks... Might be faster if I took out some RAM, but I doubt it would be noticably faster during the boot process.
    LNCPapa, Jan 6, 2004
    #19

  20. SNGX1275 TechSpot Special Forces

    Mac System 6.0.4 will boot to desktop on an SE/30 (16Mhz with 5Megs of RAM - it comes with 1meg) just after the screen warms up enough for you to see - about 3 seconds. But nobody uses a system that old so guess that doesn't count - but hey system 6 was about like windows95 anyway and some people still use that I think.
    SNGX1275, Jan 6, 2004
    #20
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