Slow Booting PC

[newbert]

My sim racing PC takes a full 3+ minutes to boot to the Windows 10 desktop. (ie - to the point where Steam finishes verifying its installation). I've checked for viruses and malware and come up totally clean.

I would imagine that a good SSD would improve things immensely. But, in the meantime, what could I do to speed things up? Windows 10 says that the drive is 100% defragged. (It says that it defrags on a schedule automatically - but I'm skeptical).

Would it be safe for me to run a manual defrag (not automatic), or would this have any negative effect on Steam sims (which most of mine are)?

Also, I'll start looking at SSD's. What specs should I look for in order to get a speedy one. I ask because the SSD I installed into the PC which I'm using to type this didn't really speed things up very much....

Thanks!

 

[David Turnbull]

you dont defrag an ssd drive it can cause early drive failures, turn off defragging for a start.

unless the drive is on its way out then any ssd should be a massive improvement over a mechanical drive wether its sata2 or sata3.

do you have any external hdds plugged in during boot up? these can slow the boot process considerably.

if the ssd health is showing as good and you have no external drives plugged in id start by scanning the pc for viruses and the like, then do a an sfc/scannow and let windows repair any issues if finds with system files. if this doesnt work and your on win10 then do a windows refresh (choosing to keep files and folders intact).

 

[Alex Townsend]

Could also run an SSD optimisation program, depending on what the drive is.
Also try a start up repair.
Lastly, check that the SSD is plugged in to the correct SATA port. I bought a Crucial MX300 and my motherboard failed. When I rebuilt with a new board, I was in a rush and plugged the drive into the wrong SATA port, when I ran a bench it came up as operating at 43% of what it was capable of... once I plugged it into the correct port it was back up to high 80 somethings.

 

[Sim Strata]

I had the same issue. It would take so long to boot. I would go an make a coffee, make some calls, cut some deals, sell a couple of houses, then I could think about loading Assetto...another coffee, etc.

I went a bit OTT. I bought a 250gig Seagate SSD and a 2TB Firecuda. Now my PC clean boots in less than 15 secs and loads all games in a jiffy. Needless to say, saving on coffee and not many deals being done these days.

 

[Case_]

I don't think he has an SSD, at least it doesn't come off that way.

As for startup times, they mostly depend on what you have starting up in the background, and also what the specs of your PC are, with RAM being the most important thing, but CPU as well. And obviously it also depends on what exact HDD you are using, not all drives are created equal.

Regarding SSDs, I would simply get one from a reputable company within a reasonable price range. There's not much difference between them in day-to-day use, regardless of specs.

 

[newbert]

you dont defrag an ssd drive it can cause early drive failures, turn off defragging for a start.

unless the drive is on its way out then any ssd should be a massive improvement over a mechanical drive wether its sata2 or sata3.

do you have any external hdds plugged in during boot up? these can slow the boot process considerably.

if the ssd health is showing as good and you have no external drives plugged in id start by scanning the pc for viruses and the like, then do a an sfc/scannow and let windows repair any issues if finds with system files. if this doesnt work and your on win10 then do a windows refresh (choosing to keep files and folders intact).

Thanks everyone. Just to clarify, it's a mechanical drive.

David, I'll try you suggestions, but how do I do a "Windows Refresh"? (Never heard of it).

Thanks again.

 

[Case_]

@newbert He probably means doing this:

https://www.techrepublic.com/article/reset-your-windows-10-system-with-the-keep-my-files-option/

This is also kinda what the "big updates" (the Creators update and the like) of Windows 10 do, more or less.

(And personally, I wouldn't bother, if I went to all the trouble of reinstalling Windows, I'd rather do a clean install from scratch with my important files backed up and then copied back manually those I really need and want. But I guess it's up to your preference.)

 

[AlBell1967]

If you decide to go with a new SSD you will be amazed at how much faster your computer will load not only Windows but anything that loads off the drive. Its night and day faster.

 

[Durge Driven]

If you let Steam auto-start makes me wonder what else is booting

If you let software have it's way you could have a dozen apps loading

I have got a small W10 and with AVG tuneup I still have to put 10+ apps to sleep

 

[Sim Strata]

With the SSD as the system, driver, app, virtual memory and control panels drive,I now let everything I need autostart. So convenient.

All documents, downloads, music, pics, etc are configured to go to the SSHD. Steam and all steam apps are on the SSHD.

This seems to be working a charm. Ridiculously quick.

 

[maelstrom]

Don't be tempted to use the fresh start option in Windows 10. This is from a thread I've been following on another forum:

”DO NOT USE FRESH START!!!!! This feature is for mom and dad who need to your help start their computer! It is not for anyone with some reasonable experience with computers.

It deletes all programs and apps, but leave the mess behind. Orphaned icons, programs that the registry tries to start but aren't there any more, like my wireless card program. Oh...and what it does MS Edge!!! . I thought it would be a quick, easy way to address a failing module issue affecting my MS Office 365 apps that were crashing. it might have done that, but the collateral damage just wasn't worth it."

For the OP, is there any space left on your HDD? If it's nearly full, that can affect general disk access so would slow down your boot times.