How to Repair a Slow Booting PC
It can be extremely unpleasant to work with a computer that takes too long to boot. A computer's speed tends to be decreased over time because of too many installed programs, hard drive fragmentation, and viruses. A systematic approach to eliminating these problems can result in drastically improved boot times.
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Instructions
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Basic Cleanup
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Download and install ESET Smart Security (see link in "Resources" section). ESET Smart Security is an Internet security suite which includes full virus and spyware protection. Usage of this program is free for the first 30 days. Allow Smart Security to scan your computer fully before continuing.
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Uninstall any programs that you no longer use. Every program that is installed consumes hard drive space and increases the size of the Windows registry. In Windows Vista, click the "Start" button, then click "Control Panel". Double-click on "Programs and Features". Right-click on the program that you wish to remove, and click "Uninstall". If you are running Windows XP, launch the Control Panel using the method above, then double click "Add/Remove Programs". Click the program that you wish to remove, then click the "Change/Remove" button.
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Hit Windows key-R on your keyboard to bring up the "Run" dialog box. Type "msconfig" (without quotes) and hit "Enter". In the window that opens, click on the Startup tab. This list contains all of the programs that run automatically when your computer boots, and each one increases the time that it takes Windows to load. Disable the programs that you do not use often; you can start these manually when you do need to use them.
Deep Cleaning, Fixing Registry Problems and Disk Defragmenting
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Run CCleaner. This is a free program designed to increase the speed of your computer by deleting unnecessary files and fixing registry issues.
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Click on the Cleaner tab. Click the "Analyze" button. This will show a list of every file that CCleaner will delete. Confirm that you wish to remove everything on the list, and click "Run Cleaner" to perform the cleanup.
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Click on the Registry tab, and click "Scan for Issues". This will bring up a list of all problems that CCleaner detects with the Windows registry. Click "Fix Selected Issues" to repair the problems. Repeat this process until no more problems are found.
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Double click "My Computer". Right click on your hard drive, and click "Properties". Click on the "Tools" tab, then click "Defragment Now". This will consolidate the files on your hard drive using all of the free space that you have created, improving the performance of your hard drive.
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Restart your computer. You should find that the time that it takes to start up is dramatically reduced.
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Tips & Warnings
By default, CCleaner removes all of the cookies stored in your web browser. This can increase the speed of your web browsing, but you will need to log into your commonly-used websites again after the cookies are removed. If you would prefer to avoid this, ensure that "Cookies" is unchecked in the Internet Explorer (or your preferred web browser) section of CCleaner.
Do not disable a startup program unless you are sure of what the program does. Use the list of startup programs in the Resources section of this article to determine the purpose of each startup program. Making changes to the Windows registry can occasionally have unexpected side effects. CCleaner will prompt you to back the registry up before making any changes; always click "Yes" to this prompt.
