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April 11, 2008 6:49 AM PDT

Make your PC boot faster with Startup Delayer

by Rick Broida
(Credit: Rick Broida)

Tired of waiting an eternity for your computer to boot? Malware could be the culprit, so make sure to run anti-spyware software. But another cause of slow booting is all the software that's trying to run the moment Windows starts. Startup Delayer takes a clever approach to this by letting you delay selected programs.

For example, I need my anti-virus and desktop-search programs to run right away, but Adobe Reader Speed Launcher? iTunesHelper? LightScribe Control Panel? They can wait. Using Startup Delayer, I can configure programs like those to run at, say, 2-minute intervals, starting a full 15 minutes after I've booted my system. Genius!

The program also acts as a startup manager, allowing you to uncheck programs you don't want to run at all. Startup Delayer a free tool, and absolutely essential for anyone with a PC that's slow to start. It's made a huge difference on my system.

Rick Broida, a technology writer for nearly 20 years, is the author of more than a dozen books. In addition to writing CNET's The Cheapskate blog, he oversees BNET's Business Hacks. Rick is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CBS Interactive. Disclosure. Deals found on The Cheapskate are subject to availability, expiration, and other terms determined by sellers. Follow Rick on Twitter at cheapskateblog.
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by StuartDykes April 12, 2008 10:37 AM PDT
This is a pretty neat piece of software. I have just downloaded it and configured it. What a difference it has made to the start up spped, I suppose that is partly due to the ammount of programs I run, but hey. I will need to review this at my blog sometime.

http://virus-protection-and-removal.blogspot.com/
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by rickbroida April 12, 2008 12:10 PM PDT
Cheaper than a new PC or extra RAM, too. <g>
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by seespottype April 14, 2008 6:01 AM PDT
This reminds me of one of the only good ideas from Vista - the ability to delay the startup of non essential services. Works great. So this was a great find - thanks, Rick! It has had an immediate positive effect on my xp machine.
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The best things in tech are cheap. "The Cheapskate" scours the Web for great deals on PCs, phones, gadgets, and all the other tech stuff that makes life worth living. Send your own cheapskate tips to thecheapskate@gmail.com. Rick is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure. Deals found on The Cheapskate are subject to availability, expiration, and other terms determined by sellers.

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