How do you quickly find and remove unnecessary startup apps?
The fastest wins come from trimming what auto-launches at logon.
– Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to open Task Manager, select the Startup tab.
– Sort by Startup impact and Status. Disable apps with High impact that you do not need immediately at sign-in.
– Typical candidates: Microsoft Teams, Skype, Steam, Epic Games Launcher, Adobe Creative Cloud, Spotify, iTunes Helper, cloud backup tools that you rarely use.
– Keep enabled: your security suite, touchpad/keyboard drivers, display driver software, and storage or VPN drivers that your system depends on.
Professional tip: Use two views for thoroughness.
– Settings > Apps > Startup shows UWP and Store apps.
– Task Manager > Startup shows traditional desktop apps.
Glary Utilities advantage: Glary Utilities Startup Manager consolidates startup entries from multiple autostart locations (Run keys, Startup folders, scheduled tasks, services). It also includes a Boot Time Monitor so you can see how changes affect total boot time across reboots, making it easier to validate improvements.
Can delaying certain items speed up boot without losing functionality?
Delaying non-critical components lets Windows reach a usable desktop faster, then load extras a bit later.
– Services: Press Win+R, type services.msc, press Enter. For eligible third-party services, set Startup type to Automatic (Delayed Start). Examples include Adobe Genuine Monitor Service, Google Update Service, iCUE service, game launcher services. Avoid changing core Microsoft services, security, or hardware drivers.
– Apps with tray icons: Instead of auto-starting, create a delayed scheduled task.
1) Open Task Scheduler (search for Task Scheduler).
2) Task Scheduler Library > Create Task.
3) General: Name it, select Run only when user is logged on.
4) Triggers: New > Begin the task: At log on > Delay task for: 2–5 minutes.
5) Actions: New > Start a program > point to the app’s executable.
6) Conditions: Uncheck Start the task only if the computer is on AC power for desktops.
7) OK to save.
This balances usability and performance, especially on systems with many peripheral utilities.
Which scheduled tasks deserve attention during boot?
Scheduled tasks set to run At startup or At log on can stack CPU and disk usage early.
– Open Task Scheduler and sort by the Triggers column.
– Review third-party entries like GoogleUpdateTaskMachineCore, Adobe Acrobat Update Task, browser auto-updaters, game launcher background updaters. Set them to run hourly or daily instead of at startup, or disable them if you handle updates manually.
– Leave Windows Maintenance, Time Sync, and Defender tasks intact.
Glary Utilities advantage: The Scheduled Tasks section inside Glary Utilities Startup Manager lists logon and startup tasks with simple enable/disable toggles and descriptive paths. This reduces the risk of turning off the wrong Windows task.
Which services are safe to tune without breaking Windows?
Right-sizing services can shave seconds off boot and reduce early disk churn.
– Press Win+R, type services.msc.
– Candidates to set to Manual or Automatic (Delayed Start) when not needed constantly:
– Print Spooler on devices without printers
– Xbox Accessory Management Service and Xbox Live services if you do not use Xbox integration
– Hyper-V related services if virtualization features are not used
– Vendor-specific updaters (audio, RGB control, device telemetry) that have alternative manual launchers
– Services to avoid changing: Windows Update, Windows Security/Defender, Cryptographic Services, Plug and Play, DHCP Client, DNS Client, Workstation, RPC, and any storage or VPN driver services.
Professional tip: Make one change at a time and reboot to validate stability before proceeding.
How does Fast Startup influence boot time?
Fast Startup uses hibernation for the kernel session to shorten cold boots.
– Control Panel > Power Options > Choose what the power buttons do > Change settings that are currently unavailable.
– Toggle Turn on fast startup (recommended).
Notes for reliability:
– Dual-boot or encrypted system use may work better with Fast Startup off to ensure clean shutdown states.
– After driver or firmware updates, a full shutdown can help clear quirks: Press Win+X > Terminal (Admin) and run shutdown /s /t 0 to force a full shutdown once.
What UEFI/BIOS settings help reduce pre-Windows delays?
Firmware time appears in Task Manager > Startup as Last BIOS time on many UEFI systems. To reduce this:
– Set the primary OS drive as the first boot device.
– Disable unused boot options such as Network/PXE Boot, USB boot, or old DVD drives when not needed.
– Enable UEFI boot and disable Legacy/CSM for modern systems
– Turn on Fast Boot in firmware for PC models that support it reliably.
– Update the motherboard BIOS/UEFI to a stable release to improve POST speed and device initialization.
These changes shorten firmware initialization before Windows even starts loading.
How do drive health and layout affect startup?
Windows boot relies heavily on storage responsiveness.
– SSD health and TRIM:
– Press Win+S, search for Defragment and Optimize Drives.
– Select your system drive (usually C:), click Optimize. SSDs receive TRIM; HDDs are defragmented.
– Click Change settings and ensure a weekly schedule.
– Free space:
– Maintain at least 10–20% free space on the system drive to prevent write amplification and paging slowdowns.
– SMART checks:
– Use your SSD vendor tool (Samsung Magician, Crucial Storage Executive, etc.) to check firmware and SMART status.
– Paging file:
– System-managed virtual memory is recommended for most systems to avoid paging bottlenecks at boot.
Glary Utilities advantage: Glary Utilities Disk Defrag and Optimize handles HDD defragmentation and consolidates free space, while its One-Click Maintenance clears temp files and caches before optimize runs, helping storage work faster during and after boot.
Can cleaning system clutter and broken entries improve startup?
Leftover entries from uninstalled software can cause timeouts during boot.
– Storage Sense:
– Settings > System > Storage > Storage Sense, enable and configure to clean temp files and previous Windows updates.
– Disk Cleanup:
– Press Win+R, type cleanmgr, select C:, choose system files, and remove Windows Update cache, temporary files, and log files.
– Orphaned startup entries:
– Use Autoruns (Microsoft Sysinternals) to spot broken Run entries pointing to missing files and uncheck them.
– Broken shortcuts:
– Fix or remove shortcuts in the Startup folders:
– User: Win+R, shell:startup
– All users: Win+R, shell:common startup
Glary Utilities advantage: One-Click Maintenance includes Disk Cleaner, Registry Cleaner, and Shortcuts Fixer to remove invalid startup references safely. Its Tracks Eraser also reduces the volume of leftover logs that add to post-boot churn.
How do you diagnose what exactly is slowing down the boot sequence?
Windows logs boot phases and identifies offenders.
– Event Viewer:
1) Press Win+X > Event Viewer.
2) Applications and Services Logs > Microsoft > Windows > Diagnostics-Performance > Operational.
3) Look for Event ID 100 (Boot Performance Monitoring) and subsequent warnings/events highlighting degraded times and the responsible process names and paths.
– Windows Performance Recorder (advanced):
1) Install Windows ADK components for Performance Toolkit.
2) Launch Windows Performance Recorder, choose Boot, select CPU, Disk I/O, File I/O.
3) Record one boot, then analyze in Windows Performance Analyzer (WPA) to find long-running services, drivers, or apps during winlogon and explorer initialization phases.
Use this data to decide which services to delay, which apps to remove from startup, and where driver updates may help.
What role do shell extensions and context menu handlers play in slow logons?
Explorer loads shell extensions at logon. Poorly written or excessive extensions delay the desktop.
– Remove unnecessary context menu items:
– Many third-party tools add entries like “Scan with…”, “Upload to cloud…”, or “Edit with…”.
– Keep only what you use regularly.
– Browser helpers and sync clients:
– Extensions that auto-start background processes for syncing or capturing can be culprits; trim them to essentials for faster Explorer readiness.
Glary Utilities advantage: Glary Utilities Context Menu Manager provides a clear list of shell extensions and context menu handlers with enable/disable toggles. Turning off seldom-used handlers often makes right-click menus snappier immediately after logon.
How do you run a clean boot test to isolate a stubborn startup offender?
A clean boot loads Windows with Microsoft services only, then you reintroduce items to find the slow one.
– Press Win+R, type msconfig, Enter.
– On the Services tab, check Hide all Microsoft services, then click Disable all.
– Open Task Manager > Startup and disable all non-Microsoft entries.
– Restart and measure boot time and responsiveness at desktop.
– Re-enable batches of services and startup items until the slowdown returns, then narrow down to the exact item.
Glary Utilities advantage: With the Boot Time Monitor graph and Startup Manager categories (Startup Items, Scheduled Tasks, Application Services, Browser Add-ons), it becomes easier to mirror a clean-boot-style test from a single console and see the impact of each change over several reboots.
Professional calibration and measurement tips
– Measure BIOS time and overall feel: In Task Manager > Startup, note Last BIOS time to judge firmware improvements, then observe time to a usable desktop.
– Make one change per reboot: This ties a specific result to a specific action, preventing guesswork.
– Protect stability: Create a restore point before large rounds of changes, especially when adjusting services or shell extensions.
Real-world examples that consistently help
– On gaming PCs: Delay or disable RGB suites (iCUE, Razer Synapse), game launchers, and capture utilities until after logon.
– On office laptops: Keep OneDrive, Teams, and your security suite, but disable duplicate updaters and vendor telemetry. Use Fast Startup and delayed third-party services for better first-meeting readiness.
– On older HDD-based systems: Prioritize clutter cleanup, defrag with Glary Utilities Disk Defrag, and minimize startup items to reduce early disk contention.