Get A Faster “Boot up” Time With Startup Delayer

Free utility manages program launch at startup. (More rain here. Yippee.)

Folks, one of my most frequently asked questions is some variation of “How can I make my machine faster?” and/or the (usually) directly related complaint of the machine taking forever to start up in the morning.

People don’t like it when I tell them it’s their fault. (Well, at least half their fault.)

I have written several articles about what to do about slow PC’s (enter “speed up”, or “optimize” in my Search widget). I won’t repeat myself. But if you have come here looking for specific tips for faster startup, PLEASE, first read My Startup folder is a clown car (it will open in a new window/tab) and then read Manage Startup programs in Vista. These articles will teach you the thinking behind, and How To methods for, disabling programs from “auto-launching”, and bogging down your machine.

But perhaps you don’t want to completely disable the program autolaunch. That’s when a program that can set a delayed time to auto-launch is key.

When Windows loads it’s Startup file, it attempts to load every program in there at the same time. Therefore if you have quite a lot of programs starting when Windows starts, each program will try and grab CPU time so that it can load. When each program tries to do this at the same time, (which is what happens at boot up) you soon notice the slow down that occurs, due to your CPU trying to help all the programs to load, and your hard disk accessing multiple files.

What is needed is a little “traffic control”.

Startup Delayer utility presents you with a list of all the programs that start when your system does. To set a delay for any of them, just drag it to the white bar at the bottom of the window. You’ll see a line representing the program; drag it left or right to decrease or increase the delay. Repeat this for other programs you want to postpone.

For example, if you have iTunes installed, you’ll see a startup program called iTunesHelper.exe. Unless you plan to connect your iPod or run iTunes the very moment your PC boots, why not delay this applet for two minutes? Same goes for things like Adobe Reader Quick Launch and Google Updater. Delay those for, say, 4 minutes and 5 minutes, respectively. (Do not mess with programs you don’t recognize. They are probably essential Windows system files, and fiddling can cause crashes and/or weird ‘glitches’.).

Startup Delayer is free, and it is one of the best way I know of to speed up a slow-booting PC. It’s a must-have for anyone who installs a lot of software. (Though, I prefer the tactic of keeping my machines “lean and mean”. I uninstall any program I do not use frequently — Step 1 of computer “optimization”. Go to Start > Control Panel > Programs and Features > Uninstall a program, and let the list “populate”.)

Today’s reco’d reading: Where to Shop for Computers, Computer Parts, Accessories, Electronics and Other IT Products…

Facebook scam alert: Please know (and tell your Facebook friends) there is a scam “program” that steals your private data by claiming to tell you visitor statistics..

From Facebook: “Facebook does not provide applications or groups with the technical means to allow people to track profile views or see statistics on how often a particular piece of content has been viewed and by whom. If an application claims to provide this functionality, please report the application by going to the application’s About page and clicking “Report Application” at the bottom of the page, or by clicking “Report” at the bottom of any canvas page within the application.”

Psst. Hey, you. I got some cool sandals for you..

a world filled with geniuses…

Copyright 2007-2011 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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Windows 7 Owners, You Want To Do This…

Congratulations! You bought yourself a new multi-core PC and it has the new Windows 7. Or, you just purchased a specially-discounted Win7 upgrade “pack” (see, Super Discounted Windows 7 – Limited Time) and brought your older computer(s) up to date with Microsoft’s latest, and arguably best, operating system.

I know you are probably busy exploring Windows 7’s features, customizing this, and tweaking that, installing your favorite games (um.. er.. I mean “programs“. Ahem) etc., etc., but please, before you do anything else, do this:

1) Find the discs that came with the computer.

Do you see a “Windows 7” or “System Recovery” disc? No? Not surprising. Most manufacturers are using a recovery partition these days (saving maybe 4¢ on the cost of a disc.. more like 1/2¢). Well the plain and simple fact is — you want a disc.

Why? Because the discs are “bootable”, and can allow you to repair machines that will not otherwise boot (aka “start up”). If you ever run into such trouble, you can boot to the disc; which includes an automated boot-repair tool, some repair/diagnostic tools, and the ability to access a System Restore point and revert your system to an earlier (working) time. (see, My favorite Life Saver flavor? System Restore).
[note: The “recovery partition” option wipes your hard drive, and reverts the machine to the factory-condition state –> total data loss. All your updates and installed programs — gone. Thanks, manufacturers! *]

So you have a partition and not a disc. Remedy that now. All you need is a blank CD or DVD.

2) Click the Start button and type repair into the Search box. The top result is what you want to click – “Create a System Repair Disc”.

3) Your optical drive should be detected (if not, use the ‘drop-down arrow’ to select your CD/DVD drive). Click “Create disc”.

The drive tray should open, so put in your blank disc…

After a few moments, the tray should open (“eject”) and you will now have a “bootable” System Recovery disc…

.. and a powerful tool for repairing your computer in the event of serious errors. You need to make this disc BEFORE you need it.. though I hope you never will.

In case I wasn’t clear: do it now.

Kudos to Microsoft for making this tool a part of Windows.

* Utter, snide, facetiousness. A terrible move; and whoever decided that should be ashamed. And fired. IMHO.

Copyright 2007-2010 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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WinPatrol PLUS License Giveaway

Today It Brings Me Special Pleasure To Announce My Latest Software License Giveaway: WinPatrol 2010 PLUS

"Scotty" the Windows watchdog

You say you don’t know about Scotty and WinPatrol? I have recommended it here before, and I’ve used it for so long I can’t remember (I think, all the way back to when a certain “Y2K bug” was going to end civilization). I consider WinPatrol one of those essential programs to have around.
Short version: I am a “Scotty fan”. Rrrrruff!

Much good has been said about WinPatrol (from BillP Studios) over the years.

“..I’ve got more to say, and it’s summed up in two words: WinPatrol Pro. The latest version, 9.8 ^Ɨ, is a must-have tool.” — Steve Bass, “Hassle-Free PC: Clean House on a Junk-Filled System Tray“, Feb 21, 2006.

CNet Editors currently give it 5 stars. (WinPatrol has won several “Editor’s Picks”, in different places, over the years.)

“I would recommend the software to anyone who is looking for additional protections from Internet ‘bugs’ and ‘critters’.” — Ron Schenone. MVP on Lockergnome blog The Blade, 02/16/2007.

Softpedia’s Ionut Ilascu said, “It is definitely a must for your computer.” in a review in 2007. (click here to read entire review.)

Bill Mullins lists WinPatrol in his 10 Best, and has this review: WinPatrolToGo – A Great Addition to Your Geek Toolbox

From the publisher:

“WinPatrol’s Host-based Intrusion Prevention System (HIPS) takes snapshot of your critical system resources and alerts you to any changes that may occur without your knowledge. WinPatrol was the pioneer in using a heuristic behavioral approach to detecting attacks and violations of your computing environment. It continues to be the most powerful system monitor for its small memory footprint.

WinPatrol’s easy tabbed interface allows you to explore deep inside your computer without having to be a computer expert. A one-time investment in WinPatrol PLUS provides a unique experience you won’t find in any other software.”

Features: (clickable. To find out more, just click!)

Removing and Disabling Startup Programs	Removing Active Tasks
IE Helpers – Browser Helper Objects – Toolbars	Expose Hidden Files
Scheduled Tasks	Cookie Management and Filtering
Services Manager	Monitoring and Restoring File Type Associations
Options – Host File/Start Page Monitoring	Windows XP/Vista/Windows 7 32 and 64 -bit

I do not use WinPatrol in place of Anti-malware programs, but alongside them. (WinPatrol is not an antivirus; its purpose is more to prevent bad stuff from getting onboard in the first place. An ounce of prevention..!) I feel a lot better knowing Scotty is being my watchdog. You just install it and that’s it — each time something is about to be changed, Scotty’s bark (Rrrrruff! ) will let you know, and a window will pop up asking for permission for the process. I would use WinPatrol just for that Rrrrruff!, but I also use WinPatrol’s features to remove stubborn startup entries, identify processes  to look for malware, and generally see what’s hidden on a machine. WinPatrol can be used it to “optimize” your startup time by setting some programs to wait a while before launching – very cool! There are other tools for those things, sure, but WinPatrol has them all in one place, and presents the info in a way that’s very “user friendly”.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Okay. Okay. Okay! The contest!
Bill P. has generously donated five licenses for WinPatrol PLUS to me, to award to my readers. I sincerely thank him for that. So I am going to do a random drawing ¹ contest from folks who “enter”. The contest will end midnight Thursday, June 18th, and the winners announced Friday.
A PLUS license can be used on as many computers as you own.

How to enter? To enter the drawing, simply click on “comment”, and enter a name and a valid e-mail (so we can send you the key) in the form. Actually commenting is optional. And, I shouldn’t have to say this, but it seems I do — multiple entries will result in disqualification. (In this contest. Entry in prior contests doesn’t count against you.)

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WinPatrol is freeware, and a “portable version” is available for carrying on your ‘thumbdrive toolkit’. WinPatrol PLUS is a way of supporting Scotty, and includes important extra features. A comparison chart of the editions is here, and downloads here.

FYI — (I was not asked to put this here, btw) To help ‘kick off’ the new Version 18, BillP Studios is offering a limited time discount sale: HALF PRICE SPECIAL! (Folks, the “limited time” is expiring, so please read this special consideration from Bill P. himself – for T4E readers.)
WinPatrol PLUS Lifetime License
Single User/Multiple Computers/No subscription
SALE Price $14.98
Upgrading provides high performance, real-time monitoring and access to our PLUS Info database. Your investment is a one-time cost. No hidden fees, advertisements or unwanted toolbars. Your support helps continue the development of new WinPatrol features.

Again, my thanks to Bill P.  for making this drawing possible, and for creating this nifty “watchdog” & toolset.

Also FYI — Bill  has an interesting blog, “Bits from Bill“, here: http://billpstudios.blogspot.com/ (I particularly liked Can Facebook Be Trusted?)

Bits from Bill

Technology thoughts leaking from the brain of “Bill Pytlovany

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¹ All entrants will be placed into Random.org’s “randomizer”, and the top 5 results will be the winners.
^Ɨ Current version is 18.1

Copyright 2007-2010 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved. post to jaanix.

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What is Mobsync?

What is Mobsync and how do you disable it?

One of the most popular topics here has been how to make Vista boot up faster. And one of the ways you do that is by controlling what programs automatically load at startup. (See, Manage Startup programs in Vista.)

Readers of that article have been sending me questions about a program they have found running (by using Task Manager [Ctrl+Alt+Del]) which they cannot find any startup entries for.. and thus no way to ‘turn it off’. That program is called “mobsync.exe.”

Mobsync is a small program – called a “Service” – which is used for removable mass-storage devices, like thumb drives. Mobsync.exe enables applications such as Windows Media Player and Image Import Wizard to transfer and synchronize content with your removable storage devices. It is found in your Control Panel, and most people use it for “syncing” their address books and calendars on their mobile phones/PDA’s.

Tip of the day: Follow the simple steps below to stop mobsync from running at startup, and set this service to run manually. Then it will only be used when you actually sync devices on your PC or Laptop.

1. Open Run (Start > Run, or Start > Programs > Accessories > Run) and type in “services.msc” (no quotes), and hit Enter.
2. The Services window will open. Now scroll down the page until you locate a service called Portable Device Enumerator Service, then double click on it.
3. Click on the Stop button, then click on OK.
4. In the “General” tab: use the drop-down arrow to change the “Startup Type” to Manual. Then click on OK.
5. If prompted by UAC, select Continue.

In conclusion: mobsync is not a real “resource hog”, and leaving it be won’t hurt anything. Switching it from “always on” to “as needed”, by itself, will not drastically reduce how long it takes to start up your computer, or make your e-mail Inbox ‘load’ faster.
On the other hand, there’s no real reason for this to be running all the time except for the fact someone at Microsoft thought it should. Much like you don’t need Adobe Reader running except for when you need to open a PDF file, but the Adobe folks think you’ll like the “instant response” having it running will give you. To really get at the items slowing down your boot up time, I refer you to the article listed above. (This is more of a “control thing”.. a minor “tweak”.)

A word of caution: Some of you may get the urge – while in the Services window – to start turning off other Services. Don’t. Unless you really know what you’re doing, you can really mess things up, and either “kill” Windows altogether, or get some really strange (and unsatisfactory) results. This article may help you understand, and I recommend reading it before clicking on any other drop-down arrows.. Holiday Edition: What programs should be in Task Manager?

Copyright 2007-2010 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved. post to jaanix

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My Startup Folder Is A Clown Car*

image courtesy of istockphoto.com

You are familiar with clown cars. It’s that tiny little car that drives into the center ring at the circus, stops, opens its door, and an arm comes out, then a leg, and then a whole, seven and-a-half foot tall clown comes out…and you wonder what inhuman contortionist’s feat allowed that BIG clown to fit into that little car.
No sooner has that tall clown unfolded himself, then he reaches into the car and pulls out a fat clown. You think, no way!
Now a lady clown comes out of that car…and then a short clown…and then another fat clown emerges…and you’re thinking, there’s gotta be a tunnel under there…but you had just seen elephants parading all over that center ring…and another clown’s out and another clown and another clown. What you’re seeing just isn’t possible. You lose count of all the clowns that come out of that car. Yes…I just knew you’d remember. Clown car.

I have one machine that I use for pretty much everything — gaming, digital photography, building/maintaining my website, reading and sending email, instant messaging, video conferencing, doing my taxes, etc – and I have, literally, scores of programs installed on it. (I have other machines as well, but this one is my Swiss Army knife: it does it all.) This machine’s Startup folder has become like that clown car before it expels its load. Because of that fact it takes so long to get going at boot up that I never turn it off – I leave it running 24/7. That’s far from an ideal ’solution’, however.

The fact is, and this dates back to the days of DOS and TSR (terminate and stay resident) programs, just about every program and service you install wants to get itself loaded when Windows starts — so that it will be “immediately available” should you want it — and so it puts a shortcut to itself in the Startup folder. For some programs and services this is a very good thing; like your 3rd party firewall and antivirus program and updater. You definitely want those things running all the time, and just as soon as Windows boots.

But most of the others are unnecessary and merely slow down the boot process and waste valuable RAM memory space. Apple Quicktime, Adobe Acrobat (and Adobe Updater) and Real Player are notorious examples of programs that have no business inserting themselves into your Startup folder, but there are others: do you really need your webcam to start itself at boot? How about your instant messenger? Isn’t it sufficient to simply launch them when you’re ready to use them? Some of these simply launch themselves so that they can show you banner ads and make the owners money (like AIM and MSN Messenger), which is pretty darned-close to being adware…wouldn’t you say? (It is, in fact, the definition of adware.) Windows itself is often guilty of bogging itself down by loading programs (called “services”) that you probably don’t need.

Tip of the day: Speed up your boot process (and get rid of some of those icons down by the clock at the same time) by trimming shortcuts from your Startup folder and shutting down unnecessary services. Let’s start with the first one. In XP, right-click the Start button, and then click Properties. On the Start Menu tab, click Classic Start menu and then click Customize. Now click Remove. Open the Programs folder and open the Startup folder. Highlight the items in the Startup folder that you want to remove and click the Remove button. Close, and hit OK. That’s it. Restore your Start menu’s view if you prefer the “XP look”. (Remember, you are only removing shortcuts to the executable, and not removing the program itself: it is still there for when you want it.)

Now my advice on what to remove and what to leave alone: remove anything Adobe, remove anything that says “quick launch”, remove anything Apple, remove your webcam, and leave in place your Internet Security and anti-malware programs. It is up to you whether or not you want your instant messenger to be loaded at boot or not — I prefer it.

This next part, Services, is a little more advanced, and you should be real comfortable with Windows before you make too many adjustments — you will be doing more than just removing shortcuts here. Click Start >Programs >Administrative Tools (or, Start >All Programs >Accessories >Administrative Tools) and then Services. In the right-hand pane you will see a long list of services available to Windows, and columns labeled “Description”, Status, Start up type, and “Log on as”. The status shows you which ones are currently running, and as you will see, most of them are not (which is good).

Now since we’re in a province not meant for mere mortals, I’m going to suggest only a few “tweaks”, and strongly urge you not to do more.

Locate the service Messenger and check its status (This is not your instant messenger): it should be blank and the Start up type should read “disabled”. If not, double-click on it. On the window that opens, click the Stop button. Now use the drop-down menu to change the Start up type to Disabled. If you are not hosting your own website (and if you don’t know what that means, you aren’t) look for a service called IIS: use the above method to stop and disable this one also. If Telnet is running and you’re not a sysadmin, disable this one too.

If you are the only user of the machine, locate (and stop) the Fast User Switching service and set the Start up type to Manual. If it has been a long while since you’ve used Windows Help and Support Center, do the same to the service named Help and Support. And that, I believe, is enough for now.

Today’s free link(s): I have been talking recently about malware and I’ve mentioned the threats it poses. If you are concerned about, and have questions regarding, malware and ID theft, there’s a couple of great resources where you can get answers — Safer Computing.com and the US Government’s “one stop” National ID Theft Information Center.

For more on the Startup folder, see my new post, and also How To Manage Startup programs in Vista.

As part of his ongoing exploration of world of cloudware apps, Rick Robinette at What’s On My PC.. has found a nifty screen capture tool and prepared a nice demo video (that I found very informative). Check out ScreenToaster – An “Awesome and Free” web based screen recorder!

* One of my first articles. Orig pub: June 20, 2007

Copyright 2007-9 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved. post to jaanix

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Make Outlook open when Windows starts

Do you have a favorite program that you’d like to start as soon as Windows does — perhaps your email client? I have told you in previous articles about stopping programs from loading at boot, and today I’ll tell you how to reverse the process, and gain further control your computer’s behavior.

Tip of the day: It seems a lot of you have been interested in how to remove unwanted programs from your Startup Folder, and if you’ve done so, you already know how to navigate to and open it. For today’s tip I’m going to use as an example adding Outlook Express, so that it will automatically open for you when you turn on your machine and start your day (simply substitute the program you use). Because if you’re like me, one of the first things you do is check your email…and you like to save steps and time. I will also show you a different way of navigating to the folder.

In the previous articles I told you that when you deleted programs from your Startup Folder you we not deleting the programs — merely shortcuts to the program. Today we’re going to add a shortcut.
In Windows XP, start by opening My Computer, either by Start >My Computer, or double-clicking the My Computer icon on your desktop. Now double-click the Local Drive (C:) icon, [you may get a window saying “these files and folders are hidden”. Just click on the “view these now” link.] and then locate and double-click the Documents and Settings folder.

If you wanted to make a change for all the users of your machine you would open the All Users folder. Since we are customizing the start-up behavior just for ourselves, we open the folder that matches our User Name — in this machine’s case, the folder named “Terry” (sharp-eyed, security-conscious types will notice that the Administrator account hasn’t been renamed on this machine — a “no no”.). Now we look for and open the Start Menu Folder. Open it and then open the Program folder, and finally, Startup.

As you can see, this User Account has no programs at all listed in its Startup folder. That doesn’t mean that no programs launch at boot. The programs I do want, (antivirus, firewall, etc.) I want to have run no matter who is using the machine, so they’re listed in the “All User’s” Startup folder.

In Vista, it is a little different: the Startup folder is listed in Programs, accessed from the Start button. Click Start >Programs and scroll down until you see the folder labeled Startup. Double-click it to open its contents window and drag your shortcuts into there.

Adding a program shortcut is easy, and it’s easiest if there is already an icon on the desktop (which is also a shortcut, btw). Simply right-click on the icon and drag it into the open Startup window, and let go. A menu will open: select “Create shortcut here”. And that’s it. You’re done.
If there isn’t a desktop icon, hover your mouse over the Start button, and then Programs. Now the list of all your programs appears. Again, simply right-click and drag the ones you want, as outlined immediately above. Now the next time you boot Windows, those programs will open for you automatically. A neat little trick.

Today’s free link: Trillion. For those of us who use Instant Messaging. This tool lets you combine your various IMs into a single “control panel”. From Website: “Trillian™ is a fully featured, stand-alone, skinnable chat client that supports AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo Messenger, and IRC. It provides capabilities not possible with original network clients, while supporting standard features such as audio chat, file transfers, group chats, chat rooms, buddy icons, multiple simultaneous connections to the same network, server-side contact importing, typing notification, direct connection (AIM), proxy support, encrypted messaging (AIM/ICQ), SMS support, and privacy settings.”

Copyright 2007-8 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved. post to jaanix

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Computer won’t turn on/acts dead

I have said it here before: sometimes it’s the simple things that make for the best articles. Someone, somewhere, dubbed this truthism the “K.I.S.S. principle“, (short version=keep it simple, *silly*) and I was recently reminded of how much time we can waste when we forget it.

This story started with a very upset person calling (my tech support business) because their computer wouldn’t turn on. No lights came on. It made no sounds. The screen stayed black. It was… “dead”.
I probably don’t need to tell you just how upset this person was, and how anxious they were about losing their files.. and getting back to work.. and all. A computer “dying” on you is an upsetting experience: if you depend on it for conducting your business, it can be a costly one too.

Tip of the day: when troubleshooting problems, remember to start with the simple things.
The main cause of a “dead” computer is it’s not getting power; so I asked if the PC was still plugged into the wall? (power cords sometimes get kicked loose.) No. A power-strip.
Is the power-strip plugged into the wall? Is the On/Off switch flipped to on? Yes, and yes. (Please don’t snicker at these questions, Dear Reader: the Number One cause of “dead” computers is someone’s foot {or vacuum cleaner} flicking the power-strip Off. Check this!)
Hmmm.. now things were getting more serious. So I had the caller plug a lamp into that particular wall outlet to verify that the circuit was ‘live’. It was.

I confess I temporarily forgot about the KISS principal, and I started down the logic path to the two next primary causes– a failed power-supply unit, or a ‘fried’ motherboard. Both serious repairs that I cannot perform over the phone.
Fortunately, before I went too far, years of experience came to the rescue. I had the caller unplug the PC from the power strip and plug it directly into the wall. “I heard a ‘beep’!” the caller exclaimed, “and the little red light is flashing!” This was one happy person.

What had happened was not tremendously common — the power-strip itself had failed. (But sometimes the built-in circuit-breaker needs to be reset.) But it does happen. Extension cords sometimes wear out and fail. And.. sometimes power-supply units fail and motherboards die. Before you go out and spend $100 for a replacement unit, make sure you apply today’s lesson and eliminate the easy things first.

If you should be unfortunate and have a “dead” computer, and you have tried these things and determined that it is your power-supply unit (PSU), the second question in this article discusses the replacement process. If it is a motherboard failure, you may want to let a repair technician do the installation for you.

(A final story point: the caller’s anxiety might not have been quite so high had they been in the practice of making backups.. which all my loyal readers do. Right?)

Today’s free link: A lot of you have been interested in my articles on managing the programs which load at startup. Sometimes finding and eliminating these can be tricky. The geek tool for tracking down Startup loaders is AutoRuns. from website: “This utility, which has the most comprehensive knowledge of auto-starting locations of any startup monitor, shows you what programs are configured to run during system bootup or login, and shows you the entries in the order Windows processes them. These programs include ones in your startup folder, Run, RunOnce, and other Registry keys.”

Copyright 2007-8 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved.

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