ThinkPad users please post your Boot Times here.

After starting a thread about the definition of "boot time", it seems it differs a lot from individual to individual.

Hence, as suggested by another NBR member I am starting this thread to use more or less the same parameters to compare boot times on ThinkPads.

I understand that it is not going to be scientific but at least it is better than comparing i.e. "boot to login screen" with "boot until no disk activity". The difference can be very big.

Hence, without further ado let me set the parameters and post my times.

I'd appreciate if you would post yours and describe your parameters - i.e. which operating system, which antivirus program are you running (if any)?

My system:

- ThinkPad X61
- Intel 965 GMS Express
- 2.0 Ghz T7300 Core 2 Duo
- 3 GB PC5300 RAM
- 120 GB 5400RPM SATA HDD
- Intel GMA X3100 Graphics

- OS: Windows Vista Business
- Antivirus: Avast Antivirus (real-time protection on)
- Spyware: Windows Defender (real-time protection on)
- ThinkVantage apps: Access Connections, Active Protection System, Client Security Solution, Power Manager, Presentation Director, Rescue and Recovery.
- 84 processes running after startup.

Boot times are measured with power plugged in. In addition to this I use Fingerprint Windows login.

Boot times:

1)
From "Windows splash screen start" to "Windows sign in" it takes approx. 23 seconds.

2)
From "Windows splash screen start" to "Windows desktop" it takes approx. 27 seconds.

3)
From "Windows splash screen start" to being able to "open Firefox" it takes approx. 1 minute and 05 seconds.

4)
From "Windows splash screen start" until there is "no more disk activity" (from i.e. the Superfetch service) it takes approx. 7 minutes.


I'd appreciate if others would post their ThinkPad boot times in this thread as well.

Thanks.

 

84 processes...! I would think you could shave that amount way down and really speed up the boot times for that 3rd and 4th category.

 

Yes, for the third category it probably would make a difference.
For the 4th category it shouldn't make any difference really, as at least 5 minutes are spend solely on SuperFetch running in the background. Keep in mind that I have 3GB RAM to fill. The system is very responsive while SuperFetch runs in the background though. It is just annoying that the HDD activity is constant during the process.

I will run a clean install at a later stage, but if I start adding most of the ThinkVantage applications as well as Antivirus, Adobe Reader, etc the number of process will rapidly increase anyway.

What are your times?

 

My system:

- ThinkPad T61
- Intel PM965
- 2.2 Ghz T7500 Core 2 Duo
- 4 GB PC5400 RAM
- 200GB Hitachi 7K200 7200RPM SATA HDD (It's baaad a$$)
- nVidia 140M Graphics

- OS: Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit
- Antivirus: Nod32 (real-time protection on)
- ThinkVantage apps: Fingerprint Software, Power Manger, EasyEject Utility
- 64 processes running after startup.

Boot times are measured with power plugged in. In addition to this I use Fingerprint Windows login.
Boot times:

It seems like the easiest way to measure this is from the time you press the power button until you see login. That is about 47 seconds for me. If I swipe my finger quick enough I can get to the desktop just under one minute.

1)
From "Windows splash screen start" to "Windows sign in" it takes approx. 23 seconds.

2)
From "Windows splash screen start" to "Windows desktop" it takes approx. 27 seconds.

3)
From "Windows splash screen start" to being able to "open Firefox" it takes approx. 30 seconds.

4)
From "Windows splash screen start" until there is "no more disk activity" Who knows That's kinda tough to measure. You never know when your anti-virus program or Windows is going to try to download and update something. I've also got diskeeper running on demand.

 

Get rid of Client Security Solution. You'll notice a difference with that gone for sure.

 

Thanks for the info Stallen. Interesting times, especially considering category 3. That is fast.

Or am I misunderstanding something here? You mentioned that you could get to the desktop in just under one minute from "power-on", but from the "Windows splash screen" it only takes 27 seconds? Are you saying that BIOS startup takes about 30 seconds to finish?

Thanks for the advice, but I actually use CSS for website logins, so I guess that's a no-go for me.

 

What is the windows vista splash screen? The first vista screen I see is a pretty much blank screen with a loading bar. These were timed with a stop watch, I have to type a password in my logon screen.

1)
From "Windows splash screen start" to "Windows sign in" it takes approx. 24s

2)
From "Windows splash screen start" to "Windows desktop" it takes approx. 28s

3)
From "Windows splash screen start" to being able to "open Firefox" it takes approx. 32 seconds

 

Thanks for the info braddd.

What I mean by Vista splash screen is exactly what you stated = blank screen with a loading bar. It is not much of a splash screen I know.

Could you please advise the following braddd:

- Are you running an Antivirus program?
- Are you running a Spyware program?
- Which ThinkVantage apps do you run?
- how many processes are running at startup?

 

You can actually disable the splash screen to improve boost time by disabling GUI boot in msconfig

 

Thanks superpig. At the moment I am not necessarily trying to reduce my boot times. I am more curious about people's boot times and setups.

What are your times?

 

1. No antivirus at this time.
2. No spyware program.
3. Thinkvantage apps.. what ever came on the computer originally, this is still a factory install, hoping to do a clean install tomorrow.
4. 89 processes by my count(I clicked show process from all users in the cntrl+alt+delete window)

 

ThinkPad X61s:
1.6GHz LV C2D
2GB RAM
120GB HDD
Vista Business x64

It was about 1 minute and 10 seconds the last time I checked from a fresh boot. This is with no antivirus, and all ThinkVantage applications installed.

It's times like these when I miss my Macbook; it only took 30 seconds for that thing to boot up.

 

why is there so much damn hard drive activity with every action with this thinkpad? I have a T61 [c2d 2ghz / 1gb ram / 120 gb hdd / quadro 140m]

I can't do anything without there being hard drive activity... even surfing the web shows a lot of it. And start up is killer, probably a good 5 minutes for the activity to die down... this is ridiculous. I put ubuntu on this system and there's none of the hdd activity btw... Vista is a retarded choice for a T61. They shouldn't even make this laptop available with it... (just my opinion)

 

It's Windows SuperFetch doing its thing.

 

Sp00n, thanks for the info. The 1 minute and 10 second boot is which category boot? "Splash screen to desktop"? Also, how many processes are running?

As I mentioned it is most likely the SuperFetch function loading your frequently run apps into memory. Albeit I agree that it is annoying with the disk thrashing, it shouldn't really affect the performance of your system while it is running. It is a background process, so i.e. opening programs will have priority over SuperFetch.

 

It's from the moment I press the power button. I have 80 processes running.

 

My system:

- ThinkPad t60p
- 2.0 Ghz T7200 Core 2 Duo
- 2 GB RAM
- 120 GB 5400RPM SATA HDD
- ATI fireGL v5250 graphics

- OS: Windows XP Pro
- Antivirus: AGV Free
- Spyware: none
- ThinkVantage apps: Power Manager
- 47 processes running after startup.

Boot times are measured with power plugged in. In addition to this I DO NOT use Fingerprint Windows login.

Boot times:

1)
From "Windows splash screen start" to "Windows sign in" it takes approx. 25 seconds.

2)
From "Windows splash screen start" to "Windows desktop" it takes approx. 30 seconds.

3)
From "Windows splash screen start" to being able to "open Firefox" it takes approx. 33 seconds.

4)
From "Windows splash screen start" until there is "no more disk activity" it takes approx. 33 seconds. same time that firefox starts

 

JabbaJabba - nice avatar!

 

TPA, care to share any tweaks?

 

Thanks. I quite like it myself . I still remember the first time I say Yoda swing his mighty lightsaber... I couldn't stop laughing for minutes on.

Btw, Stallen, could you please answer the question I asked you a few days ago in this thread? I didn't quite understand what you meant.

 

I clean installed windows xp using nlite to reduce the size of the install.
I limited the number of thinkvantage components to 3 but only use 2 (power manager, active protection)
After I got everything the way I wanted it I defragged and ran everthing in ccleaner.

And last but most important I do not load any unnecessary software. I'm and engineering student and am currently using mathcad and matlab. later I will install pro-e. Every new software install adds startup items and processes and slows everything down.

 

I missed that...

I'm not sure what that Windows splash screen is... so I'll break it down. Ijust timed it again. This is what I get...

From the time I hit the power button until I see the Thinkpad (BIOS) screen it is about 4 seconds.

From the Thinkpad/BIOS screen to the Windows screen with the scolling/moving green bar (That's what I think is the Windows Splash screen) to takes about another 11 seconds (15 seconds total)

From the time I see the windows splash screen until I see the login screen it takes another 28 seconds (that's 43 seconds total)

From the time the fingerprint reader says "Accepted" until the desktop appears that takes about 4 seconds (that's 47 seconds total)

Moving back a step... it takes about 5 seconds to swipe my finger and be "Accepted" I subtracted that step earlier because that involves the user. So anyway adding that to the total is about 52 seconds.

At 52 seconds total this is why I said I can get to the desktop in under 1 minute from the time I press the power button until I see the desktop.

I'm probably off a few seconds somewhere. The last time I timed it I was right at 55 seconds from power on to desktop (including swiping finger and verification).

BTW, shut down for me takes about 20-25 seconds. I was only about 10 seconds before I installed all of my applications.

 

Thanks for the info. Don't know how you could get a 10 second shutdown in the beginning since Vista is automatically set at a 20 second service shutdown wait? I may be mistaken though.

In case you don't know here's a nice tweak which works like a charm for me:

http://itsvista.com/2007/02/itsvista-tip-34-force-vista-to-shutdown-faster/

I have set it to 8000 just to be on the safe side, but even at 5000 it works without any problems.

With a 8 second wait, my total shutdown time is always about 14 seconds.

 

OK I have a T61 running Vista 64 Ultimate. T7700 processor, 4Gb memory, 7200 rpm 100GB drive.

It takes about 70 seconds from power on to launching Firefox.

I find it somewhat slow compared to what the machine can do with applications once it gets started.

 

Hmmm, I didn't actaully time it before. I guess I just thought it was shutting down faster. Anyway, thanks for the tweak. I think I'll give it a try.

 

For the vista times do you disable the aero features and gadget sidebar?

 

power button -> firefox times

factory setup: 4:30
factory setup, tweaks: 2:30
clean vista install: 1:20

core2duo 1.5ghz, 3gb ram, vista 64, AVG, gadget sidebar