How to determine your Boot & Shutdown times

Fast boot and shutdown times are great but it must be remembered, assuming the machines run just fine once fully booted, faster boot and shutdown times should not be used as an indicator of system performance - that is, if computer A takes 45 seconds to boot and computer B takes 90 seconds to boot, it does not mean computer A is a better performer. It just means it boots faster and that can be due to many reasons that are NOT related to performance.

Now if the machines are 100% identical in hardware configuration and setup, have the exact same boot options set in the BIOS, have the exact same programs and services set to start at boot, exact same OS and network setup, and one takes twice as long, that indicates a "problem" that needs to be troubleshooted.

Note that many XP machines take 4 minutes or longer to boot. Windows 7 boots faster primarily because Microsoft changed the code to make Win7 available sooner.

You will see many users "bragging" about faster boot times. That is false, or unfounded bravado. You will see many sites and tutorials showing how you can shave seconds off your boot times by removing startup items claiming it improves performance - NOT SO and I challenge anyone to show a real test site that has conducted tests that prove the machine runs better once booted.

Now certainly, you can make your machine perform badly by loading up tons of useless stuff at boot. And sadly, many "free" and shareware programs (even legitimate ones) will attempt to foist toolbars, download managers, and other things we don't want or need that eventually will bog our systems down. But that just means we need to be more conscientious and attentive when installing new program and ALWAYS choose the custom option to opt out of any extra stuff we don't want.

Some users insist loading up your start menu with the programs you use regularly is a bad idea because it slows down your boot times. So what? If you use them regularly, having them ready to go is faster than waiting for them to load up individually when you start to use them.

Most people boot their once day, (if they don't leave them on 24/7). So boot your machine, get your cup of coffee, and come back and you are ready to rock and roll.

True.

No doubt, the disk plays a key role during boot. But, once loaded into RAM, the disk plays a much smaller role.

True, nevertheless, do you have a SSD?

Those of us with SSDs have noticed a great improvement.

does the boot time mean how long it takes to reach the desktop

do you have a SSD?

Not on this machine but I have used machines that do. And no doubt, with disk intensive applications, it can help performance a lot. And boot times are improved signficantly. But it is very dependent on how the user uses the machine, the amount of RAM, and other HW specs.

It is also matters what OS you use. Vista thrashed the HD a lot while Win7 is much better at disk management.

does the boot time mean how long it takes to reach the desktop

I suppose it depends on who you talk to. On my systems, since I have several things set to load and run at boot, the desktop is reached before I can actually start to use my computer. I have to wait a few more seconds. So to me, I think boot time starts when I hit the power button (or click reboot) and ends when I can start using my computer.