PC's could, at long last, boot up in seconds...

[Neil]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11430069


New PCs could start in just seconds, thanks to an update to one of the oldest parts of desktop computers.

The upgrade will spell the end for the 25-year-old PC start-up software known as Bios that initialises a machine so its operating system can get going.

The code was not intended to live nearly this long, and adapting it to modern PCs is one reason they take as long as they do to warm up.

Bios' replacement, known as UEFI, will predominate in new PCs by 2011

[LouCipherr]

Wow, if this is implemented correctly, we have a winner. There is nothing more frustrating than hitting the power button and waiting around for your computer to boot.

My computer is really quick to boot, but I'm extremely impatient and I will be more than pleased with "instant boot" so-to-speak. :D

[MikePizzoff]

That's awesome. My Mac boots up in around 30-40 seconds, which is great. My PC, however..... lets just say I push the power button then I go watch TV for a while.

[blind2d]

This IS good news! Hey! Cool, good find.

[krakenslayer]

My PC used to take forever to boot, but I recently did a destructive restore on Windows and now it boots within about 40 seconds and it's only an Athlon X2 5000, 3GB RAM.

[LouCipherr]

Yeah, Windows tends to leave things "messy" after a while.

I liken windows to a file cabinet. You stuff more and more files in it, and eventually you need to clean it out. You do, but what you forget is there's a lot of papers, paperclips, and leftover shit on the bottom of the file cabinet drawer.

Windows is pretty much the same. While you install programs then uninstall them, windows always tends to leave some crap behind, slowing shit down unnecessarily.

This is why you'll always hear people like Dj and I re-installing windows at least twice a year. I really makes a difference.

Oh, I fogot to mention - all those pictures of boobs you guys download slow shit down, too. :lol: :lol: :shifty:

[DjfunkmasterG]

40 seconds are you people stoned.... from power on to usable desktop 11 seconds. What are you doing to your PC's?

[krakenslayer]

Not stoned. It just sounds like you have a very non-typical PC rig. It's the 11 seconds boot that is uncommon, not the 40 second boot. Mine takes almost ten seconds to get past the BIOS motherboard, graphics, disc and memory checks.

I often deal with customers' PCs that they bring into my work to be fixed, etc. and I can safely guess-timate that the mean power-to-usable desktop time, averaged across working PCs made in the last five years, is probably about a minute and a half.

[LouCipherr]

40 seconds are you people stoned.... from power on to usable desktop 11 seconds. What are you doing to your PC's?


Oh, I fogot to mention - all those pictures of boobs you guys download slow shit down, too. :lol: :lol: :shifty:

:D :lol:

[DjfunkmasterG]

:D :lol:

I download boob pictures and I don't have these issues... it is called regular maintenance... Learn it, live it, do it.

[krakenslayer]

Maintenance will not help speed up the Bios checks, only the actual Windows loading screen and the responsiveness of the desktop once reached. Both of which I have no issues with. The rest is mostly down to processor speed.

[LouCipherr]

I download boob pictures and I don't have these issues... it is called regular maintenance... Learn it, live it, do it.

You're obviously downloading the wrong boobs, Dj. :lol:

[DjfunkmasterG]

Maintenance will not help speed up the Bios checks, only the actual Windows loading screen and the responsiveness of the desktop once reached. Both of which I have no issues with. The rest is mostly down to processor speed.

If you know how to properly configure your bios you can speed up the bios check process. Not that hard just requires about 15 minutes of tinkering. However, you need to know what you're doing before attempting that... piece of ADVICE always make sure in your Boot Up Sequence the drive housing your OS is the first to boot up.

[MikePizzoff]

Deej, are you running Linux???

[DjfunkmasterG]

Deej, are you running Linux???

Nope... WINDOWS XP professional on the NLE systema nd WINDOWS 7 on the Laptop

[Eyebiter]

Hopefully this new boot program will eliminate the PC speaker 'beep' at system start up.

To speed up your computer add a SSD hard drive, should cut your boot time by half.

[Danny]

My two year old imac goes from powered down to running the desktop in seconds....

[krakenslayer]

Hopefully this new boot program will eliminate the PC speaker 'beep' at system start up.

To speed up your computer add a SSD hard drive, should cut your boot time by half.

My current PC doesn't do the beep. Some BIOSes have an option that lets you disable it, or you could pop the case and physically disconnect the internal PC speaker from the motherboard. The beeps can actually be a useful diagnostic aid if something goes wrong and the system refuses to boot, but if it really annoys you...

[krakenslayer]

Deej, are you running Linux???

Nah, he's just counting the time on his super-special invisible batwatch; if you've seen Deadlands 1, you'll have witnessed its power. :lol: :p

(sorry DJ I couldn't resist :D)

[SymphonicX]

I don't know a huge amount about computers - but I always thought the real key here was to get the operating system on some sort of flash storage drive so essentially the spinning element of the hard disk is eliminated. I got a mate who's an systems architect for a massive networking company and he alwayss says that the slowest thing in a computer is the hard drive....

[shootemindehead]

My PC takes 22 seconds to boot up.
My MAC takes twice that.

[Neil]

My PC takes 22 seconds to boot up.
Wow! Windows 7?

[shootemindehead]

No. XP.

Haven't got 7 yet. But my wife's Win 7 laptop is pretty quick to boot up too.