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Why Do Computers Take So Long to Boot Up?

An anonymous reader writes "Computers take too long to boot up, and it doesn't make sense to me. Mine takes around 30 seconds; it is double or triple that for some of my friends' computers that I have used. Why can't a computer turn on and off in an instant just like a TV? 99% of boots, my computer is doing the exact same thing. Then I get to Windows XP with maybe 50 to 75 megs of stuff in memory. My computer should be smart enough to just load that junk into memory and go with it. You could put this data right at the very start of the hard drive. Whenever you do something with the computer that actually changes what happens during boot, it could go through the real booting process and save the results. Doing this would also give you instant restarts. You just hit your restart button, the computer reloads the memory image, and you can be working again. Or am I wrong? Why haven't companies made it a priority to have 'instant on' desktops and laptops?"

9 of 975 comments (clear)

  1. You haven't asked before by JonathanR · · Score: 5, Funny

    It is because until now, you haven't submitted your question to Slashdot.

  2. Re:Gotta mention the obligatory Steve Jobs story h by Ghoser777 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Hate to imagine the amount of human lifetimes lost on slashdot...

    --
    James Tiberius Kirk: "Spock, the women on your planet are logical. No other planet in the galaxy can make that claim."
  3. Be serious by BCW2 · · Score: 4, Funny

    If Windows didn't go through the complete boot process each time how would it come up with random reasons to crash?

    --
    Professional Politicians are not the solution, they ARE the problem.
  4. Why can't a computer turn on and off like a TV? by bunions · · Score: 5, Funny

    honestly, this is like the dumbest possible way to ask why we can't have faster boot times.

    Ok, maybe not. The dumbest possible way is probably something like:

    "why can't the compujigger turn on faster, like the whatchamavision?"

    but still, it's pretty damn close.

    --
    there is no need to sign your posts. this isn't usenet. your username is right there above your post. stop it.
  5. Yeah, why does it take so long? by aldo.gs · · Score: 5, Funny

    I mean, all those gears and counterweights can't be that slow, now can they? Wait...

  6. Re:Gotta mention the obligatory Steve Jobs story h by ceoyoyo · · Score: 4, Funny

    Well, if everybody just stared at their screens and drooled while they booted, I guess you could say something was being wasted. Except for all the quality drooling time, of course.

  7. Re:Gotta mention the obligatory Steve Jobs story h by greg_barton · · Score: 5, Funny
    The amount of human lifetimes that are wasted waiting for PC's to reboot is pretty horrifying - and there's a lot more than a million of them.

    I just spent 30 seconds reading your post.

    YOU BASTARD!
  8. Re:hum by I+Like+Pudding · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...or you can just go into Quicktime's config and disable the startup option. You don't get that same feeling of beating The Man, though.

  9. Re:hum by Sajarak · · Score: 5, Funny
    Or linux with 'init=/bin/sh'. Only takes a couple of seconds on my machine.
    And runs completely off your sense of self-satisfaction! ;-)