Faster Boot-Up without tons of fonts
Many of the files that load during the boot-up process are fonts. You probably only use a handful of them. I suggest moving some you never use into another folder. You won't be able to access the fonts in Word or Notepad.
- Create a New Folder by right clicking on desktop. New>Folder.
- Open "Fonts" in Control Panel. Switch to Classic View to find them easier.
- Highlight a group of fonts younever use and move them to the other folder. Repeat if you have tons of fonts.
- Put the folder into My Documents for easy access.
- Reboot and see if it starts any faster for you. If not, just copy the fonts back to the original font folder.
Faster Dual Boot Timeout
If you dual boot your PC using Windows XP's dual boot process, you can reduce the timeout period your PC uses before booting to the default OS. This tweak is useful if you boot to the default OS most of the time and only boot to the other OS's on a limited basis.
1)Locate and Open the hidden file "boot.ini" in notepad or your favorite text editor. This file will likely be in the root directory on the boot partition of your "master" HD. For example, mine is located in "C:\boot.ini" even though I have Win98 loaded on this partition and the boot.ini file was generated when I loaded WinXP on "D:/"
2) Locate the line - timeout=30 (default is 30 seconds). Change this value to any time desired. I chose 10. Be careful not to choose too low of a setting or you may not have time to select your other OS's. Also, be careful not to change other lines as this may prevent your PC from booting at all.
3)Save the file. The next time you boot your PC, the changes will take effect.
Editor's note: You can also adjust this in Control Panel > System > Advanced > Startup and Recovery > Settings > Time to display list of operating systems.