About Technology

By Zach Hope

Some people still remember the day when switching on your television set took a good couple of minutes. You couldn’t just turn on and start watching straight away – you had to plan ahead or you would miss the beginning of your favourite TV show.

We take it for granted nowadays that TV sets are ready to go at the touch of a button and with a mere second or two we have a picture with sound.

This improvement has been made possible due to the fundamental changes in the way that your TV works. Sets used to have so called “valves” that needed to be warmed up in order to work properly. The modern boxes use different technologies that don’t need to warm up.

Although our TVs get going almost immediately, the same can’t be said for our computers. Booting up windows is the modern replacement for waiting for a TV set to warm up. And they call it progress. Tut, Tut.

Back in the day there wasn’t much you could do to help speed up the warming up period, it was just considered a convenient time to go and put the kettle on. However, with your computer it is slightly different. The computer isn’t actually warming up as such, its running computer code commonly known as ‘Windows XP’. Most importantly, unlike an old telly there is something you can do to help reduce the time it takes to start up.

By making the booting process more efficient you can reduce the start-up time by up to 4 times. Computer tech guys can do this for you, but they charge a premium. Baring in mind how simple it is once you know these “secret” tips – I would recommend a DIY job. Anyone can do it, it takes a few minutes to do and will save you a lot of time and frustration in the long run.