Start your system faster with these tips!

Start your system faster with these tips!

This question was answered on December 29, 2000. Much of the information contained herein may have changed since posting.

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Windows, by default, scans for new floppy disk drive and puts a two second pause whenever you start your computer You can decrease your startup times by doing the following:

Since there is no need to search for the floppy drive every time your PC boots up you can disable this setting by going to Start/Settings/Control Panel/System or by right-clicking on the My Computer icon and choosing "Properties" from the dialog box When the System Properties window opens, select the Performance tab then click on the File System button Next, select the Floppy Disk tab and uncheck the option "Search for new floppy disk drives every time your computer starts."

This next tips is specifically designed for Windows 98 only and is not recommended for "Newbies" or novices because it modifies a core Windows file that can cause major problems if the instructions are not followed exactly

Warning: Any time you make changes to a "SYS" file, it's a good idea to back up your important files and have your original Windows disk on hand in case you need to reinstall.

If you want to reduce the time that Windows 98 takes to boot, you can remove the built-in two-second delay in the OS's start-up sequence

To do this, do the following:

- Under the Start button, select Find/Files or Folders

- Enter msdos.sys in the Named box and C: in the Look In box Then click Find Now

- When the file appears, right-click it and select "Properties" from the dialog box

- Click to remove the check marks from the Read-Only and Hidden attributes, then click OK

- Right-click msdos.sys, select Open With from the dialog box then select Notepad as the opening program to edit and then click OK

- Under the [Options] heading, enter BootDelay=0 on its own line.

- Close Notepad and save your changes on the way out

- Return msdos.sys to its hidden and read-only state (Right-click it, select Properties from the dialog box and check the Read-Only and Hidden check boxes Then click OK.)

- Quit and restart Windows.

Some older systems may need this delay to allow the hard drive time to spin up to operating speed before Windows attempts to load If you have an older system or are running Windows 95, DO NOT MAKE THIS MODIFICATION!!!

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Posted by Ken Colburn of Data Doctors on December 29, 2000

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