[MSCOFF]

I bought my wife a mini 10v for christmas. Came with windows 7 starter. She's VERRY computer illiterate and the mini is fine for her the way it is. But it sure is slow starting up. I disabled bluetooth in the boot screen, disabled some services, turned off the sounds. Any list of tips/tricks specifically for windows 7 starter that I can use to speed it up a bit. I don't plan to upgrade the OS or add more ram. But things like a blank/blue screen might be quicker to load. The options in control panel and windows explorer are minimal compared to XP which I'm use to. Thanks for any suggestions. Mark S.

[WolfKeeper]

How long does it take to boot?

My 10v can get to the desktop in about 35 seconds running Windows 7 Professional. I would think Starter (or any other version) would be similar.

[holmes4]

Disabling services is probably a waste of effort on Windows 7, as most of them it doesn't start until you need them. Disabling sounds doesn't really help things either.

The single best thing you can do is to choose a good antivirus solution - some of them have a very significant impact on startup and shutdown performance. For the free offerings. Microsoft Security Essentials is very good. My systems run Norton Internet Security 2010.

Run "msconfig" and look at what is shown for startup items. Some of them could probably be disabled, but make sure you know what they do.

[pokenguyen]

My Windows 7 were previously installed with tons of built in software. Then, I reinstalled Windows 7, just use Trackpad driver and battery meter and everything works great. I don't use Antivirus programs because I can take advantage of User Account Control. If you want to install an antivirus program, I recommend you to choose Eset, it's the fatest Antivirus program I've ever seen! Besides, you can use Avira Personal for free, it's also fast

[adriantannerisb]

I too can recommend NOD32, because I tested many antiviruses and timed the boot time, and NOD32 was the clear winner.

Also, I'd recommend reinstalling windows, to get rid of all the junk that come preloaded. (I'm assuming that there is junk preinstalled, but I might not be correct about mini 10's with Windows 7. I know XP Mini 9's sure had junk.)

Lastly, you can download CCleaner and run it. I is great for cleanup. It also has a Startup manager built in that may be easier to understand than msconfig.

[TobyRhino]

I run NOD32 or ESS from the same company which is also good.

If you're worried about start up time, enable sleep and hibernate options in the power management options. So when she's done using the mini, it will cache all open windows and programs to the memory/ssd which makes it much faster to start back up, rather than a cold-boot. It also means that she can just close the lid when she's done and not worry about having to shutdown through the start menu.