Use A Batch File to Quicken Startup Time

A lot of the time it takes for Windows to fully boot up is taken by programs that are set to launch at Startup. Some of these applications you may have manually set to launch at startup just for the sake of convenience. Other programs – IM apps like AIM, MSN, and Yahoo! are notorious for this – will automatically set themselves to start at launch when you install them.  So the first step will be to turn these settings off.

Most programs will have a setting in their Preferences; just poke around until you find it. You’ll also want to look in your Startup folder, located in your Start Menu, under (All) Programs; anything in this folder will be loaded at launch, regardless of the program’s settings. Again, some applications will install themselves here.

What we’re going to do with this batch file is simply delay the launching of some of these programs. By minimizing the number of programs and services Windows has to start when you boot the computer, we’ll minimize the amount of time it takes. Then once Windows is fully operational, you can launch these programs at your leisure.  This comes in very handy if you’re just starting up your computer to do one little thing and don’t want to wait for a half a dozen programs to launch.

The first thing you’ll want to do is create a folder to keep all the shortcuts we’ll be making. Mine is simply C:\BatchStart. Have this folder open in Windows Explorer when you go into the Start Menu. Now, just right-click drag your desired programs into this folder and choose “Copy” or “Create Shortcut Here” if it’s available.

Once you have shortcuts to all the programs you want, go through and rename them all to a short one-word name.  For example, change “Microsoft Office Outlook 2007” to just “Outlook”. This will make it easier when we write the batch file.

Now we can create the batch file. This can be saved anywhere, but I would suggest saving it to your desktop. That way it will be easily available when you start up Windows.  Right click, highlight “New” and choose to create a new text document. (Note: Mine says “Notepad++ Document”, but yours may be different.) You’ll immediately be able to change the file name; change it to Startup.bat or something similar. It should look like the icon to the right.

Right-click this new icon and choose “Edit.” You should now have a blank Text document. Here you’ll want to enter the path to each of the shortcuts you created.  Here’s an example of mine:

c:\batchstart\Outlook.lnk
c:\batchstart\Evernote.lnk
c:\batchstart\TweetDeck.lnk
c:\batchstart\FireFox.lnk
cls

Note: “.lnk” is the file extension for shortcuts and must be included in the batch file.

That’s all there is to it.  Save the file, then whenever you want to launch this group of programs, just double-click the startup.bat file.

Here’s a quick summary of the procedures:

1. Create a folder to hold your shortcuts. In my example, I’m using C:\BatchStart
2. In this folder, create shortcuts to the programs you want to include in the batch file.
3. Rename the shortcuts so they’re short and easy to digest, i.e. “Outlook,” “Firefox,” etc.
4. Right-click in Windows Explorer or the Desktop, choose “New” » Text Document. Name it Startup.bat or something similar.
5. Right click the file, choose “Edit”
6. Copy the following code, changing the paths and file names to match your own setup:

c:\batchstart\Outlook.lnk
c:\batchstart\Evernote.lnk
c:\batchstart\TweetDeck.lnk
c:\batchstart\FireFox.lnk
cls

Questions? Comments? I’d love to hear them.

Tagged as: batch files, computers, customization, tutorial, Windows