QOTD: program loading times

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Socoder -> Question of the Day -> QOTD: program loading times
Mon, 03 Aug 2009, 21:12
mindstorm8191	I got to thinking recently, computers aren't all they're cracked up to be. I mean, half the time I'm on them, I'm waiting for it to get something done. For example, it takes about 2 minutes for Windows to load up on my laptop. Then its another minute for Firefox to boot up, before I can start browsing the web. Almost any other useful application takes about that long to load, too. My question of the day is, why are modern computer programs so complicated? I mean, even before Firefox starts displaying anything useful, its used / reserved 50 megs of ram. What is all that for? -=-=- Vesuvius web game
Mon, 03 Aug 2009, 23:52
Jayenkai	Firefox got beyond a joke a long time ago, that's why I switched to Chrome. Even when IE loads instantly, you still have to then give it a 20 minute headstart before it bothers to actually be workable! Chrome = doubleclick, run. Sure, it may not have adblock, but that just means you get to kill off certain links from your favourites!! -=-=- ''Load, Next List!''
Tue, 04 Aug 2009, 01:12
shroom_monk	I use Chrome for the same reason - speed. Also because the profiles on my Firefox got messed up, so it always forgot my passwords/cookies between sessions. The reason Windows is so complicated is because Microsoft have a habit of delegating each small task to a separate program, but each of these like to load up on their own, and sometimes crash or conflict, causing other programs to crash or conflict, etc. If you look back to Windows 98, and open Task Manager, there are about half a dozen system programs running at any time, which seems sensible. As you go through the later and later Windows OSs, you get more and more. Windows ME has about 20 system programs running at once. Vista has more than I care to count. If Microsoft concentrated on reducing this massive number of programs, meaning that they wouldn't conflict with each other as much, I think that Windows would gain quite a speed and stability boost. -=-=- A mushroom a day keeps the doctor away... Keep It Simple, Shroom!
Tue, 04 Aug 2009, 01:13
JL235	@Shroom: most of the MS apps and services you are referring too take up a tiny amount of ram and are sleeping during their entire life, just waiting for input (like the printer spooler). It's the third party start-up apps that are the problem. Because they startup with Windows, Windows is blamed. Goto: Start -> Run enter 'msconfig' select 'Startup' Now un-tick anything you can identify but don't need. Prime targets include Adobe Acrobat and Java. You can also disable lots of the advanced screen effect and Aero (if your on Vista). This too will increase speed. Finally you could also look at reformatting and reinstalling Windows (if you have a copy).
Tue, 04 Aug 2009, 03:54
Phoenix	I have no idea what you're talking about. Firefox takes 2-3 seconds to start over here. Windows (seven, at least) doesn't take two minutes to start, especially not when you've shut the computer down using hibernation mode. Firefox is a complicated cross-platform application, it's bound to consume a lot of memory. It is now eating 60 mb, however I fail to see how that matters when computers have several gigabytes of RAM today.
Tue, 04 Aug 2009, 07:05
HoboBen	Not to brag (okay, maybe a little), but my Arch Linux laptop boots in 17 seconds If firefox takes ages to start you may want to disable some old extensions that you're not using. If you have firebug, always disable it when you're not using it. -=-=- blog \| work \| code \| more code
Tue, 04 Aug 2009, 07:17
JL235	If you use standby rather then shut-down then Windows will boot in one or two seconds, maybe three.
Tue, 04 Aug 2009, 20:49
mindstorm8191	pheonix however I fail to see how that matters when computers have several gigabytes of RAM today. I'm glad somebody can afford new computers! I got my laptop in 2006, so its got a few years on it now. Its got... maybe 256MB or so RAM? I'm not sure off-hand. -=-=- Vesuvius web game
Wed, 05 Aug 2009, 08:47
Phoenix	Even a new computer in the cheapest price class can have decent hardware. If you're sitting on a machine with 256 MB of RAM you should consider upgrading, especially if you are a programmer who by definition spends more time at the computer than most people.