The mystery of the Windows series startup speed difference

  Do not know if you have noticed, the version of Windows in the last two years, the time required to start entering the graphical interface has a long-term trend, this is purely the system is not optimized? In fact, since the day of its birth, Windows has undergone three changes in its core and mission focus, and the difference in the use of storage devices has led to differences in the startup speed of various Windows series. Let's take a look at the differences in the use of Windows storage devices, to explore the startup speed of each series of Windows (refers to the process of Windows initialization to enter the graphical interface after the first boot hardware self-test is completed. WindowsXP supported storage The current state to the hard disk is not included in the scope of this article):;

First, compatible with DOS Windows9X series;

The initial version of Windows is only an enhancement until 3.2 The DOS graphics shell, its multi-tasking ability is very weak, only provides the most basic operating system functions; from Windows95, the traces of DOS began to fade, but because many programs are still written in a DOS-compatible architecture, Windows9X has never been Can get rid of the influence of DOS. DOS has a big feature that is real mode operation, and it is very effective for 640K basic memory. In addition, Windows9X supports a small number of external devices, and the design focus is also based on the most common game, document processing and primary. The network application considers that the amount of data initialized by the system is not much. If the configuration is good, most of the initialization tasks can be solved with 640K basic memory, so the startup speed is quite fast. For this reason, DOS, Windows 3.X and Windows 9X are all affected by the disk cache program SMARTDRV.EXE. The speed is very different when loading this buffer and not loading and deleting large files, especially The difference in operation of a directory tree with multiple subdirectories is obvious, and the difference in disk read and write loss is also different.

When the boot is complete and the graphical interface is entered, this 16-bit real-mode, 32-bit virtual mode hybrid compatible architecture exposes significant deficiencies - it creates performance and manages computer resources. Weak, Windows9X, there are often cases where the application can not effectively release the occupied resources after closing; there are also many people who see the system prompts "due to the application of MS-DOS-compatible paging mode, the system performance has been reduced" prompt; There are blue screens and frequent illegal operations that everyone hates. Oh, it is also largely due to this.

Second, Windows2K and subsequent Windows versions based on NT kernel;

Starting from Windows 2000, NT kernel technology began to be applied to personal PC operating systems, Microsoft Also completely abandoned the DOS architecture writing program. The technology of the NT kernel is distinguished from Windows9X by three major advantages:;

1. The ability to access and operate the network is much stronger than that of Windows9X;;

< BR> 2, its security performance and Windows9X are not the same, which in turn includes the system itself has a small chance of crash (very stable); and the use of the NTFS file format, so that most of the FAT and FAT32-based viruses can do nothing, Moreover, individuals can encrypt files and folders without the need for other third-party tools, and the confidentiality is greatly improved.

3, is to manage the above convenience, the NT kernel Windows series can combine the network administrator and the operating system required by ordinary users. After using the NTFS format, flexible quota management of disks is provided, so that Windows 2000 provides an excellent security policy infrastructure that allows users to determine appropriate security measures for data and applications. These features will help identify users on the network, restrict access to resources, and set policies on how users use resources.

From the above analysis of the NT kernel, you can see that Windows has greatly increased the use of disk, and the speed depends on the performance of the disk. Because NT was originally a server-based operating system, and Microsoft's plan to make Windows a PC and future information appliance control center, Windows2K and XP are both looking for a variety of peripherals when they start. Do you have any devices connected to it? Microsoft has built-in drivers for various hardware devices in the operating system. In addition, the network management function of NT technology is very strong. The default settings of network management are for the operation steps of the system and users. Detailed logging is performed during initialization and even when Windows is running. The amount of data used to identify devices and log logs is much larger than that of Windows 9X, so the disk is frequently read and written. To put it bluntly, starting with Windows 2K, The boot speed is essentially dependent on the performance of the hard drive. Under the same CPU and bus interface conditions, it is not surprising that the NT kernel's operating system starts slower than Windows 9X.

Even in the installation of Windows2K and XP, we can also see that Microsoft's disk-based features are particularly enhanced - the Windows 9X installer does not recognize the setting in the CMOS as NONE Two hard disks; Windows 2K and XP installers can do it, and can also not partition the motherboard BIOS to partition and format. Under Windows9X, many people must install the IDE driver or chipset patch of the motherboard, the system can identify the manufacturer, model and ULTRA DMA function of the hard disk. At the beginning of Windows2K, the IDE patch basically does not need to be played, and the hard disk is in the best state. .

Increase physical memory, and the startup speed of Windows2K and WindowsXP does not have much effect. After entering the graphical interface, they use physical memory (RAM) to truly reflect better than Windows9X. The performance comes. Because systems such as Windows XP are designed to support a wide range of peripherals with the most aesthetically pleasing, simple operation, and excellent network access for stability and security, it is cost-effective to sacrifice a little startup speed. (It means that your disk partition is formatted as NTFS, otherwise you can't see the obvious difference in security performance);

Three, optimize for different Windows to speed up the startup;

1, Windows9X optimization based on DOS architecture:;

The foregoing has discussed the key to the startup of Windows9X, which is the rational allocation of basic memory. This requires loading HIMEM.SYS and SMARTDRV.EXE, and optimizing the DOS buffer BUFFERS and high-end memory in CONFIG.SYS. These techniques have been introduced in many previous experience articles, so they are not repeated. It should be noted that under the Windows9X graphical interface, the MS-DOS driver of the sound card and the optical drive may not be loaded, so that the compatibility mode may cause the system performance to be degraded. Today, probably not many people use the sound card driver under DOS to play the game. Of course, the setting of Windows9X virtual memory is also critical.

2, Windows optimization based on NT kernel:;

1 In CMOS should set the parameters of the hard disk, especially DMA and ULTRA DMA, data transmission rate The Windows speed of the NT kernel has a large impact.

2 If you have the conditions, buy 7200 rpm hard drive, try to install Windows on a new hard disk with good performance, and try to let Windows monopolize a partition, please install the application on other partitions, so that Let Windows use the continuous and complete space to access data at any time; it is recommended that virtual memory, which is called "page swap file" in Windows2K, be set in a separate dedicated partition;;

3 In addition to the previous In addition to the various secrets introduced in various experience articles, for individual users, reducing the service functions of logging and management is also the key to speed up the startup and even the speed of programs running in Windows. The events recorded in those logs are for the convenience of the network administrator to monitor the operation of each user, and to find the cause when the network is faulty. Ordinary users may use Windows XP to eliminate the day, and will not look at these recorded events. Most users even I don’t understand if I go to see it. In addition, such as logical disk partition sharing, remote management and other services can be banned (only for individual users), which log and network services have been banned have a lot of information, we look for their own reference. ;