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Your Windows computer takes forever to start up

Slow startup is caused by too many apps running at startup, a failing hard drive, or too little free space. Check how much hard drive space you have free - if it's under 10% free, that's the problem. If space is fine, disable the apps you don't need at startup and your computer will boot in seconds.

Windows takes forever to start because apps you don't need are loading in the background, your hard drive is failing or too full, or your drive is old and slow. The problem is always unnecessary startup apps. Removing them speeds up boot time from 5 minutes to under a minute. If space is low or the drive is failing, Windows slows down to protect itself.

Risk: Medium ⏱ 15-30 minutes Beginner
⚡ Before you start
  • Have a way to time your boot - use a watch or phone stopwatch
  • Make sure you're not using the computer for anything else during boot
  • Have access to your hard drive space information (File Explorer Properties)

Fix-IT-Bot will walk you through each step, just tap, no typing needed.

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