Question: What hardware/software determines quick startup and shutdown?

[CHiMPBizKiT]

I was wondering what hardware configurations (or software, or both) determines fast startup times and shutdown times. Does it have anything to do with your motherboard? or hard drive? The reason I'm asking is because my sister's 550Mhz Classic Athlon has much faster boot times than my current system, which is a 700Mhz o/c to 850. I've already disabled my NIC, so I still don't know what the problem is. I've also swapped motherboards, and I can't seem to find what the problem is ... any help would be greatly appreciated!! We are both running the same software. Thanks.

If any of Athlon classic users out there have fast boot times, let me know what motherboard you are using. What's the best Athlon MB out in the market right now?

 

[nippyjun]

It's usually software. Compare what each of you has running in the background.

 

[AndyHui]

You might be surprised at how much difference a hard drive can make. I went from an old Quantum EL 5400RPM drive to a Quantum LM 7200 drive and my boot up times halved.

 

[AMB]

Going to a 7,200 RPM HDD make about a 10second difference on start up