BootRacer is a small, free tool that lets you find out and compare your system boot speed. BootRacer is very easy to use, so anyone can check the time their system needs to boot. Besides just being curious how much time you lose waiting for your computer to start you can also use BootRacer to test the impact of installed applications on system boot speed, and other similar checkups.
Installation & Requirements
BootRacer’s setup is free of adware and third-party apps and completes in a few seconds. Once the program is installed it will launch automatically. BootRacer runs on many Windows versions as follows: 2000, XP, 2003, Vista, 7 and 8. You’ll also need the ~20 MB of free space, needed to install the program.
There are no specified hardware requirements since BootRacer doesn’t need more to run then any of the supported operating systems do.
Interface
BootRacer has an eye-catching interface with very few options: it’s really easy to use this program, even though it does provide valuable information. Clicking on “Boot Time Test” will initiate a system reboot so the program can measure the speed. BootRacer measures two sequences of the system boot time: time to logon screen and time to desktop, excluding the password timeout from the result. Each measured boot time also receives a star-based rating. The number of stars received by a boot is calculated based on user-submitted data and it also considers the system configuration along with the boot time.
Users can access Boot History, to see a graphical display of all boot events for easy comparison. They can also delete any item in the list by entering Edit mode. as well as add a comment to an entry, for example the reason behind the change in boot speed. The history list makes it very easy to find out the impact on system performance of an application you just installed/uninstalled or of any other recent changes.
The “Contest” option lets you submit data online and compare your system’s boot speed with other users. Since this comparison is actually a contest, the owner of the fastest PC will win a prize. The program’s options, available in the Advanced menu let you perform a few simple customizations to BootRacer such as enabling Windows boot monitoring every time, or just once, write boot times to Windows Event Log, show/hide BootRacer window during race and a few others.
Pros
– Fast setup with no adware bundled.
– Simple method of measuring system boot speed.
– Displays boot speed divided into two stages: time to logon screen and time to desktop.
– Provides a star-based rating calculated using data from other users of the program.
– The Boot History lists all tracked boot events and lets you delete the items or add comments.
– Users can print or save the history list as doc, html, xls or csv file.
– Free for non-commercial use.
Cons
– The “Speed Up” button is not a real, built-in feature, just an advertisement web link for a third-party application.
Conclusion
BootRacer is an effortless solution to measuring the boot speed of your system. It comes in handy if you wish to track the impact on Windows boot speed of any changes made to the system such as installed & uninstalled applications, modified system settings, cleanup and optimization tasks and the list goes on.
