The speed at which a Windows machine boots up is dependent on a variety of factors: the drive used to boot, the number of peripherals connected, the number of startup applications, and more. Windows, upon logging in and entering the desktop, tries to load a pack of applications simultaneously, resulting in pauses, stuttering, or even a recognized delay before one can start using the PC.
A Startup Delayer allows a user to delay the loading of an application or a set of auto-start applications when one login’s to the desktop. This post will list the best tools you can use to delay startup applications in Windows.
Best Tools to Delay Startup Applications in Windows
Instead of disabling Startup Programs and opening them each one by one once Windows boots up, another option is to delay those items and put them on a timer with which they will start after some time. This way, Windows will load, and the apps won’t be denied startup permissions.
- AutoRun Organizer
- Win Patrol
- Anvir Task Manager
- Windows Task Scheduler
You will need an admin account for some of these.
1] AutoRun Organizer
In addition to merely applying a pause to the start of applications, Autorun Organizer also has several helpful features to help you decide what to do. Users may also connect to the developer network, providing a database on which applications the users prefer to postpone.
There’s a load times table present in the lower pane in the main window, which could help understand how well the system is booting and which application has a higher impact. Upon clicking on an application, users can choose to uninstall the item, check how VirusTotal scores, check its effect on boot times, set the delay time, and more. While the default delay time has been set to 30 seconds, users can also set this to their custom number.
2] Win Patrol
WinPatrol is a multifunctional utility tool and is very helpful to track startup applications/programs. There are essentially two tabs in the WinPatrol main window to monitor startup products, Startup Programs and Delayed Start. Creating a delay is very easy; go to the Start Programs tab, right-click on the entry, and pick Move to Delayed Start Program List. Doing this will switch the program to the Delayed Start tab. Next, Highlight the entry and click on Delay Options to adjust the delay duration.
There are preset drop-down menus for both minutes and seconds. One could delay applications from 10 seconds up to 1 hour 50 seconds. There’s also an additional application arguments box to mention the window height and a checkbox to run the program as an administrator. If one has messed it up, the Restore menu option restores the delayed program lists to the standard initialization tab.
Download from WinPatrol Home Page
3] Anvir Task Manager
Anvir Task Manager is a consummate replacement for the Windows Task Manager. It contains an extensive array of output statistics, comprehensive process information, and various other powerful user tools.
In the Anvir Task Manager, head over to the Startup tab; here’s where all device startups are listed in categories. Next, To postpone an application’s startup, right-click it and pick Move to delayed startup list. Now, select a delay time from the pause options in the next window.
The choices included are automatic or custom wait. One can use the application to delay startup programs on weekdays or weekends, change the launch priority, and run the program as administrator. Next, you’d receive a pop request to let Anvir run on startup to handle other programs’ delays. The company also offers a portable version of Anvir if you want to try it out before installing it.
4] Windows Task Scheduler
Rather than installing other applications to delay startup, one could also use the built-in tools from Windows to delay startup applications. Here’s how to do so: Open an Administrative Command Prompt or PowerShell window and type in the below mentioned.
Schtasks /Create /TN Task-Name /TR Path-to-Program /SC Onstart /DELAY mmmm:ss
Here, Task-name implies the task’s name and can be set to anything. Path-to-program implies the complete path to the executable you want to launch. Delay is the time to delay the launch (in minutes and seconds and must use mmmm: ss format). Here’s an example for better understanding:
Schtasks /Create /TN Launch_Notepad /TR C:\Windows\Notepad.exe /SC Onstart /DELAY 0001:30
The above command creates a task to open Notepad one and a half minutes after Windows startup.
Note: If the delayed program requires administrator privileges to execute, one must include an additional argument; or the task will fail without any warning. Adding /RL HIGHEST at the end of the query makes the program run with the highest user privileges.
With that said, which startup delay applications for Windows do you prefer? Do let us know by dropping a comment down below.
