Why are boot & shutdown so much faster than Windows 10?

[deschreiber]

I've almost stopped using my Windows 10 laptop because my new Linux Mint machine boots and shuts down so quickly in comparison. Why is it so much more efficient that way than Windows 10?

[Larry78723]

Because Mint doesn't automatically start a bunch of applications like Win10

[Lysander666]

Because of systemd, an application suite which includes the init system for starting up and shutting down the OS.

systemd runs processes in parallel rather than series, which means that boot up and shutdown are significantly faster than on other [non-systemd] OSs.

Because Mint doesn't automatically start a bunch of applications like Win10

More to the point it's to do with how those services are started.

[LogMan]

I find W10's startup is 5 secs compared to LM19.1 and Ubuntu 18.04, which is 12 secs, but shutdown is a different story, W10 takes quite a while whereas LM & Ubuntu is almost instantaneous.

[DAMIEN1307]

the reason that Win may startup is faster in your particular case might be because your using its "hybrid" shutdown which is really not a full shutdown at all...its a partial hybernation type of shutdown that is found in win 10 systems which results in a very fast startup...if that feature were disabled, you would see a dramatic, much slower situation in its startup times...DAMIEN

[LogMan]

the reason that Win may startup is faster in your particular case might be because your using its "hybrid" shutdown which is really not a full shutdown at all...its a partial hybernation type of shutdown that is found in win 10 systems which results in a very fast startup...if that feature were disabled, you would see a dramatic, much slower situation in its startup times...DAMIEN

I don't think so as I have fast boot (in BIOS) and fast startup in the OS disabled.

I use an external Boot Manager, Terabyte Unlimited's Boot-It and requires you to disable those features.

Whatever the reason I don't care as 5-12 secs is miniscule compared to the old days of going for a coffee while the machine is booting

[DAMIEN1307]

back then it wasnt just a cup of coffee, usually at least half a pot...lol...DAMIEN

[Pierre]

back then it wasnt just a cup of coffee, usually at least half a pot...lol...DAMIEN

back then - - some folks used to drift back outside for an Smoke, while they waited.

even these days, an not-so-new machine that is running win-10 will still take 90s to desktop,
and 60s to an full stop, on any spinning drive. which forces folks onto an SSD - usually.

then any Linux machine, that is running Cinnamon, on an spinning drive - - can also be quite slow, too.

[missmoondog]

as much as i despise windows 10, and i no longer have any machine that runs that garbage, i always thought it was quite snappy at start up and shut down compared to any other previous release. all of my linux machines take longer to start up than windows 10 ever did, but shut down was about the same, which was almost instantly.

neither of those factors had anything to do with me dumping windows 10 though. it was mainly all their broken updates and "feature" upgrades that i usually wanted nothing to do with. having next to no control on things i wanted to control on a computer that i bought just isn't right.

[LogMan]

all of my linux machines take longer to start up than windows 10 ever did, but shut down was about the same, which was almost instantly.

Which concurs with my experience.

I am rarely even using Win10 now, probably once a week for updates.

Since Mint was updated to 19.1 it's been so nice compared to previous distros that I don't have a real need for Windows except for certain programs I have to use.

[deschreiber]

Thanks for all those replies. I apparently have some problems with my Windows 10 machines. Even though I've looked at all the programs that load upon startup and eliminated all but a few favourites, my boot time is on the order of going out for a smoke. Really, maybe 5 minutes. The desktop may show after a reasonable amount of time, but I can't do anything for a L-O-N-G time after that: the hourglass is spinning, and even if it pauses for a split second and I quickly click on an icon on my taskbar, nothing happens for a long time. My Windows 10 laptop is not nearly so bad but still annoying, and I prefer Linux Mint. But all this is a story for a Windows forum ...

[iironjade]

W10's start up is deceitful because although the desk top (eventually) appears, the machine is still not ready to use.
Linux Mint, on the other hand, is ready to go as soon as the desktop is visible.

[Rocky Bennett]

My experience with a dual boot on my system is that Windows 10 completely starts up in about 8 seconds whereas Linux Mint takes about 14 seconds. So on my system Windows 10 has the speed advantage.

So my guess to answer the OP, is that it is system related.

[Rocky Bennett]

W10's start up is deceitful because although the desk top (eventually) appears, the machine is still not ready to use.
Linux Mint, on the other hand, is ready to go as soon as the desktop is visible.

I manage quite a few Windows 10 systems and I have never seen that scenario. When Windows 10 displays the desktop it is ready to go. Period. There are no exceptions that one thing might be ready but not another, the whole system fires up when the desktop is displayed.

[Rocky Bennett]

as much as i despise windows 10, and i no longer have any machine that runs that garbage, i always thought it was quite snappy at start up and shut down compared to any other previous release. all of my linux machines take longer to start up than windows 10 ever did, but shut down was about the same, which was almost instantly.

neither of those factors had anything to do with me dumping windows 10 though. it was mainly all their broken updates and "feature" upgrades that i usually wanted nothing to do with. having next to no control on things i wanted to control on a computer that i bought just isn't right.

Generally this has been my experience. If you have to wait more than 30 seconds for any OS to completely start up then it is not an OS problem but a hardware or a BIOS problem.

I have a really old laptop, about 11 years old, that is running Linux Mint Cinnamon 19.1. This laptop has ancient hardware in it so I am OK with the fact that it takes close to 40 seconds to completely start up.

[missmoondog]

as much as i despise windows 10, and i no longer have any machine that runs that garbage, i always thought it was quite snappy at start up and shut down compared to any other previous release. all of my linux machines take longer to start up than windows 10 ever did, but shut down was about the same, which was almost instantly.

neither of those factors had anything to do with me dumping windows 10 though. it was mainly all their broken updates and "feature" upgrades that i usually wanted nothing to do with. having next to no control on things i wanted to control on a computer that i bought just isn't right.

Generally this has been my experience. If you have to wait more than 30 seconds for any OS to completely start up then it is not an OS problem but a hardware or a BIOS problem.

I have a really old laptop, about 11 years old, that is running Linux Mint Cinnamon 19.1. This laptop has ancient hardware in it so I am OK with the fact that it takes close to 40 seconds to completely start up.

i don't think either of my really old, 32bit laptops, take even that long to start mint 19.1. one is a single core 1.5ghz cpu even! don't believe that my kids ancient toshiba laptop with a puny dual core 1.0 ghz cpu takes that long to start lubuntu either. when it had windows 7 on it, it sure did though. going to upgrade the memory in that computer from the default 3gb's to max of 8gb's and see what that does. he doesn't use it anymore and i only play with just to kill time some times!

all 3 of the machines i'm talking about in this post do shut down almost instantly also.

[DAMIEN1307]

if that IS a 32 bit machine, if memory serves me correctly, adding ram will be useless...i think 32 bit will only recognise up to 4 gigs ram...DAMIEN

[ColdBootII]

^No, LM 19.1 32bit versions come with PAE kernel so, if motherboard supports it, can be done.

[trytip]

i'm not condoning the use of win10 but my dual boot win10 starts in about 6 seconds just about the same as my mint cinnamon 19.1

i do not see a difference anymore. my startup used to be about 45 seconds but that was on a 2007 cpu with 5 spinning old hard drives