[SOLVED] speed up zorin boot

As I use both zorin and xp I wondered about the difference in boot time. Zorin takes 1 minute 38 seconds to boot. Shut down is instant. XP boots in 38 seconds. Shut down is much longer than zorin. I have a modern machine with a 3 ghz pentium and 4 gig of 1600 ram. Is there any way to speed up zorin's boot? I use zorin 64 ultimate. Thanks

I have 2 PCs, the wired connection one boots in about 25 seconds where as the wireless connection one takes a lot longer (I've never timed it but I'd guess a minute and a half). Is your slow one wireless? Not sure if you could speed it up, I just put up with it

You can tweak the system in many different ways for performance.......but if things are working properly.........leave well enough alone !!!!


As the old saying goes.... if it ain't broke.....don't fix it !!!!

Best advice from my end !!!!

Still... 1 minute and 38 seconds is a loooong boot time, especially for Zorin.
Have you added many startup programs?

Thanks for the replies. I can certainly live with the slow start up. I guess I thought linux booted faster than windows. I love all the features and programs of zorin ultimate. I have not downloaded anything. I use wifi and have one partition for zorin and another for xp and an additional small hard drive for mint. They all use the same wifi and yes zorin seems to take the longest to connect. I downloaded a program for mint that allows you to check to see which programs are loaded at start up and to disable those that are not used. This seemed to help mint which boots and connects in 38 seconds. I believe the program is called "Bam" or perhaps "Bum". I have looked in zorin for a program that lists start up programs in the menu section, but I didn't have any luck finding such a program, so I'm not sure what loads at start up. Thanks again for you suggestions.

Hi ogborne, (and Happy New Year! )

Not in GNU/Linux at present so will get back to you on startup later (been busy resurrecting my Windows 7 installation using Sysrec CD to make the hard drive usable again!).

Out of curiosity how is your PC configured for the different OS's?

Happy New Year to you, Swartendor437
I feel for you resurrecting Windows 7. I use xp and have done reinstalls so many times it is almost second nature, but still a pain the the you know where. I'm not sure what you mean by "PC configuration". But here goes. I have two desktop computers and one laptop. The two desktops are identical. New pentium 3.ghz chips and new msi motherboards. Both have 4 gig of 1600 ram as well as a 1 tb hard drive that is each partitioned into two 500 gb units. Zorin ultimate resides on one partition and xp on the other. Aditionally I have two small IDE hard drives on one of the desktops. One has xp with no internet connection and the other has Mint.

I am sure you wonder why I have two desktop computers that are almost identical. For my work I must have a working computer all the time. This gives me a good backup. I know from your post that you use windows 7. I'm trying to avoid purchasing windows 7 for a variety of reasons. Cost, registration, malware, etc. My goal is to migrate all my computing to a linux distro. I am trying zorin and mint presently. So far I feel that when xp expires in April I will be comfortable and able to do all my computing on a linux based machine except for one program that won't run in linux. I will keep xp to run that program and that hard drive will never connect to the internet. Certainly, I want zorin to boot as fast as it can. I am well please with the distro and the support forum here. My hope is that many people will give linux a try. I feel Microsoft is a "true monoply" and I really hate the fact that I have and must support it. And Yes, I have tried windows 8. I don't ever want that OS.

Hi ogborne, did you let Zorin do an automatic install or did you partition? In the past I would have put a 'linux swap' partition between windows and GNU/Linux but having observed how GNU/Linux only install works I do the following partitioning guideline here:

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=6075

You should make your 'linux swap' partition the equivalent size as your RAM.

Did you install GRUB (GRand Unified Bootloader) in the MBR of the hard drive so you get a GNU/Linux boot menu with the option to boot into windows a bit further down the menu? From experience, like all OS's the nearer it is to the start of the drive, the more stable it is - did you run chkdsk and defrag before installing? (see guide above)

(And just to clear up my issue this is where I went wrong - I used Clonezilla to copy my Windows 7 Pro install onto a new rig - but forgot to put the mbr in the image! So I did a fresh install leaving me with two installs of Windows 7 and the useable one was running out of space so I deleted the original install after backing up what I needed then moved the one in use to fill the whole drive using Acronis and it went belly up - upon using System Rescue CD I discovered that the MBR /MFT table was screwed up (again down to moi) but managed to restore it to a workable hard drive - I too need Windows to build my website as I am too lazy to learn CSS and HTML so I use 'drag and drop/WYSIWYG' software for speed. And because I am in the process of reinventing IT work for myself as I am looking to leave my present employ which is now (because I am 'low paid') won't be taking a pay cut until next year - but my pay cut (with others) is helping to pay salary increases for those at the bottom - great yes? So you see most of my punters will be using Windows - the upside is that my current employ allows me to get that other OS dirt cheap and as most of the punters will be using Windows I need to know about it so I can assist when things go wrong but my emphasis is on getting punters to change to GNU/Linux! )

The easiest way to speed up boot and operations time is to install the OS on a SSD. You can buy one now starting for $40 at Newegg. I run my Zorin in a virtual partition that is installed on an external eSata attached SSD and my boot time is appr. 30 seconds - and that includes the VMware Player overhead. My host system (Windows 7) is on an internal SSD.

Swarfend 437, thanks for the reply. Glad you got win 7 bach together. I have a swap file the same size as memory. In terms of install, I partitioned the 1tb drive into two 500 gig. New hard drive nothing on it. I installed XP on one partition. I paid for Zorin Ultimate through their web site and was given a DVD of the OP. I then ran the the live distro to make sure my wifi was recognized. It was, so I installed zorin on the other partition. I chose the install method number 1, which said something like "install along with windows". The install went fine and everything work great except for the boot time

In answer to WHS, concerning solid state drives. I looked into to them, but read several posts that said they did not work well with XP. At this point I do not want to upgrade to Windows 7. Additionally in searching ubuntu and zorin I fould some posts that said ubuntu did not like SSD. With this information I decided on two 1tb 7200 rpm hard drives. Perhaps I made a mistake. I'm not sure what you are suggesting. Are you suggesting a small SSD with only Zorin installed?

Hi ogborne, basically, whs is not running his OS on the hard drive directly but in a 'Virtual PC' - basically VMWare Player - now not sure if this is free - there used to be a free one that came with Sabayon - but the best one for most people is Virtual Box - you can run Windows XP from withinside of Zorin.

What I would be tempted to do is go for the 'something else option' and follow my guidelines in the install guid of GNU/Linux alongside windows post I made - then follow Wolfman's excellent post-install guide here:

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=2054

SOLVED Swarfendor 437 thanks for your post. I'm sure that I don't understand "Virtual PC". Forgive me I am very new to linux. Why would I want to run windows xp from withinside of Zorin. My whole purpose for using zorin is to have a OP system to replace XP in April when it is no longer supported by Microsoft. What I am afraid will happen with the lack of miscrosoft support, other support may be discontinued. Example Adobe, Java, McAlfee etc. If these companies forgo xp then it will be usless for use on the internet. As for the re-install, I don't feel that confident in my linux abilities to do a re-install using "the something else". I certainly appreciate your help and suggestions, but I can live with the slow boot if necessary.

I'm sure that I don't understand "Virtual PC".

When I first installed Zorin in VMware Player about 1 year ago, I made a little tutorial that might give you some directions on how to do it. It is really dead easy.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/27 ... zorin.html

VMware Player is free and runs on Windows and Linux as a host system. I had used Virtual Box for many years but there were always some nagging problems. That's why I switched to VMware Player that is more stable, has more options and is easier to use - I think.

All my 6 PCs which are distributed over my 3 homes in the US and Europe run Windows 7 as the host system and have VMware Player installed. All the other operating systems run in VMware Player - Zorin, Mint Mate, Mint KDE, Ubuntu and Windows 8.

I first install them on the host and then move them to an external 256GB SSD - the whole virtual OS is only one folder. Depending on the system that SSD is run from an eSata or USB3 enclosure (USB2 works too but boot is a bit slower). The big advantage is that I have to only maintain one set of systems and for Windows 8 I need only 1 product key (because VMware Player is the system for it) The SSD is easy and safe to transport - no risk of head crashes. Besides, the SSD is very fast.

PS: For an XP replacement you might also have a look at this tutorial I made a little while ago. I hope the Zorin people will forgive me.

https://skydrive.live.com/view.aspx?cid ... dPdf&wdo=1

Hi all,

see this thread about startup applications, only take out what you really know you don't need!, otherwise, leave it alone!:

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2406

Regards Wolfman

Thanks Guys, Wolfman and WHS, I will look at the links you have provided. I appreciate the interest.

I always like to start with 'bare bone'. And once I understand the entries I left in, I can always add some of the others back in. If the start menu is too overloaded, you have a hard time finding your bearings in the beginning.

I just made a video that also explains that part. Have a look:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Cy-RESNhOI

Thanks again, Wolfman I did as you suggested in your link. I removed some startup items remembering the Tracker and Zeitgeist items and several that I was sure I did not use or would ever use. Several items I did not know what they did, so I left them alone. That help some as I am down to just over one minute on boot, which is livable.

WHS, I have looked at your posts. I am using Zorin and Mint every day. I'm a liilte more confident with Zorin because I have used it more. I understand "terminal" "sudo apt-get" "synaptic" software center. I use libreoffice extensively in place of MS Office. as well as Internet mail and searches.

As I understand your links you use VMPlayer in Windows 7 to get to Zorin and Mint. If I understand you correctly, the reason for 7 is that it does SSD very well where linux and XP have problems. That way you have a much faster boot. I understand that you need something portable and that only one registration for 7 is required. I assume that you use an additional large USB drive to house your data. I will give this some thought, but my whole purpose in using linux was to get away from microsoft. Don't care for them and resent the fact they have a virtual monoply. In the USA, you are hard pressed to buy any new computer without windows 8. About your only other choice is apple, which has a much higher price. I hope with zorin, mint and other linux distros and proper advertising linux will become an alternative that people will embrace.

Hi Ogborne, I think you slightly misunderstand my virtual concept. I have 6 PCs in 3 homes in the US and Germany. They all have Windows systems installed. But all other systems (Windows 8.1 and 5 different Linux distros) are installed on an external 256GB SSD. When I go to one of my other places, I just pack the SSD and take all those systems with me. At the other end I put the SSD into an external caddy and I am operational. Advantages:

- I need to maintain only 1 set of systems (apart from the base Windows systems that are on those PCs).

- If I want to delete a system, I just delete 1 folder that contains the whole VMware installation. Same for backup. I just copy 1 folder to another partition or disk. Beats imaging.

- For Windows 8.1 I need only 1 license because the virtual VMware Partition becomes the host system for that license.

- The SSD is not fragile - no risk of headcrashes during transport. But the concept works with HDDs too. It's just a bit slower.

WHS, thanks for your reply. Lets see if I have the concept now. Your 6 PC's all have a base windows OS. I guess they came with some windows OS. Then you have a 250 GB SSD with Windows 8.1 installed on it and using it as a host with VMware you have installed several linux distros. I assume this SSD is a USB. Not sure what an "external caddy" is since the only USB hard drive I have is an external regular hard drive that has a usb cable attached to the drive.

Since I don't need something portable I guess you are suggesting a SSD drive SATA with 250 GB. Then I install windows 7 or 8 along with VMware, then install the linux distros that I want. Is this correct?

ogborne wrote:WHS, thanks for your reply. Lets see if I have the concept now. Your 6 PC's all have a base windows OS. I guess they came with some windows OS. Then you have a 250 GB SSD with Windows 8.1 installed on it and using it as a host with VMware you have installed several linux distros. I assume this SSD is a USB. Not sure what an "external caddy" is since the only USB hard drive I have is an external regular hard drive that has a usb cable attached to the drive.

Since I don't need something portable I guess you are suggesting a SSD drive SATA with 250 GB. Then I install windows 7 or 8 along with VMware, then install the linux distros that I want. Is this correct?

Have a look at my little video. That should clarify it. And if you don't want portability, install the virtual system on any internal drive - it is just a folder.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYapSD6ttQ4

ogborne, I think you asked what a caddy was. Here is an example. They come for USB2, USB3 and eSata and combinations thereof.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817153071

Thanks WHS, I looked at your link and it's pretty neat.

Hi ogborne,

is this solved now?.

Regards Wolfman

yes, we are finished. do you want me to edit my first post and put "solved"?

Done!.

Regards Wolfman