Re: slow startup on windows

On 2023-04-26 06:02, Roland Hughes via Foxgui-users wrote:
> Captain Obvious has some stupid questions:
> 
> 1) Do you have an "automatic update" feature in your program such that
> once per week/month/etc. it reaches out to Internet location looking
> for a new version of itself? This can really hang an application.
> 
> 2) Does your application in any way use the Internet or network? I'm
> asking because many such applications either have to refresh
> certificates or they keep a DNS cache. (Firefox is notorious for
> this.) The DNS cache has to be flushed and refreshed after a time
> period and/or if the host IP address changes . . . A laptop connecting
> to a different wifi router can cause the IP address to change.
> 
> 3) Do you run Norton, McAfee, or other third party virus protection.
> That whole "we check every file to keep you safe" promise they make is
> a bit of a Clinton Truth. On a full scan they check them for sure. If
> you download and run an executable for the first time they check them,
> yes. The Clinton Truth comes in the second through N-th time it is
> run. Results of the file scan get cached. File size, timestamps, name,
> path, etc. all gets put into a database with either an expiration date
> or a current timestamp (sometimes both). Most of these programs limit
> the size of this cache otherwise it would consume much of your disk
> due to people downloading, running something once, and deleting. The
> entries could never go away unless they are flushed on full scan or
> expiration. When your executable no longer has an entry in this cache
> it is a first time run. The size of your executable matters little.
> It's the terabytes of DLLs your application utilizes that really kill
> you here, because each of them have to be scanned before you can run.
> 
> You can confirm #3 easily. Set up a fresh Windows install, disabling
> Microsoft Malware and antivirus and don't install any other
> protection. Run your executable. First through N-th time should load
> at roughly the same speed.

Somewhere, somebody has developed a number of scripts that "debloat"
Windows 10.  I always run some of these on fresh install, to get rid
of the telemetry, unnecessary background chugging processes, etc.

These definitely streamlined my Windows10 experience a lot.  On some
days, it feels *almost* as fast as Windows XP ;-)



           - JVZ