Set Delay for Startup Programs in Windows 10, 8 and 7

Startup programs can impact the boot time of Windows to a big extent. Hence, it is always recommended to disable any unwanted startup programs, but there are certain important programs which we want to load when Windows starts. The result is a PC which boots slowly and then takes a few minutes before it can be operated normally. This can be overcome by delaying the startup of some of these programs which are not needed at immediate system startup.

Setting Delay Time for Startup Items

Setting a delay time will load the particular program x seconds or minutes (as defined) after Windows starts up. Such a setting is not available in Windows by default, but there are various tools listed below which add this functionality and are very easy to use.

1. WinPatrol

You won’t be needing any other tool as WinPatrol is simply the best all-in-one utility to manage such tasks. While it does offer a lot of other functionality, its ability to delay the startup of programs is what we need. What WinPatrol does is that it removes the program from the normal startup list and instead loads itself (WinPatrol) at startup and then loads the delayed programs as per the delay set.

To achieve this, you need to install the full WinPatrol, the portable version won’t work. After installing Winpatrol, just select the Startup Programs tab and right click on the startup program that you want to delay and choose Move to Delayed Start Program List. Once done, move to the Delayed Start tab, select the program and then you can select the time after which the program should load.

2. Soluto

Soluto is an online service which not only provides detailed information about your PC, but also helps in keeping it in good shape by automatically updating outdated software. One of its features includes reducing the boot time. Once a PC report is uploaded to the soluto, you can either remove unnecessary startup items or delay them so as to make the PC boot faster. Soluto turns out to be very easy to use and can be easily understood by anybody who is not so familiar with the technical sides of a computer.

Soluto makes it simpleto remove unnecessary start up programs from boot, or delay apps so they start up after boot. Soluto shows how much time you’ll save with each app you remove, and lets you know which apps are safe to remove and whether other users removed it or kept it in startup.

3. Startup Delayer

Just as the name says, Startup Delayer is there to delay the startup of programs and to make the PC boot faster. The standard version is free which lets you start programs on a priority basis besides delaying them and setting a delay time. It requires Visual Studio C++ Runtime and if it is not already installed, the program setup will install it automatically.