BootRacer 9.30.2024.1217

Overview

If you’re a PC maniac, then you probably have the urge to benchmark your computer. BootRacer is a software that calculates Windows boot time, which you can then save and add to the scoreboard in the program’s website, as well as compare it to other users’ times. It’s free to use, requires no admin rights and uses very few system resources. The output results include time to logon, logon timeout, time to logon to desktop, boot time and total time to desktop.

Installation

The installation procedure is only a couple of steps long, and won’t take more than few minutes to complete. It has no settings in any of the steps.

BootRacer is free of viruses, spyware and other types of malware, and doesn’t contain any additional 3^rd party applications like toolbars or other software.

Supported operating systems are Windows 2000, XP, 2003, Vista, 2008, 7 and as of version 4, Windows 8 too (32/64 bit versions supported).

Interface

The program’s interface is quite nice and warm, with a big stopwatch on the left side of the main window (which gets replaced with the last boot results as you use it) along with 3 options: Start, Advanced (drop-down menu) and Exit. To calculate your computer’s boot time simply click on the Start button and restart your computer. This will initiate the process and you will be able to see the results after the restart. The Advanced option will open a drop-down menu with several items from which you can open the Help file, access the options window or change language.

Pros

After the test has finished you will see the results which contain a lot of useful information:

Time to logon: The time from Windows start point to Windows logon screen.

Logon timeout: The time between “Time to logon” and successful user logon. This usually depends on the user; if automatic user logon is disabled then it depends on how fast the user enters his password and logs on.

Logon to desktop: The time between a successful logon and a desktop-ready event.

Boot time: The number of seconds from Windows start point to the desktop-ready event.

Total time to desktop: Time to logon + Logon to desktop.

As you can see, BootRacer analyzes thoroughly Windows’ boot time.

Each time you run BootRacer the results are saved and you can export them to Word, Excel, CSV and HTML formats.

BootRacer can be configured to measure boot time every time or only once.

You can participate in a contest where everyone posts his own results, and the top 10 boot times win (not sure if they actually win something, or just get a spot in the top 10).

Cons

We didn’t come across any bugs while testing the product, however there is a known issue that prevents BootRacer from working if a non-standard Windows shell is used (it needs Windows Explorer to work).

Alternatives

BootVis (free) is a similar program, however it is designed only for computers running Windows XP. An application that works for newer systems is WinBootInfo (paid), which has more features like logging of startup drivers and applications.

Conclusion

BootRacer is an awesome program to measure your computer’s boot times and compare them from time to time, or use them to show off to your friends.