
If you're overclocking, or otherwise need regular access to the BIOS, you might want to leave this off, but most people could benefit from turning it on if it isn't already. Unlike Fast Startup in Windows, the Fast Boot setting (or whatever it's called on your motherboard) bypasses some of the initial tests your computer runs when it first starts up. Some computers have a Fast Boot setting in the BIOS. Be sure to click Save changes when finished. You should see a checkbox next to Turn on fast startup in the list of options. If it's grayed out, you'll need to click the Change settings that are currently unavailable link at the top of that window first, then turn on the Fast Startup feature. Open Control Panel and choose Power Options > Choose what the power buttons do. This may be enabled by default on many machines, but if you ever turned it off-or if it wasn't enabled on the desktop you built yourself-you can flip the switch pretty easily. Rebooting is unaffected, though, so if you run into problems with Windows Update or getting into your BIOS, you may have to restart your PC to perform those tasks rather than shutting down. It won't save your open applications, like hibernation will, but the under-the-hood OS will go into hibernation mode, helping you start up with a clean state faster. Essentially, this is a sort of halfway mode between hibernating and shutting down. Windows has a feature called Fast Startup that does exactly what it sounds like, and this is an obvious first stop in your quest.



