Windows 10 Quick Start: How to enable and disable it

Sometimes it takes a small eternity until the computer is finally booted up. This is especially annoying when, for example, you have a customer on the phone and need urgent information, but it is stored on the computer. Then the duration of the slow start-up becomes a real test of patience. A remedy for this is the quick start, which allows Windows 10 to start up and shut down significantly faster. Normally it only takes a few seconds. Practical, isn’t it? And yet there can be good reasons to deactivate Windows 10 Quick Start. We explain what they are here.

This is what happens with Windows 10 Quick Start

When you start your computer on Windows 10 Home or Windows 10 Pro basically three system operations take place:

  1. Preboot, i.e. the authentication of the system
  2. Initialisation of the system and the driver
  3. Session Init, which means the actual starting of the session.

Once all this is done, the PC can accept the user’s login . With Windows 10 Quick Start, basically only the initialisation process is optimised. The slow start-up with seemingly endless duration can be avoided if the computer is also shut down in this mode beforehand. The entire system is then in a kind of sleep mode. That is, it is not shut down completely, only the programmes are closed and the users logged off. The most important system files for initialisation, which the PC needs immediately at start-up, are stored in a buffer called „hiberfil.sys“ – and are immediately ready for use again at the next start.

Why should you disable Windows 10 Quick Start?

On Windows 10 Home and Windows 10 Pro, the Quick Start feature is already enabled by default. Nevertheless, there are situations in which it is better not to use the function:

  • When working with two operating systems on one computer, problems can arise especially with older versions of Windows (especially Windows 7!) and with Linux.
  • If you use an SSD hard diskif you use an SSD hard disk, its service life is shortened by the permanent additional write operations.
  • When working in a Network policies cannot be executed if they have "On start-up" as a condition.
  • Included Software Distribution and Patch Management contain the rule "On restart", they will not work with the quick start function.

To disable the Windows 10 Quick Start

If there are any of the previously mentioned problems with your PC, it’s high time to disable the pre-installed Windows 10 Quick Start. Here’s how to do it:

  • First open the Control Panel under Windows 10.
  • In the category "System and Security then click on "Power Options.
  • Now in the selection window select the option "Select what should happen when the power switch is pressed" select.
  • Among other things, the following link appears "Some settings are not available at the moment"which must be clicked on.
  • This is followed by a Security questionwhich you must answer with "Yes".
  • Now scroll down and uncheck the option "Activate quick start (recommended)" uncheck it.
  • As a last step, confirm the new settings under "Save changes".

Tip:

If you want to reactivate Windows 10 Quick Start, you have to perform the same steps again. However, set the corresponding check mark under „Activate Quick Start (recommended)“.

Everything only works when the hibernation function is activated

Windows 10 Quick Start is based on Hibernation Mode. This means that the PC is disconnected from the power supply in hibernation mode. However, if the hibernation function is already switched off – for whatever reason – deactivating Windows 10 Quick Start will not work. The options mentioned above are then not visible. If this is the case, the only thing that helps is to reactivate the default setting of the hibernation function.

  1. To do this, press the Windows key and X at the same time so that the command line appears.
  2. Here you have to start the admin prompt.
  3. The DOS window opens by entering the command powercfg /hibernate on is entered.

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