Fast boot OS for Internet only?

[Chris Lee]

Hey guys.

I'm on a nifty laptop running w7 in 64-bit and it takes hours to boot into the OS.

Is there a Linux distro (or some other software) that will allow me to really quickly just boot into a system where I can browse the internet?

I find that when I'm at the airport, I just want to quickly type an email out on gmail or something like that, and it's tough justifying the boot up time that W7 takes right now.

I like W7 when it hibernates and resumes, but I don't want to do that always.

Just want something quick to boot into, say, 20 seconds and be on the internet right away through wifi.

Chromium OS looks nice but is not out - but that's basically what I'd like.

Any ideas?

Thanks.

[Southern Patriot]

I'm sure lots of people will reply with their favorite Linux distro, but to state the obvious: why don't you just put the computer to sleep or hibernate it? Then you could achieve what you are wanting without the hassle of installing another OS.

[Ryoken]

Or figure out what is taking so long.. I run Windows 7 on my laptop and it boots up in a flash..

[bjoswald]

I've heard Google's 'Chrome OS' is good for that sort of thing.

[markwolfe Veteran]

Any installed OS will take some time to boot up, unless you use suspend, as mentioned already.

What it sounds like you really could be looking for is called "splash top" I believe.

Unfortunately for you, it is a firmware Linux OS, so boots quickly into that environment. Supplied by the laptop OEM.

[Mathiasdm]

Perhaps something like Ubuntu Netbook Remix, or another distribution tuned at light laptops could be useful here (it won't load much at startup, so boot should be fast).

[bolix]

Would first recommend using Hibernate, don't see why would you prefer to turn it off.

For Chormium OS: http://chromeos.hexxeh.net

Also take a look at Jolicloud: http://www.jolicloud.com

[Jediweasel]

I let my old Powerbook Pismo go to sleep when I travel. I don't take my good laptop anymore since the incident with Southwest Airlines in 2008. :(

[e-berlin.org]

If you have an ASUS motherboard you may want to know that most of the fairly new ASUS motherboards have this feature - the Express Gate?. It's the minimalistic built-in unix distro Splashtop. Works great for browsing, skype, etc. and the total boot time is around 5 seconds (on my P5QL Pro with E7300).

[FunkTrooper]

Just do a clean install of Windows 7. When you buy any laptop these days, it's full of crap and it'll take a *long* time to start up. Just wipe it and to a nice clean install. It'll be very very quick then :)

[Zmijutin]

1. Do a fresh and install only essentials

2. Buy SSD

3. Buy BlackBerry

:)

[DavidM]

Hey guys.

I'm on a nifty laptop running w7 in 64-bit and it takes hours to boot into the OS.

~SNIPPED~

Any ideas?

Thanks.

Hours? If it truly takes hours to boot you've got something very very wrong.

Hibernate or Sleep will let you boot in about 20 seconds or so, as others have posted. My Dell Studio 1440 boots to W7 x64 in about 30 seconds, so I just shut it down. If you really want a insta-boot type OS, try xPud, a tiny linux distro that boots in about 10-15 seconds. I haven't tried the new release but the previuos releases worked well for what you are wanting - email and light surfing.

[+jamesyfx Subscriber²]

Every morning I lift the lid on my Dell Studio 1555 and the DVD drive makes a 'yap yap', and then boom. There we have a log-in screen.

I used to Hibernate, now I do not bother. I just close the lid and let it sleep. It will hibernate on it's own when the battery gets critical.

[Growled Member]

If you're having those kinds of issues with Windows 7, I'm not sure Linux is going to help you much. If you do want to try Linux, I would suggest either Ubuntu Remix or Mint.

[ichi]

Moblin2 takes 15 seconds on my aspireone from the moment I press the button to a desktop with working wifi connection (with dhcp).

That said, any minimal Linux distro should do (although "bigger" distros like ubuntu are also getting quite fast boot times in latest versions), more so if you use a lightweight window manager

[Fred Derf Veteran]

Installing a second OS with a minimum set of installed applications and drivers will probably solve the problem. I'm sure that just about any Linux distro would do so long as you place the desktop environment with a lightweight window manager. I mean, heck, you could put a script on "twm" to boot you into your favourite browser (or just type in the name at the prompt).

Either install a full distro and then remove stuff or use a distro that has a minimal install option. Really, even a secondary Windows 7 installation that is purposely kept very bare is an option.

Edit:

After re-reading the thread, I really haven't added much to what was already said but there you go anyway.

[Azies]

Can't really give you any advice, the Asus g60vx models actually come with a fastboot Linux OS and Windows 7. Just press the button you want on the laptop itself and it'll boot into either.