System Boot Time Test
Boot time is a common benchmark that is used to measure the performance of a Windows system. Over the lifetime of the system, longer boot times can be an indicator of system problems such as inefficient configuration, device conflicts, and malware. Periodically tracking the boot process of the system will help administrators to detect any issues such as delays, at the earliest. This regular check will also help administrators to initiate take preventive measures before the issues degrade the performance of the system and the applications and services running on the system. For this purpose, administrators can use the System Boot Time test!
This test monitors the booting process of the Windows system from the start to end, and reports the time taken for initializing each process involved in the system boot process. This test also reveals the time duration for initializing the sessions on the system and for starting the Windows logon process.
Target of the test : A Microsoft Client Desktop component
Agent deploying the test : An internal agent
Outputs of the test : One set of results for the Windows system that hosts the client desktop component.
| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
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Test Period |
How often should the test be executed. |
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Host |
The IP address of the host for which this test is to be configured. |
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Port |
The port at which the specified host listens to. By default, this is set to NULL. |
| Measurement | Description | Measurement Unit | Interpretation | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Boot time |
Indicates the total boot time taken by the system to load from the start to finish. |
Seconds |
A low value is desired for this measure. A high value of this measure indicates system problems such as inefficient configuration, device conflicts, and malware. |
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Main path boot time |
Indicates the time duration after the completion of BIOS phase and the start of Post On/Off Phase. |
Seconds |
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Kernel boot initial time |
Indicates the time taken for initializing the kernel boot phase. |
Seconds |
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Driver boot initial time |
Indicates the time taken for initializing the drivers. |
Seconds |
A high value of this measure indicates that the driver is taking longer time to initialize, which may delay the system startup process. |
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Automatic check boot time |
Indicates the time taken by the system for automatically checking the startup process. |
Seconds |
A significant increase in the value of this measure may denote a performance degradation in the system startup process |
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Session manager subsystem initial time |
Indicates the time taken for initializing the session manager subsystem. |
Seconds |
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Critical services initial time |
Indicates the time taken for initializing the critical services of the system. |
Seconds |
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User profile processing time |
Indicates the time taken for processing the user profile loaded in the system. |
Seconds |
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System profile processing time |
Indicates the time taken for processing the system profile. |
Seconds |
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Explorer initial time |
Indicates the time taken for loading the Windows explorer. |
Seconds |
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Startup applications |
Indicates the number of applications that are automatically launched when the system boots. |
Number |
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Post boot time |
Indicates the time taken for performing the Power-On-Self-Test (POST) process. |
Seconds |
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Is boot time degraded? |
Indicates whether/not the boot time is degraded. |
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The numeric values that correspond to the measure values mentioned above are as follows:
Note: This test typically reports the Measure Values listed in the table above to indicate the boot time degradation. However, the graph of this measure is represented using the numeric equivalents only. |
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Operating system loader duration |
Indicates the time taken by the operating system loader for loading the operating system. |
Seconds |
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Session initial start time |
Indicates the time taken for initializing the session. |
Seconds |
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Session0 initial duration |
Indicates the time taken for initializing the session0. |
Seconds |
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Session1 initial duration |
Indicates the time taken for initializing the session1. |
Seconds |
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Windows logon start time |
Indicates time taken for starting the winlogon.exe during the boot process. |
Seconds |
The winlogon.exe process is a very important part of the Windows operating system, and Windows will be unusable without it. This process performs a variety of critical tasks related to the Windows sign-in process and also controls activity of keyboard and mouse. Apparently, it is clear that the increase in the value of this measure will impact the overall performance of the system. |
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User logon wait duration |
Indicates the time duration the user spent on waiting to logon to the system. |
Seconds |
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