There are countless tweaks, tips, tricks and optimisation tools that can be used to boost the performance of Windows, but the figure that most people are interested in is how long it takes their computer to reach a useable state after hitting the power button. In the case of dramatic improvement following the application of a particular tweak, it is easy to see boot time improvements, but how can you check the effectiveness of individual tweaks?

This is where BootRacer can help. At its most basic, the program can be viewed as a timer which will tell you precisely how long it takes Windows to boot up, but it is better viewed as a tools for analysing the effect various methods of optimisation have on your computer.

The program can be run automatically every time you start Windows, or you can opt to run it on a manual basis on the occasions you want to perform a test yourself. BootRacer will provide you with two different figures once analysis has been performed - the time it takes your computer to log into Windows, and the time it takes the desktop to fully load.

All results are logged for you so you can compare how results change over time or as you use different techniques to optimise start times.