Soluto: use the wisdom of the crowd to optimize your PC and make it run and boot faster

Is your system too overloaded with apps? Does it take way too much time to boot up? Would you like a simple, uncomplicated software that can help you optimize the programs that load on Windows startup and decrease the time it takes your system to boot up?

If so, you should check out Soluto. This program takes the concept of optimizing your system’s startup program to a new level. From a purely technical perspective, Soluto doesn’t do anything that is not been seen before: it either disables programs that start with Windows or otherwise delays them so that they load up at some point after the boot process is finished (things that freeware apps such as SysInternals Autoruns, Starter, and Startup Delayer have had on offer for quite some time). The difference is that Soluto succeeds in making this optimization process accessible to everyone regardless of their technical proficiency.

Soluto’s genius is that it is people-focused rather than PC-focused. It measures the time that it takes your PC to boot up, separates the apps that can be removed or delayed from those that absolutely have to be there, shows you exactly how much time each program is adding to total startup time, and gives detailed information on what the program is, what happens if it is removed from startup, as well as a recommended course of action. Last but not least, Soluto has a “social” aspect where it tries to employ the collective wisdom of its user base to both describe unknown apps as well as suggest solutions and contribute questions.

Worth mentioning is the fanciful term the developers of this app refer to this project: decoding the PC genome. How cool is that?

The video below, created by the the developers of Soluto, offers an easy way to become more familiar with what this program is all about. So, therefore, I will offer the TEN things I like best about this program:

(1) The fact that it measures your overall boot time, and keeps track of exactly how much time your were able to save via the optimization process.

(2) That it displays a visual timeline, with each different program or process displayed according to the time that it consumes, giving you an idea at a glance regarding which programs take up the most time. (See screenshot at the top of this post for an example).

(3) That it offers a “recommendation” and backs it up with arguments (see screenshot to the right)

(4) That it displays programs in three categories: “no brainer” programs that are recommended for removal, “potentially removable” that likely can be removed but have to be given some consideration, and “required” programs which have to remain in startup and cannot be removed.

(5) That it offers an implication of removal; i.e. it answers the question: “what will happen if I remove this from loading on startup anyway”

(6) That it offers a delay function, whereby apps are loaded after the booting process, at a time when the computer is idle.

(7) That “paused” programs can easily be re-instated if necessary.

(8) That it employs the wisdom of the crowd (or is that the cloud?) in identifying unknown entries. The jury is still out on that one, though, to see if the Soluto user base will contribute to the project and whether the concept will work out as intended (personally, I am optimistic, as this is a great program).

(9) That it is accessible to relatively non-technically savvy users, such that I can recommend it to those users inadvertently pile up startup programs without knowing it and who really need a program like this one most

(10) That it works: I was able to go down from 3:41 mins to 2:53, cutting down my boot time by 25%. Of course I could have done the same thing using other startup manager programs such as those mentioned above, but I didn’t. The point is, Soluto makes it so easy and straightforward, and in many cases provides value added insight.

Finally, here’s a video demonstration of this program in action:

http://www.soluto.com/